Monterey Car Week

Record auction price for an American car: Carroll’s Shelby beats the Ferraris: $43 million

The 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupé that once belonged to Carroll Shelby has become the most expensive American car ever sold at auction. The CSX2300 chassis was sold at Gooding Christie’s in Pebble Beach for $42.905 million, becoming one of the highlights of a record-breaking 2026 Monterey Car Week.

by Alfonso Rizzo

18 August 2026

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Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe del 1964, telaio CSX2300. (Foto ufficiale Gooding Christie’s)

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

It is no longer simply a week dedicated to the world’s most beautiful, rare and expensive cars. Monterey Car Week has become the true international barometer of high-end car collecting. And the 2026 edition has raised the bar even higher, with total sales at the major auctions reaching around $750 million and a series of record-breaking bids.

In this landscape, where classic cars, contemporary hypercars and one-off models now compete to win over major international collectors, the undisputed star of the show was an American car built to beat Ferrari: the 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupé, chassis CSX2300.

A Cobra worth 42.9 million dollars

Sold by Gooding & Christie’s at the Pebble Beach auction, the Daytona Coupé was sold for $42,905,000, including commission, following a hammer price of $39 million. The estimate was simply given as ‘over $25 million’.

It is a figure that reshapes the hierarchy of American collecting. The Cobra Daytona has in fact become the most expensive American car ever sold at auction, far exceeding the 13.205 million paid in 2025 for a 1966 Ford GT40 Mk II.

And, above all, it brings an American car into a market segment normally dominated by Ferrari’s great masterpieces.

CSX2300, numero di gara 187, al debutto nel Tour de France Automobile, settembre 1964. (Foto courtesy of Maurice Louche)

Carroll Shelby’s weapon against the Ferrari 250 GTO

Its value cannot be explained by rarity alone. Just six examples of the Cobra Daytona Coupé were built, designed to overcome the aerodynamic limitations of the Cobra roadster and take on the Ferrari 250 GTO head-on in the World Gran Turismo Championship.

The bodywork was designed by Peter Brock around the Cobra’s mechanical layout, featuring the distinctive truncated tail that allowed for significantly higher speeds than the roadster. It was a racing car that was brutal in its mechanics yet sophisticated in its aerodynamics: a Ford V8, low weight and a body designed essentially to go faster on European straights.

The breakthrough came in 1965, when Shelby American won the FIA GT World Championship, beating Ferrari. It was a historic milestone for American motorsport and, in a way, foreshadowed the subsequent epic battle between Ford and Ferrari at Le Mans.

CSX2300: a story unlike any other

What makes the car sold at Pebble Beach so exceptional is, above all, its history. The CSX2300 made its debut in the 1964 Tour de France Automobile with Bob Bondurant and Jochen Neerpasch and competed in the 1965 Shelby American world championship season. It subsequently continued its racing career in Japan until 1968, a unique case amongst the Daytona Coupes following the end of the official Shelby programme.

But there is an even more important factor when it comes to its collectable value: Carroll Shelby bought it back in 1975 and kept it himself until 1998. It is the only Daytona Coupé to have belonged to its creator. A provenance that is virtually impossible to replicate and is a decisive factor when it comes to cars of this calibre.

CSX2300, numero 27, insieme a CSX2601, numero 26, alla 12 Ore di Reims del 4 luglio 1965, stagione del Campionato mondiale FIA GT. (Foto courtesy of the Revs Institute)

Collecting celebrates history and uniqueness

The auction result also reflects how the market is changing. In Monterey, it is no longer enough simply to be a rare supercar: to reach the tens of millions price bracket, a car needs a sporting history, authenticity, a very limited production run and an exceptional provenance.

The CSX2300 has all these features. In 2009, another Daytona Coupe, the CSX2601, was sold for $7.685 million; seventeen years on, the $42.9 million figure demonstrates just how much the recognition of America’s most iconic competition cars has grown.

And there is almost a sense of historical irony. Sixty years ago, Carroll Shelby built the Daytona to take on the Ferraris on the track. Today, his Cobra is competing with the most valuable Ferraris in the auction rooms too. In Monterey, the old battle continues, but now it’s a battle fought with millions of dollars.