Legend starter makes $ 19m

FIRST SHELBY COBRA BREAKS DOLLAR RECORD AT MONTEREY CAR WEEK AUCTION

Monterey Car Week, where the elite stroll around golf courses and the like, nodding sagely at impossibly rare and expensive cars, carries a bit of a reputation as a big spender’s mecca.

Numerous classic car auctions during the festivities see iconic metal changing hands for sums akin to the GDP of small African nations.

And this year’s event in the Northern Californian oceanside enclave last week, was no exception.

In fact, one particular car sold under the hammer for an especially cravat- tightening, monocle- popping price, becoming the most expensive American- built car to sell at auction.

Mind you, it was the Shelby Cobra; the one that started the legend. So fair’s fair in love and chequebooks.

The 1962 Shelby 260 Cobra — known among Cobra aficionados as the CSX 2000 — sold for US$ 13.75 million at auction — almost $ 19m in Kiwi terms. The auction record for American metal was previously held by a 1968 Ford GT40 of some provenance, which changed hands for US$ 11m.

What was to become the CSX 2000 was imported from AC Cars in the UK without a motor. Carroll Shelby and his buddy Dean Moon fitted a 260 cubic inch V8 and a Ford four- speed gearbox and Hey Presto! Shelby Cobra! Well, more or less. magazine tested the car at the time and discovered it had a 0- 100 km/ h time of just over four seconds. In 1962.

That is, let us remind you, a sprint time that many manufacturers would be perfectly happy to achieve 54 years later in a modern performance car.

The CSX 2000 remained in the Shelby family collection until recently and was sold by RM Sotheby auctions last week to an undisclosed buyer. He or she has certainly added a true pioneer of American muscle- car culture to their collection.

We can’t help but wonder if a Mr Leno of Los Angeles was attending that auction perhaps?