1956 Le Mans winning Jaguar and first Shelby Cobra sell at auction
The 1955 Jaguar D-Type that triumphed at the 1956 running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans sold for $21.8 million at the 2016 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance held by auction house RM Sotheby’s on Friday.
While this may sound like a lot, estimates ahead of the auction had put the car as high as $25M. Either way, it remains the priciest car on auction at the Monterey Car Week, and the highest price ever paid for any British car.
Ninian Sanderson and Ron Flockhart brought the Jaguar home to an all-British win after 24 Hours of racing at the Circuit de la Sarthe on July 29, 1956. It was the first time the race had been held following the 1955 Le Mans tragedy.
The car won by an entire lap over the No. 8 Aston Martin DB3S, which was driven by Stirling Moss and Peter Collins. Olivier Gendebien and Maurice Trintignant brought their Ferrari 625LM Touring machine home in third place, seven laps down.
However, the Jaguar wasn’t the only pricey car to roll across the block at Friday’s auction, with the first Shelby Cobra prototype from 1962, the CSX 2000, selling for over $13 million. This was the most a U.S.-made car had ever sold for at auction.
1962 Shelby Cobra CSX 2000.
