A 1966 Shelby Cobra "Super Snake," once owned by Carol Shelby himself, was sold at auction for $5.5 million. Bidders competed in front of a packed house at the 36th Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction on Saturday, with two keen buyers pushing the price upwards to create a brand new record for an American car. The winning bidder was car collector Ron Pratt, who has previously paid over $4 million for a futuristic bus concept built by General Motors in the 1940’s.
Shelby, now 84, developed and raced the Super Snake Cobra during the 1960’s using a Ford engine in a light-weight sports car chassis from the UK. To develop its massive 800hp output, the Super Snake employed a pair of supercharges on the 427 cubic inch V8. "It's a special car. It would do just over three seconds to 60mph 40 years ago," Shelby told the crowd before the sale. "I killed a buzzard with it - nasty, nasty."