After A $42.9 Million Sale, The Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe Is Now The Most Expensive American Car Ever Sold At Auction

Another Monterey Car Week has come and gone, with hundreds of millions of dollars being spent on vehicles on the auction block. Amid the spending spree, a jaw-dropping record sale proved to be the highlight of the occasion. A 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe sold for $42,905,000 at Gooding Christie's Pebble Beach Auctions. The historic racecar became the most expensive American car ever sold at auction, shattering the previous mark of $22 million set by a 1935 Duesenberg SSJ in 2018.

This specific Shelby Daytona made its competitive debut at the 1964 Tour de France Automobile. With Bob Bondurant and Jochen Neerpasch behind the wheel, chassis number CSX2300 failed to finish the grueling event. A pair of Ferrari 250 GTOs would claim a 1-2 victory, but Shelby would eventually defeat the Prancing Horse. The American performance automaker would win the 1965 FIA GT Championship with the Daytona Coupe. After the victorious season, the program was shuttered as Carroll Shelby focused his efforts on the Ford GT40. The auctioned chassis found its way to Japan the following year, where it was raced domestically and regularly driven on the street.

The eye-watering $42.9 million sale was largely due to the rarity of this Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe. Only six coupes were ever built, and this car was the only one ever to be raced by a privateer in period. After eight years in Japan, Carroll Shelby bought this Daytona Coupe and returned it to the United States. It was the only Daytona Coupe personally owned by Shelby, further amplifying its collector's value.

The Peter Brock-designed sports car hasn't been collecting dust over the past decades. It has appeared twice at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and three times at the Goodwood Revival. The coupe even returned to France to contest the Tour Auto, now purely an event for historic cars. The Daytona Coupe was arguably Caroll Shelby's most prized possession, considering how highly he held his 1965 championship. He once said, "I don't believe that anything in my own racing career, including winning Le Mans, was more gratifying than winning that championship."