46 / 103
mile tours, meaning its owners did not
turn the healthy snake into a drive-
way dolly or trailer trolley.
The second I finish loadin’ up the
ol’ memory chip with the fantastic 427
pics, right on cue, the third Cobra on
the R/M Sotheby docket slowly rum-
bles right past me under the direction
of an auction crew member. A blazer-
attired gentleman was literally walk-
ing in front of the little 289 to guide its
driver to a designated parking space.
I fully expected him to begin shouting,
“
Make way, make way for the royal
carriage!
” Well, that would have been
a bit over the top, but it would have
sounded really cool. Anyway, I simply
fall in behind the elegant little white-
on-red snakelet, and begin to trip the
light fantastic to where it finally rests
its wheels in the protective shade of a
long line of welcome trees.
Because of my brazen intrusion
into the one auction employee, one
great looking Cobra, one baggy-eyed,
gray-haired, camera carrying inter-
loper parade, I was easily able to
squeeze in a lot of quality picture tak-
ing before the looky-loos assault oc-
curred. I shouldn’t talk negatively of
my looky-loo brethren, but I have more
photos of gorgeous Cobras with the
elbow, nose, forehead, hip, or foot of
some gawkin’ fool pokin’ into the pic-
ture. Trust me, I know some of my
body parts have been inadvertently
thrust into the frame of many a poor
picture takers’ lens, but it still ticks
me off. Probably because, it’s all about
me.
This fine example of an aluminum
beauty is a clean, lean, “meaner ‘n a
snake” 1964 Shelby 289 Cobra, but it
is also special in its own right. Getting
out the trusty ol’ RM/Sotheby cata-
logue for the third time, it states this
particular asp has a well-documented
history in the SAAC World Registry,
and was recently sorted (at the cost of
$38,000) in order to be driven success-
fully on the Copperstate 1000. It was
originally a factory demonstrator with
numerous correct accessories, includ-
ing a C-4 automatic transmission, a
feature reportedly fitted to fewer than
20 Cobras by the factory. It is cur-
rently equipped with a proper, all-alu-
minum Borg-Warner four-speed T-10
transmission; however, all of the parts
for the automatic transmission come
with the purchase of the car. Smart
consignor, making sure all the original
parts not on the car, are “in the box, in
the car.”
Wednesday, January 27th
– Bonhams
Having cruised sloooowly through
the RM/Sotheby preview, I have to
beat feet (aka rental car) on over to
The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa
(maybe a facial–not!), where Bonhams’
just happens to have a 2006 Ford GT
with less than 300 miles on the odome-
ter. I don’t know about you guys, but
there is absolutely, positively, no way
in Hades I could have bought one of
America’s best examples of a true,
modern day super car, only to let it sit
in the garage. Can you imagine buying
one of these brand, spankin’ new bad
boys equipped with a DOHC super-
charged 550hp engine, 6-speed man-
ual transaxle, 4-wheel independent
suspension, 4-wheel disc brakes, and
then putting only 30 miles per year on
the open road over a 10 year period?
Not me baby, Pacific Coast Highway
One, here I come!
Walking into the Bonham’s en-
trance tent, I sort of become privy to
the ol’ TMI (Too Much Information)
awkwardness, because it’s just me, the
young man collecting the preview fee,
a cheap at twice the price $20, and a
rather irate potential previewer. The
gentleman, although the language he
was using wasn’t exactly gentlemanly,
was with a party of six, and could not
possibly see the “who, why, what,
where, when” behind the exorbitant
fee being charged to gain entrance to
the preview. The young man handled
the situation perfectly (they couldn’t
pay me enough), and the gentleman
“harrumphed” out, his embarrassed
party in tow.
The SHELBY AMERICAN
Spring 2016 46
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