Cobra unearthed by the barn find hunter on the way to Mecum Kissimmee

Tom Cotter has unearthed numerous collectible muscle cars, sports cars and SUVs throughout his life Barn Find Hunter career, but the discovery of one of the most desirable and rare Shelby Cobras ever built has to be one of his best discoveries to date. After almost 30 years in storage, the 1967 427 Cobra caused a sensation and achieved a solid sales price in 2018. Now she’s back in the spotlight and will be sold at Mecum in Kissimmee in January.

The original 289 Cobra was a beautiful blend of British style and American small-block V8 performance. It rightly earned its place in the sports car pantheon on its own, but the FE-powered models were even more fearsome, with the 427 V-8 bringing with it massive amounts of torque and a corresponding increase in power. Her racing abilities on street courses and drag strips make her a legend.

This time capsule was one of only 260 original 427 Street Cobras built and shows just 18,035 miles on the odometer. It is one of the best preserved and most original examples of its kind. How original? It of course has the original chassis, body, engine and four-speed gearbox. But this Cobra looks like it was just prepared for dealer delivery. There is still a warning sticker on the speedometer and the roadster still has its original weather strips, heater hoses and even the Goodyear Blue Dot tires that came with it when new. The sale includes the original documentation, a jack, a tool kit and even the grease gun provided to owners for lubricating the chassis.

The stunning survivor was last sold at Gooding’s Amelia Island auction in 2018, where it fetched $1,045,000. Since its last sale, where it was presented as a bard’s find, the roadster has been highly detailed and is now on its way to Mecum’s Kissimmee auction in January, where it could find a welcoming audience of bidders. Mecum has been the place for sought-after Fords lately: a lightweight 1969 Ford GT40 sold for $7,850.00 at Monterey Car Week last August, and a road-going Mk I GT40 fetched 6,930,000 at Kissimmee last January US dollars. Although these cars represent a different branch of the Ford family, Mecum appears to be polishing its reputation as a purveyor of top-notch American classics.

If you want to see what the car looked like when it first came back into the spotlight in 2018, check out the episode of Barn Find Hunter where it debuted alongside a Ferrari 275 GTB here.