Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupe CSX2601 on Mecum block Mecum, an auction company famous for muscle cars, will grace its inaugural Monterey Auction on August 15 at the Hyatt Regency Monterey Resort & Spa with a real Daytona coupe. Actually this car, CSX2601, was rolled across their stage at Mecum's Spring Classic Auction back in May, but the hammer didn't fall on the bid of $6.8 million. Some feel the car should be worth over $10 million but it's the economy. The car is one of six Cobra Daytona Coupes built by Shelby to compete in the 1964 and 1965 FIA World Manufacturers Championship. Mecum says CSX2601 is known as the "championship car" after a win at Reims, France clinched the manufacturer's title. One of the original drivers, Bob Bondurant, has pledged to be at the auction to commemorate its sale. Bondurant runs a very successful race driving school in Arizona. With an aerodynamic fastback shape designed by Peter Brock,a key Shelby employee who earlier had designed the firm's graphics and T-shirts, the Daytona Coupe had a top speed 25 mph higher than the Cobra roadsters --which enabled the car to beat the Ferrari 250GTO's on Europe's faster tracks. Mecum already set a world record sales price for a Cobra earlier, back in 2007 when they sold the ex-Shelby owned 427 "twin Paxton" Cobra that Shelby had built as his own personal get-around-town car. That sold for $5.5 million. The auction will take place at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Monterey, one of five auctions taking place on the Monterey peninsula that weekend. .
To bitzman (W.W.): The $5.5 million Twin-Paxton Shelby Cobra was sold at the B.J. Auction in 2007 , not the Mecum Auction.
Genuine Daytona coupe sold at Monterey I saw the car there but couldn't get close, they had it in a tent all by itself. Maybe they wheeled it on stage for the auction but I couldn't wait until 2 pm. It sold for $7.25 million which was higher than it was bid at Mecum's Spring Classic auction in Indianapolis where it was a no-sale. The championship-winning 1965 Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupe CSX2601 sold for a record $7.25 million on Saturday at an auction in Monterey. This amount bests the $5.5 million paid for Shelby's own twin Paxton supercharged 427 Cobra a couple years ago. Unlike Shelby's twin Paxton car, this one had a real racing history--.Bob Bondurant drove it to victory in the 12 Heures du Reims--fittingly on the Fourth of July in 1965 to secure the FIA title. It was the first championship for an American team in the GT class, beating the Ferrari GTOs. The Cobra had a string of successes that year, winning the GT class at Monza and at the Nürburgring and taking second at Spa. It also later appeared in the movie Redline 7000 and was briefly owned by Bondurant, who sold it in 1969. Bondurant used to drive it around the Hollywood hills, terrorizing everyone except Steve McQueen and James Garner who would sometimes give them a run for his money. There's some pictures of it on this website http://mecum.com/auctions/lot_detail.cfm?LOT_ID=SC0509-79207
