1962 Shelby 260 Cobra ‘CSX 2000’ Heads to Auction
Images by Darin Schnabel courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
The original Shelby Cobra, Carroll Shelby’s 1962 Shelby 260 Cobra ‘CSX 2000’, will head to auction this August at RM Sotheby’s’ Monterey sale.
Sold directly from the Carroll Hall Shelby Trust, CSX 2000 was built and owned by the great Carroll Shelby – and it’s a one owner car.
Shelby built the car with a small team in his garage in Santa Fe Spring, California. They dropped a cutting-edge 260bhp, 260 cubic inch Ford V8 into a modified AC Ace chassis, sprung the car with independent front and rear suspension and kept it all in check with front disc and rear inboard disc brakes.
In doing so, they created one of America’s definitive automobiles. It was powerful, light and gorgeous – and it could move. RM’s specs quote 0-100 in 4.2 seconds, a standing quarter mile in 13.8 seconds and a top speed of 153 miles per hour.
The one-of-a-kind car was a platform for testing and development, but it was also used in marketing. The keys were handed over to motoring press, and the car was shown across the United States promoting the then-upstart Shelby American company. And the plucky upstarts were cheeky with their promotion! They gave CSX 2000 a new coat of paint and colour for many of its appearances to create the impression that multiple Cobras had been built.
Meanwhile, they got to work actually building them.
CSX 2000 led an active and high profile life, and is an extremely hard working car. And it still bears the patina of that life, which is absolutely wonderful. It remained in Shelby’s ownership throughout the rest of his life and eventually went into the Carroll Hall Shelby Trust. It has spent its recent years on feature display at the Shelby Heritage Center in Las Vegas.
In 2012 it joined the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Shelby Cobra at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion and more.
It will go up for auction at RM Sotheby’s’ Monterey sale, where it will sell direct from the Carroll Hall Shelby Trust. You’re going to need to bring a bankbook with a lot of zeros on the end for this one.
Images by Darin Schnabel courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
