$42.9 Million Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe Becomes Most Valuable American Car Ever Sold at Auction

A 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe has sold for $42.905 million at Gooding Christie’s Pebble Beach auction, setting a new world record for the most valuable American car ever sold at auction. The historic race car, chassis CSX2300, more than doubled the previous American-car auction record and also became the most valuable automobile ever sold by Gooding Christie’s.

The previous record for an American car had stood at $22 million, set when Gooding sold the ex-Gary Cooper 1935 Duesenberg SSJ at Pebble Beach in 2018. The $42.905 million Cobra Daytona Coupe surpassed that mark by more than $20 million, with Gooding Christie’s describing the increase as 95 percent. It was also the highest-priced vehicle sold across all of the major collector-car auctions held during 2026 Monterey Car Week.

Only six original Cobra Daytona Coupes were built, with the cars created specifically to challenge Ferrari’s 250 GTO in international GT racing. CSX2300 was the third Daytona Coupe completed and made its competition debut at the 1964 Tour de France Automobile with Bob Bondurant and Jochen Neerpasch. It later became an important part of Shelby American’s 1965 FIA GT Championship campaign, the season in which Shelby defeated Ferrari for the title.

Its racing history continued well beyond Shelby American’s factory program. CSX2300 competed at Daytona, Sebring, Nürburgring and Reims before eventually racing in Japan, where it continued competing through 1968. Gooding Christie’s says it is the only Cobra Daytona Coupe that continued its international competition career after the factory program.

The car also carries a particularly important connection to Carroll Shelby himself. After spending years in Japan, CSX2300 was eventually returned to the United States, with historian Michael L. Shoen helping arrange its sale to Shelby in 1975. Shelby kept the car until 1998, making CSX2300 the only one of the six original Daytona Coupes ever personally owned by the man behind Shelby American.

During Shelby’s ownership, the Daytona Coupe was restored to its 1965 specification and appeared at major Shelby gatherings and historic racing events. It later underwent another restoration under collector Larry Bowman, with Gooding Christie’s noting that efforts were made to retain physical evidence of the car’s competition history, including damage and markings connected to its racing past. The current owner has continued to use it at historic events including the Goodwood Revival, Tour Auto and Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Gooding Christie’s had placed an estimate in excess of $25 million on the Cobra before the auction. Its eventual $42.905 million result not only established the American-car record, but also easily surpassed the auction house’s previous overall record.

The Cobra led what became Gooding Christie’s highest-grossing auction in company history. The two-day Pebble Beach sale generated more than $159 million, with 158 lots sold and a 94 percent sell-through rate. Twenty-eight cars topped $1 million, and the average price of the vehicles sold exceeded $1 million. Other major results included a 1963 Ferrari 250 P at $18.705 million, a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Competizione at $8.09 million and a 1952 Ferrari 225 Sport “Tuboscocca” Spider at $4.295 million.