On May 15, 2009 on live television the Mecum Auction offered at a reserve price a 1965 Shelby Daytona Coupe. All the hype before the big day indicated that the sellers were hoping to strike it rich, even in this recessionary period. The Guardsman Blue and White sleek beauty, with a race-worthy black interior sported a 289 cubic inch engine producing a reported 390 horsepower mated to a four speed, of course.
This coupe had competed for the F.I.A. - (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile) - world championship amongst the various car manufacturers and on July 4th, 1965 (how fitting), American Bob Bondurant drove this car, across the finish line at the 12 Heures du Reims in France for the overall F.I.A. Championship. The car was since restored to how it looked when it won the championship and is one of six ever made.
Bob Bondurant continued racing and eventually opened up the Bob Bondurant Driving School first in California and now in Chandler, AZ. To help build up the exposure for this car, Bondurant earlier this year drove this coupe around his race track and was even there on the Indianapolis auction grounds.
At some auctions, cars can be sold with reserves, meaning if the car doesn’t get to a set price, the car won’t be sold. That is what happened here at the 22nd Annual Mecum Auction in Indiana. The bidding started at $4 million and quickly went to $6.5 million and finally stalled with a final bid of $6.8 million. But, the owner expected more and refused to sell it for that price. Now the Shelby didn’t win its first race while competing for the world championship, so maybe it was fitting it also didn’t sell now at it’s first offering.
While Mecum was hoping for a homerun, it turns out a world record price was set that same weekend in Italy where a 1957 Ferrari 250 TR sold for an amazing $12,122,550. I’m going out on a limb, and guessing you’ll find plenty of bargains in this issue compared to that!
See ya’ on the road!