While much of Monterey Car Week formally consists of static display, just because cars are parked doesn’t mean things aren’t happening. Some cars debut here, some of them compete, and some of them change hands. Often for record figures. While the internet was going bonkers about the first Ferrari Luce selling in a charity auction for $40 million, something just as wild happened: A Shelby Daytona Coupe set a new record for the most expensive American car ever sold at auction. And oh boy, did it ever smash the previous benchmark.
The Shelby Daytona Coupe was built to deal with a problem, and the problem in question was the Mulsanne Straight. Before the chicanes went in, this 3.7-mile straight at Le Mans was a hair-raising test of just how fast a car could go. The Shelby Cobra was a rocket, but just below 160 MPH, it hit its aerodynamic limit. That left plenty of time for the Ferrari 250 GTO to simply blow past. The solution was a new body designed by Peter Brock, one with a tapered nose, a sloping roofline, and a cut-off kammtail. It wasn’t perfect, but it was good enough for 186 MPH on its first outing.
Exactly six original Shelby Daytona Coupes were built, and the third one gained some initial pedigree when it retired from racing. Alan Mann Racing got chassis CSX2300 to a class podium at the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans, after which it was returned to Shelby, repainted, and ended up in Carroll Shelby’s personal fleet. The last time it changed hands was in 2000 for $4.4 million, or $8.5 million adjusted for inflation. Care to see what an extra 26 years actually did?
As you’d probably expect, this Daytona Coupe didn’t sell for $8.5 million. It also didn’t sell for $15 million or $25 million. Instead, when the gavel dropped at Gooding Christie’s Pebble Beach auction, the final figure landed at $39 million before auction fees. A cool $1 million less than the first Ferrari Luce.
Alright, that’s a flawed comparison, so here’s one that isn’t: The next-most-expensive American car to sell at auction was a 1935 Duesenberg SSJ, which sold at Gooding & Company’s 2018 Pebble Beach auction for $22 million. Adjusted for inflation, that works out to about $29.3 million in today’s dollars. The next-closest car to that was none other than CSX2000, the very first Shelby Cobra. It sold at RM Sotheby’s 2016 Monterey auction for $13,750,000, or about $19.1 million adjusted for inflation. You could almost buy it twice-over for what the first Daytona Coupe sold for.
In hindsight, a record-setting value for an American car probably should’ve been expected. The Daytona Coupe is seriously rare and has huge pedigree. An example hasn’t sold at auction since 2009, and the collector car landscape has changed massively over the past 17 years. Figures that were once reserved for classic Ferraris are now just the sticker prices of modern ultra-high-end exotic cars. Meanwhile, four of the five-most-expensive cars to sell at auction and seven of the ten-most-expensive cars to sell at auction achieved their current rank in the pantheon of affluence in the past five years.
So then, is this a bubble waiting to pop? Probably not in the case of the Daytona Coupe. Sure, there was an enormous Ferrari bubble in the 1980s that eventually popped. The same sort of thing happened to muscle cars around the time of the Great Recession, and both those events have something in common with each other that the Daytona Coupe doesn’t share, otherwise known as volume. When only six of an extremely desirable thing exist in the world, the queue of willing buyers stretches out the door. It’s a proper blue-chip car, and this one’s likely just the most expensive American car sold at auction yet.
Top graphic image: Gooding Christie’s
Crazy that someone held onto it for 26 years, that feels almost unheard of to me. Wonder what they did with it for that time. Did they drive it at all?
Pretty sure I saw that car or it’s doppelganger carving its way up the Angeles Crest highway once upon a time.
The right bidder were in the room or online for the seller. It’s art it’s history it’s rare they aren’t making any more. But the kit car versions look nice too.
You know someone in the Luce thread made the argument it wasn’t actually the money that was making people upset, just the car. Judging by the lack of “eat the rich” comments in this thread, I’m inclined to agree.
The car or the situation. People accept certain rare things go for a lot of money. When “priceless” museum pieces end up with a price everyone knows it’s going to be a lot of money. This is a priceless museum piece that was just valued by the market. There likely isn’t some quid pro quo going on from a private seller that is offering a single rare item up for auction. A brand new production car that retails for 1/80th what was paid, that gets people thinking. If it had been 10x or even 20x retail like some other first vins auctioned off for charity I’m not sure it would have been the same response.
