A 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe, chassis CSX2300, sold through Gooding Christie's for $42.905 million. The auction house identifies the result as a new world auction record for an American car. The previous benchmark was the $22 million paid for a Duesenberg SSJ in 2018.
CSX2300 is one of only six Cobra Daytona Coupes built. The cars were created to challenge Ferrari's 250 GTO in GT racing. This example debuted at the 1964 Tour de France Automobile with Bob Bondurant and Jochen Neerpasch, then took part in Shelby American's 1965 FIA GT championship season.
Its competition life did not end with the factory program. CSX2300 moved to Japan and became the only Daytona Coupe to continue a serious racing career beyond Shelby American's works effort, competing there through 1968 before eventually returning to the United States.
Another important piece of provenance is its connection to Carroll Shelby himself. Shelby owned CSX2300 from 1975 until 1998, and Gooding states that it was the only Daytona Coupe ever personally owned by its creator.
The $42.905 million sale also made CSX2300 the most valuable car Gooding Christie's has auctioned. The result shows how the very top of the collector market rewards a combination of extreme rarity, documented period competition history and direct association with the figure behind the marque.