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The SHELBY AMERICAN
RUMORS RUN RAMPANT
RM TO AUCTION OFF CSX2000
All eyes will be on the RM
Sotheby’s auction in Monterey in Au-
gust as the very first Cobra, CSX2000,
goes across the block. By some amaz-
ing stroke of – depending on who you
talk to, either genius or luck – the car
never left Carroll Shelby’s ownership.
It has been touted as the most [
you
pick one
] valuable, significant, desir-
able or historic Cobra of them all. And
with some justification. Shelby never
parted with it, although at times dur-
ing the 1970s and early 1980s, he had
it buried in a corner of his warehouse,
an afterthought to a history rife with
excitement and punctuated by howl-
ing Daytona Coupes, thumping 427
Cobra S/Cs, screaming Ford GT40s
and thousands of Shelby Mustangs.
Just prior to his death on May 10,
2012, many of Shelby’s affairs were re-
organized. A family trust was created
to shelter some of his assets from
being consumed by taxes, among them
CSX2000. Since the announcement
that the first Cobra was to be auc-
tioned off, rumors sprang up linking
that decision to a slump in business at
Shelby American, Inc. and the re-
ported layoff of thirty employees. Not
understood by many people is the fact
that the financial fortunes of the com-
pany (Shelby American, Inc.) and the
trust (the Carroll Hall Shelby Family
Trust) are entirely separate. When
CSX2000 is sold, nothing from that
will go into the company’s coffers.
It is interesting that despite
Shelby’s fifteen year association with
Barrett-Jackson and his reported good
friendship with Craig Jackson, the car
was consigned to the RM Sotheby auc-
tion house. Sotheby’s represents the
pinnacle of automobile auctions in this
country, noted for the quality of the
cars in their auctions – compared to
Barrett-Jackson, which is better
known for quantity and the spectacle
with which the cars are presented.
The decision to sell the car
through RM Auctions was explained
by Joe Conway, one of the CHS Trust’s
co-trustees (the other being Neil Cum-
mings, Shelby’s long time lawyer and
business partner). Conway, who mar-
ried one of Shelby’s nieces in 1971, had
an extensive business background
when he was invited by CS in 2009 to
run Shelby American, Inc. Cummings
is the CEO of Carroll Shelby Licensing
which handles copyright and trade-
mark matters. Both companies are
wholly-owned subsidiaries of Carroll
Shelby International, a publicly-
traded company on the NASDAQ
(symbol “CSBI”). Conway and Cum-
mings both serve as co-CEOs of Car-
roll Shelby International.
“
Carroll and Rob Myers
[founder
and CEO of RM Auctions]
discussed
Cobra #1 many times, and they were
good friends. Their agreement, that
Rob would offer the car for Carroll’s
Trust after he was gone, was a very
emotional one for both of them.”
said
Conway.
“Neil Cummings and I are
now simply carrying out Carroll’s
wishes, with no disrespect meant to
the other individuals who meant so
much to Carroll and did so much for
his business and his Foundation over
the years.”
The value of CSX2000 has been
the subject of speculation for years.
Shelby once claimed that he was of-
fered $20M by a Japanese business-
man and turned him down. He also
said an Arab Sheik was willing to pay
$25M for the car. While neither claim
can be verified, that could well be the
price when the hammer comes down
in August.
Summer 2016 1