|
Christopher
|
 |
« Reply #4 on: January 22, 2007, 08:45:13 am » |
|
Some people clearly had some serious small change burning a hole in their pocket.......half million dollar jumps........
Once dubbed "the Cobra to End All Cobras, the 1966 Cobra 427 "Super Snake" is one of two ever produced - this particular car the one in which Shelby himself was busted for blasting across the Nevada desert at more than 190 mph. Under the sweeping sheetmetal beats an 800-hp, twin supercharged, 427-cid V-8 mated to a three-speed automatic. Officially known as CSX3015, the Super Snake was shipped to England in September 1965 as a Cobra Competition Roadster. It returned to the U.S. a year later. The Snake is not street legal, but that apparently didn't stop Shelby, nor the comedian Bill Cosby, who ordered the other Snake.
With a wave to the crowd by Shelby himself, the bidding began, jumping quickly in $100,000 increments, until it topped the $1 million mark. By then, much of the crowd was on its collective feet. $1.25 million, $1.5 million, the pace quickened, screams erupting as each million mark was reached. The bidding paused for a moment at $3 million, well below initial estimates, but the auctioneer wasn't about to bring the gavel down yet. With the skill of a psychologist, he cajoled and prodded, while his team fanned out into the audience, focusing their attention on individual bidders with credit lines large enough to keep the action going. And then the bidding resumed with a sequence of half-million dollar jumps. "Five million, five-five? I've got five million, five-five," the auctioneer chanted, but this one had hit its limit, and the gavel came down, setting a new record for the Barrett, and the highest figure for any of the weekend's auctions.
|
