Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupe Selling at Auction

[James Doyle]

A little off-topic, but interesting...to me at least!

Mecum is selling a 1965 Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupe (CSX2601) at auction in May. They estimate it will sell for well into EIGHT figures.

Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupe Could Break Auction Record | Sports Car Digest

Could that be right? Does anyone know of the car?

[Jim Rosenthal]

Yes, it very well could. Cars of this kind of rarity and provenance don't get on the market very often, and when they do, it's a big deal. BIG deal. There are only six of them, they all have race history, I think, and were all driven by people who are now legends. So, yeah, ten figures is not at all out of the question.

Imagine what 1075 or one of the 1966 winners would bring if it came up for sale. I think when 1075 changed hands it brought nearly ten figures, and that was a long time ago.

If anyone is interested, OCTANE did a feature about two issues ago on the most valuable collector cars. It's a lot of fun to read. THE most valuable was felt to be 722, the Mercedes 300SLR that won the Mille Miglia with Moss at the wheel. 1075 was in there, too, but not second.

[Mike Drew]

Through the grapevine, I heard from people who knew the owner of one of the six coupes that he sold it (five or six years ago?) for a flat $10 million. With faith in our economic institutions and property shaken right now, wealthy people are turning to alternate places to stash their money--much like what happened in the late 1980s.

I have also heard a rumor that the last Ferrari 250 GTO to sell exchanged hands for $28 million.

[Tim Kay]

....So, yeah, ten figures is not at all out of the question.

Jim, I think your spending way too much time with Reid, Dodd and Pelosi

[Jim Rosenthal]

EIGHT figures...................(red face), you're right, I'm a Democrat.

[Jim Rosenthal]

I have it on reasonably good authority that when 1075 was sold, it brought nine million dollars. Most of us don't operate in this kind of rarefied atmosphere. I think the sales figure for the Ferrari GTO (another car that made it into the OCTANE big 25) is accurate as well- 28-30 million depending on ownership history, race history, etc. There are only 37 GTOs, I think, and they are all accounted for. The most valuable Daytona coupe would probably be the first one- I think that was the one that spend decades in a storage locker and was involved in all that legal stuff a few years back, described in the SAAC registry. It will be interesting to see what it brings.

I used to think that these cars were so valuable they would never get out on the track. I was wrong. When I was at Monterey in 2003, I saw 1075 out there racing at Laguna Seca, driven by its' owner, Rob Walton. Anyone who has that kind of money for a car has the money to fix it if it gets dinged on the track. So I hope whoever buys the Daytona coupe plans on firing it up and doing some hot laps with it, preferably against contemporary cars, so we can all enjoy it.

Ten figures, indeed; I haven't had enough sleep lately. Sorry about that.

[Tim Kay]

Jim, no need to apologize We've all been exposed to ludicrous numbers lately, seems added zeros here and there aren't supposed to faze us much. At least our beloved politicians feel that way.

[James Doyle]

Mecum is once again offering the Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupe at their upcoming Monterey auction, the one that failed to sell at their Original Spring Auction in May, despite getting bid to $6,800,000.

Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupe to Headline Monterey Sale | Sports Car Digest

Sorry for the cheesy line, but it seems to fit...Once bitten, twice shy?

[Jim Rosenthal]

Well, we'll see, won't we...in 2003 when I watched some of these auctions, I saw cars go for what I thought were inflated prices in the rarefied atmosphere of Pebble Beach/Monterey week....you can get a lot of competitive wealthy people bidding against each other. Mind you, there are fewer wealthy people than there were, and the ones left are less competitive, I suspect. Still, Mecum might get what they want. It'll be entertaining to see.

[Molleur]

I predict a "No sale" at the auction.

[Jim Rosenthal]

I wouldn't argue against you, although it is more likely to sell there than at the previous auction where it appeared. If it doesn't they'd better stop flogging it along, hadn't they- people will get sick of seeing it and the offers will go down, not up.

[Neal]

0714TR sold for 12+ mil at RM along with a number of 7 digit sales. The money is there, maybe it's the venue. Hard to sell a pretty woman when you are standing at the doors of a little whore house...

[Jac Mac]

$7.25 Million.

[Jim Rosenthal]

In the rarefied air of Monterey, amazing things happen.........hope we see the car out and around, and that it gets out on the track and runs.