Mecum Auctions is bringing one of the most significant Shelby Cobras ever built to Kissimmee, Florida. The 1964 Shelby 427 Prototype Factory Team Cobra, the one-off “Flip Top” developed by Ken Miles, will cross the block as Lot R919 on Saturday, January 16, at Mecum Kissimmee 2027, with an estimate in excess of $25 million. The auction runs January 5–17 at Osceola Heritage Park, and this Shelby 427 Prototype Cobra is one of the standout consignments in the Apex Collection.
A One-Off Cobra Built on a Daytona Coupe Chassis
Mecum’s lot description calls CSX2196 the only Cobra roadster built on an improved Daytona Coupe chassis, and one of just two Cobras built in the United States at Shelby American, the other being the prototype Daytona Coupe. It began life as a 289-style roadster with a 427 engine and raced as a Shelby American factory team car at the 1964 12 Hours of Sebring. Afterward, the team stripped it to the frame rails, lengthened the chassis three inches, and reworked it with the backbone bracing and triangulation of the Daytona Coupe, then topped it with a lightweight alloy body whose front clip flips up like the coupe’s.
The Car That Won the Nassau Argument
According to the Mecum listing, Miles built the car specifically to beat the Corvette Grand Sports at the Nassau Speed Weeks in the Bahamas. It reportedly opened an eight-second lead on the first lap over a field that included those Corvettes, Ford GT40s, and Ferrari competition cars. The listing adds that Ford’s internal paperwork shows the company traveled to Nassau to oversee its GT40 program and, seeing the prototype’s success, concluded that the GT40 needed a 427 engine if it wanted to win at Le Mans. For collectors, that connection between one Cobra and Ford’s Le Mans story is what makes the car more than rare.
An Experimental Aluminum 427 and Weber Carburetors
Power comes from an original, lightweight Ford experimental all-aluminum 427/390 side-oiler V-8, built in period by Ford engine specialist Mose Nowland. As Mecum notes, larger cylinder sleeves made necessary by the aluminum casting bring the displacement to 390 cubic inches, and this is the actual motor first installed in the CSX2286 Daytona Coupe before it went into CSX2196. It is fed by massive 58mm Weber carburetors, of which only 15 sets were ever produced. With more than 500 horsepower in a car weighing about 1,800 pounds, the power-to-weight ratio was unheard of in 1964. It was also the first sports car Ford fitted with the 427 FE. For more on Shelby’s racing legacy, see our coverage of the Daytona Coupe Carroll Shelby kept for himself.
The engineering around that engine was equally uncompromising, as the lot highlights detail. The car uses adjustable Heim-joint suspension, modified pickup points on a lowered chassis, and tilted springs for added caster, all aimed at high-speed stability. Period-sourced high-tensile aircraft hardware remains on the car, and underside belly pans like those on the Daytona Coupe give it what Mecum describes as the best aerodynamics of any Cobra apart from the coupes themselves. Peter Miles, Ken’s son, is quoted in the listing calling it “the Ultimate Cobra.”
Just as important for serious collectors is originality. The Mecum listing reports only 4,096 original miles and says the car retains its original chassis, body, engine, inner panels, brakes, suspension, radiator, gauges, chassis tag, pedal box, and gas tank. A four-year, ground-up restoration by Legendary Motorcar used only original or new-old-stock components to return it to its 1964 Nassau specification, down to original NOS Goodyear Blue Streak tires. The result has been shown on the lawn at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, scored Premiere at the SAAC national convention, and earned First in Class at the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance. Readers following Shelby values can also compare it with this 427 S/C built for Carroll Shelby.
A car with this combination of racing provenance, engineering, and preservation rarely comes to market. Full details, photos, and bidding information are available on the Mecum Kissimmee 2027 lot page, and more information about the auction can be found at Mecum.com or by calling (262) 275-5050.
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EL Puckett 
John Lloyd