I hear what you’re saying. I’m referring to all the comments along the lines of “no one should have enough money to spend 40 million on a car.” Either $40 million on a car is obscene or it’s not. Sure you can say it’s too much for that car but that’s a subjective opinion. Clearly others felt otherwise (confounding as that might be).
We can speculate on the motives of the buyer, however there were multiple other people offering stupid money which makes me doubt there was something nefarious going on (other than maybe everyone involved seeing the value of the tax write-off and/or getting in Ferrari’s good graces). I know it’s (a lot) more, but it’s hard to make the case $40 million is absurd vs the $35 million the second highest bidder put up. The whole thing is nuts to me, but it seems like $40 million is the market value of the first Luce.
Eat the rich.
I’m with you.
My thinking is the Ferrari did $20m and the buyer valued getting in with Ferrari at $20m. Figure the car stickers with all the special nonsense for close to $1m. 20x that as the high side of charity auction of first vin so $20m. It also works half and half which seems fair as it’s almost certainly a component. In a way it’s similar to how Tesla’s with “sc01″ lifetime free super charging currently do about $7k better then ones with out. There was a time that was about $20k difference.
The Shelby is cut and dry it made $39m. The other 5 cars will have to adjust their value until another one meets the hammer and trades for more or less. Just like when a piece of art sells for more then similar pieces have in the past.
$20m ” donation” to get in a manufacturers order book for future models that’s part of the logic there that makes people uncomfortable.
for consideration. A billion dollars sitting in a MM at 3.5% yields 35 million. So weirdly 40 million may be a rounding error for this guy. However. Yes eat the Rich
It’s nice but it ain’t no 1990 Dodge Daytona.
It’s amazing that five letters drastically changes the value of a car.
“I have a Shelby Daytona”
“Holy shit! For real?”
“Yeah, my dad’s Dodge Shelby Daytona. No lowballers. I know what I got”
Gotta love it.
Drag coefficient of 0.29. The Factory Five replicas make for excellent EV conversions since the frontal area is also low.
There is an unrestored one in the brilliant Simeone collection in Philadelphia – amazing thing.
My favorite, despite the tragic backstory.
I’m curious. What’s the backstory?
I’m assuming it’s the example that was daily driven around LA by a women who eventually committed suicide in a pretty horrific way.
Correct. Jellopicnik did a story on it, but damned if I can find it.
Found it! Not a lot about the woman, but… Down at the bottom, in the section titled “World’s Greatest Barn Find”.
https://www.jalopnik.com/shelby-cobra-daytona-coupe-281644/
It was daily driven in LA by Phil Spector. He was getting too many speeding tickets, so he sold it to his bodyguard, who at some point passed it to his daughter, Donna O’Hara. She put it in storage for decades and refused to even talk about it. Then one day, for reasons still unknown, doused herself in gasoline and lit a match. Then there was a big legal dispute about who actually inherited the car from her.
https://www.nvsaac.com/gallery/missing_daytona_coupe.htm
That happened in my hometown on an equestrian trail (Juanita Cooke Trail/Fullerton Loop) under the Las Palmas overpass. It was shocking back then. I still ride that trail and it’s weird going up there past the lake. Very sad but intriguing story.
I’m down in Costa Mesa not far from Harbor Blvd. I had no idea it happened so close to me.
That IS a tragic backstory. I lived one summer in Placentia, about four miles from that spot on the trail. But that was a few years before all this happened.
Ah yeah, that’s right, it’s been a while since I’ve thought about this story.
CSX2287, the initial prototype, the only car with an American-built body, and the car that set multiple records at Bonneville.
The Simeone is close enough I *could* go see it, but just far enough that it would be a rather difficult drive. I’ve been wanting to for years. The Daytona is my absolute favourite.
factory five type65 coupe costs much less, similarly compelling performance and styling.
Probably would have broken $40m if they’d scraped all those old stickers off. Presentation is everything, people!
Just add a prancing horse to it, would have tipped to $40MM
I hope the new owners adds some Grassroots Motorsports magazine decals to the sides.
(Thanks for approving my post 17hrs later for some reason.)
…but but but don’t they add a few extra horsepower?
Those aren’t stickers they are provinance. They prove the history of this particular car
I wouldn’t think I needed an “/s” tag for that post.
But think of all the horsepower they would have lost doing so!
I mean, if anything is going to be the most expensive American car, the Shelby Daytona definitely deserves it. It’s beautiful, has great history and is from one of the most famous people in the whole industry.
I think the only way it could be worth more is if this was Elvis’ car or something