Let’s do a bit of scenario play to liven up your Tuesday. Suppose you owned an original classic car in your garage for say, 40 plus years. You’ve been it's only owner in all of that time. What would you expect it to be worth?
Well, we’ve had a glimpse into what might be for those of us who do own a vintage motor in their personal fleet, as an original 1965 Cobra, owned by the much respected American automotive designer Carroll Shelby, has just sold at auction in the United States this last week for a spectacular amount.
The Cobra, which was Shelby’s personal one that he bought brand new over 50 years ago, went under the hammer at Mecum’s Kissimmee sale on Saturday (16th January) for a whopping $5.94m (£4.36m), making it one of the highest prices ever paid for an American car.
Part of its high value was the fact that, until his death in 2012, Shelby was its original owner for at least the first 46 years of its lifetime. It was frequently cited by his biographers as ‘one of the crown jewels in his personal collection’.
It was considered to be the ‘big brother’ to Shelby’s CSX2000 Cobra, which itself recently came under the gavel for $14m (£10.2m). The bidding war was certainly a tight one from reports at the auction; opening at $2m, it quickly escalated to its final value in just five minutes!
According to Shelby’s original invoice, the Cobra - which he had shipped over from the UK, where it was built and assembled by AC Cars - was bought for $6,273. Quite the return on investment we’re sure you’ll agree.
And although Shelby modified it a number of times over the years, when it was purchased by the consignor in 2016, they fully restored to its original specifications in 2019, which undoubtedly also plays a factor in its final value.
At Driving Experience, we offer the opportunity to drive an AC Cobra not too dissimilar to this - without the high end price tag - on a variety of Classic Car driving experiences from as little as £45. Why not head on over to our Classic Cars page today to book yours through available dates and gift vouchers?
