Carroll Shelby’s first Cobra broke an auction record this past weekend at RM Sotheby’s Monterey auction. The winning bid of $12.5 million, plus $1.25 million in fees, secured its place in history as the most paid at auction for an American car.

By literally stuffing a 260 cubic-inch V8 under the hood of this car, Carroll Shelby created one of the most coveted muscle cars ever built. Several other Shelby’s have auctioned for over a million dollars in recent years but none as lofty as CSX2000.

“When it comes to American sports cars, CSX 2000 is without peers. Its historical significance and impact on the global sports car scene cannot be overstated,” says Shelby Myers, Car Specialist, RM Sotheby’s. “In the automotive world, CSX 2000 was the shot heard ‘round the world; it revolutionized not only American racing, but the greater auto industry as a whole. Had Carroll Shelby never decided to squeeze that high performance V-8 into its engine bay, there would be no Cobra and certainly no Shelby American, nor GT40, nor the others that followed. The automotive landscape and sports cars as we know them would be very different.”

Few cars are as legendary as this one. Even though the winning bidder paid millions for this one of a kind Cobra, he got bragging rights for free! Let’s hope he is willing to share this car with the world and not keep it locked up.