Carroll Shelby’s Daytona is for sale

You are going to need to dig deep!

Fresh from his own Cobra 427 hitting incredible heights of just shy of $6m with Mecum in Kissimmee, another of Carroll Shelby’s former personal steeds has hit the market.

This time it is his Daytona Coupe, CSX 2469, for private sale with Auburn, Indiana-based sale house Worldwide Auctioneers.

If you need to ask…

Naturally, when a car like this comes to market, the price is not for public eyes...

As the saying goes,‘if you need to ask, you can’t afford it’.

On average, though, you're looking at $2m for an excellent example, and $2.3m for a concours car, according to Hagerty.

Multi-million model

In 2009, at Mecum’s sale at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in Monterey, California, CSX2601 sold for a huge $7.25m.

Its estimate had been even more eye-watering: $10-15m.

Though there is unrivalled provenance, that could be a distant benchmark because it started out as a roadster before being rebodied.

Verified

The Shelby link is completely verified, too, because in the history file is the title document listing his name and address.

Also in there is a signed letter from Shelby stating the car’s $1.5m value in 2000.

Carroll’s commission

Only six of the factory Coupes were built by Shelby and Carrozzeria Gransport and raced, while Carroll commissioned Mike McCluskey to build the Daytona body on to CSX2469.

Champion roll call

Since then, some great sports racers and even world champions have graced its cockpit in historic racing.

Among them is 1961 Formula One World Champion Phil Hill and his son Derek, along with ‘Spin and Win’ Indy 500 victor Danny Sullivan.

Historic racer

Brits Derek Bell and Brian Redman, both sports car racing greats in their own right, have piloted this car, too.

Bell raced the car to the podium in 2003 in the famous Monterey historic race meeting at Laguna Seca, finishing second after brake problems dropped him from the lead.

The Ford V8

Beneath the hood is a 4868cc V8, up on the original via a slightly increased bore.

With added power

Not only that, electronic ignition has been added. 

More importantly, though, it also gained a Daytona sports exhaust system from the factory to make it even more potent.

Designs on Daytona

The Daytona was designed by Peter Brock, and built and refined with the help of fabricator John Ohlson and racer Ken Miles.

It takes its name from the great twice-round-the-clock race in Florida, winning its class in 1965.

Out the box fast

From the off the Daytona Cobra was a relative success, with the often-overlooked Dave MacDonald helping the first of the Coupes to a class win at Sebring in 1963.

He shared the car with Al Holbert, whose long career included three wins at Le Mans.

Comfort as standard

The car was designed to fit drivers of all shapes and sizes, so it is no surprise the 6ft 3in team founder wanted one of his own in 1965, when he took delivery of the car.

A few careful owners

Shelby kept the car for years, and the current owner even bought it directly from the Texan.

The FIA papers list Larry Acheson and Cobra Experience founder Drew Serb as previous owners, too.

Showstopper

Whether the next owner hides the car away or takes it racing remains to be seen.

One thing is for sure, it will be more than welcome at any major event on either side of the Atlantic.

Get it before it’s gone

Better known for its auctions, Worldwide’s next sale will be at its base in Indiana on 23-24 April.

The Cobra is available now though, if your pockets are deep enough.