A New Price for American Pride
European cars have long commanded eye-watering sums at auction, led by the 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé, which sold for €135 million – about $142.9 million at the time – in 2022. American cars have historically fetched far less, but a recent Monterey Car Week sale has raised the bar dramatically.
A 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe sold for $42,905,000 at the Gooding Christie’s Pebble Beach Auctions. The result makes it the most expensive American car ever sold at auction, beating the previous record holder, a 1935 Duesenberg SSJ that sold for $22 million. In a fitting twist, the Daytona Coupe was specifically designed for international GT racing to beat the Ferrari 250 GTO, another vehicle known for eight-figure prices. One reportedly changed hands privately for $70 million in 2018.
The Cobra Went Hunting
In the early 1960s, Peter Brock, Shelby American’s first paid employee, designed a closed-top body for the Shelby Cobra after the open-top roadster struggled with aerodynamic drag on high-speed circuits. CSX2300, the car recently sold in California, was the third of six Daytona Coupes built and the only one personally owned by Carroll Shelby.
Shelby American eventually won the 1965 FIA International Championship for GT Manufacturers, a landmark achievement that made it the first American manufacturer to win an FIA world championship and fulfilled Shelby’s dream of beating Ferrari. Regulatory changes soon made the Daytona Coupes obsolete, while Shelby shifted his focus to Ford’s GT40 program.
CSX2300 passed through several owners and raced in Japan before returning to the U.S. under Shelby’s ownership in 1975. During his ownership, the car was restored to its 1965 championship-season specifications. But in the late 1990s, a complicated series of financial transactions meant Shelby had to let go of the car, after which it was entrusted to a new generation of owners.
Rewriting The Record Books
The $42.9 million result, well above its estimate of more than $25 million, places the Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe atop the list of most expensive American cars, ahead of the 1935 Duesenberg SSJ ($22 million), 1962 Shelby 260 Cobra ($13.75 million), and 1968 Ford GT40 Gulf/Mirage Lightweight ($11 million).
Across the broader 2026 Monterey Car Week auctions, it was also the week’s biggest sale, ahead of the 2026 Ferrari Luce Tailor Made (chassis 0) at $40 million and a 1996 McLaren F1 GTR (chassis 10R) – owned by Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason – at $34.655 million.
