Daytona Cobra stalls at $6.8 million; sale still likely
The legendary Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupe CSX2601 did not meet auction reserve at $6.8 million at Friday auction, but still may still have found a buyer.
Bob Bondurant & Peter Brock stand at the left rear corner of
the car they raced and designed respectively in the early stage
of bidding on Shelby Daytona Cobra CSX 2601 at the Mecum
Spring Classic in Indianapolis, IN on May 15th.
The legendary Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupe CSX2601 raced to $6.8 million at auction last weekend, but then stalled and went unsold.
That is not to say, however, that the car did not ultimately sell. Internal sources indicate that a deal was likely in the neighborhood of $10 million by potential buyers who wanted to keep their interests low key.
Going under the hammer Friday night, the championship race car was expected to garner the highest bid ever paid at public auction for an American automobile. It was the featured car at the 22nd Dana Mecum Original Spring Classic Auction held last weekend in Indianapolis, Ind.
The 1965 Shelby Daytona Cobra was one of six cars built by Carroll Shelby to compete against the dominating Ferrari in the F.I.A. (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile) World Manufacturers Championship for GT race class. An experimental coupe body designed by Pete Brock was built on an existing Cobra chassis, immediately increasing the top speed by 25 mph. That car won its first race, the 1964 Daytona Continental (prompting Shelby to adopt the name), and five more coupes were built, including CSX2601.
After competing at Daytona, Monza, Spa and Nurburgring, CSX2601 made history when it clinched the 1965 World Manufacturers Championship for the United States and Shelby American on July 4 in Reims, France.
Other highlights from the Spring Classic Auction:
No. 1: Lot F248.1 1966 Shelby 427 S/C Cobra Roadster CSX 3034, Sold for $1,165,000
No. 2: Lot F246 1966 Shelby Cobra 427, Ex-Tom Payne Competition Roadster CSX3020, Sold for $1,000,000
No. 3: Lot F248 1967 Shelby GT500 Convertible 428 CI Dual-Quad, Automatic. Only One Built Sold for $825,000
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