Got $5,000,000 laying around ?

[rob w]

Evel's "Sky Cycle"

Ebay # 330071419482

I'll bet they'd take $4,000,000 though.

Maybe someone could put this into a easy-click formula.

[pakala]

http://tinyurl.com/2fjkox
Evil rocket bike on ebay

[cubfan1968]

I better speak to my wife first. I don't think I could hide this thing in the back room.

Rod Whitman
Omaha, Nebraska
1972 Six Day (Rider)
1972 Six Day (Project)

[DKWRACER]

Buyers Beware "no warranty".....I like to "fly" but in a different way.......
DOH....[][:0][8D]
LT

[TGTech]

I watched Speed News this evening, and they had a blip about the Barrett Jackson auctions this weekend, where they sold one of only two original Shelby Cobras still in existance for over $5 million!

Dane

[OhioTed]

That was Ol' Shel's own, personal Cobra, Dane.  In fact, such is the mystique of Carrol Shelby and his famous cars, that the original Cobra Daytona Coupe reportedly changed hands for 6 mil.  And, this took place about five or six years ago, before all this lunacy and big money over muscle/collector cars really took off.  The entire story is stranger than fiction:  

Shelby's race team built the Daytona Coupe as a more aerodynamic replacement for the original Cobra roadster body style, in order to remain competetive against the Ferraris.  That first car was raced extensively throughout one season, and performed well, despite a fire at one event (my recollection of specifics is a little hazy).  At the end of the race season, Shelby's group used it to set some speed/time/distance records - you know 6 hours at such and such speed, 12 hours at such speed, etc.  

Finally, the car was parked and plans were made to put additional copies into production.  Old #1 was at this point thoroughly whooped.  Shelby reportedly tried to sell it for pennies to his crew chief, who didn't want it.  He said he was sick of working on it, and the car was worn out!  Eventually it was sold, and ended up in the hands of record producer Phil Spector.  Spector lettered the flanks of the car up with (somewhat inaccurate) claims of its racing accomplishments, and drove it on the street.  However, the Daytona was first and foremost a race car, and thus uncomfortable, temperamental, and expensive to just drive around in.  The demands of Specter's business pursuits, and other interests, soon left the car parked and mostly forgotten.

From this point, the facts become a bit muddied, but it has best been determined that the car gravitated into the possesion of an individual who worked for Specter, and was stored at his residence for many years.  Eventually, this man's daughter basically laid claim to the Daytona, and began to entertain the notion of selling it - for big money.  But, how could she do so when the car legally belonged to Specter?

Long about this time, word began to leak out that "a very special Shelby car" was possibly up for sale, and people began to show up at this woman's door to inquire about it.  Carrol Shelby himself found out, and sent his lawyer there to try to purchase it for the Shelby museum.  However, he as well as every other interested party was sent packing.  Meanwhile, the woman's personal life had fallen apart.  She had lost her job, her boyfriend left her, and she was on the verge of losing her home.  Soon after, apparently totally distraught over her personal circumstances, the woman commited suicide.    

With more and more information coming to light, and with the scent of big money in the air, numerous parties moved to locate, secure, and possess the Daytona, including Phil Specter himself, who had forgotten all about the car for years.  Armed with legal documents, attorneys, and the police, the search for the car was on.  

I forget the exact details at this point, but I seem to recall that the Daytona's movements was tracked to several locations, but in each case, it had been moved shortly before the authorities arrived.  The story I read concluded with the presumption that the woman's mother had gotten to the car first, and had most likely sold it quickly, for six million dollars, and that it likely went out of the U.S.

The legal battles were still ongoing at that point, and one of the more intriguing documents was the discovery of the Daytona's title - in the name of the woman who killed herself.  Crazy stuff, but that's the world of big money, and people who can buy and sell automobiles for 5 and 6 million dollars.  

Hope I did justice to this story, from my limited recollections.  I wonder if any more news has ever come about?  I've heard nothing about it since that story, which appeared in Car & Driver 4 or 5 years ago.  Interesting stuff.  Sorry to get so far off Penton topics.  

Note, I understand that Carrol Shelby is the world's longest surviving heart transplant patient - and that he is on transplant # 2.

[MattyQ]

Wow great recollection , sounds like a good book!

Q

Matthew Quinlan