The owner of this 1964 Shelby 289 Cobra had this car for 40 years. He didn’t invest in upkeep, a fair complaint, but all what the owner had to do was keep the car in a barn for four decades in order to make a million bucks!
It will be up for auction this weekend in Scottsdale, offered by Gooding & Company for — wait for it — upwards of $1.4 million.
You may wonder how come this dirty-looking piece of junk could worth all this. the answer is simply because this rare American sports value derives largely from its current less-than-perfect condition.
It’s what’s known in the car collecting world as a “barn find.” American motorsports legend Carroll Shelby is responsible for this diamond in the rough. He created his Shelby Cobras in the 1960s, and over the decades they’ve become some of most most desirable collectibles. They combine a kind of raw American spirit with smooth, lightly European style.
It’s the Holy Grail of car collectors who pursue pure examples of their dream cars — cars that haven’t been messed with or modified. Cars that can serve as the basis for loving restorations.
