1966 Shelby Cobra Sells for $5.5 Million
AP
"I killed a buzzard with it," owner Carroll Shelby said of his 1966
Shelby Cobra 427 Supersnake. "Nasty, nasty."

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (Jan. 21) - An 800-horsepower Shelby Cobra, once the
personal car of the racing veteran who developed the iconic sports car,
has sold for $5.5 million at auction, a record for an American car.

The sale of the 1966 Shelby Cobra "Super Snake" brought a packed house
to its feet Saturday at the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction after
a pair of bidders drove the price up.

Carroll Shelby, 84, who created the Cobra in the '60s using Ford
engines and a British sport car chassis, said he built the Super Snake
- with twin superchargers on a 427 cubic inch V-8 - and drove it for
years.

"It's a special car. It would do just over three seconds to 60 (mph),
40 years ago," Shelby told the crowd before the sale.

"I killed a buzzard with it," he said. "Nasty, nasty."

The car had a twin, built for comedian Bill Cosby, but that car was
destroyed in an accident while being driven by another owner, according
to the Barrett-Jackson Web site.