The Chequered Flag eventually sold CSX3006 in June 1969 to Edwin Butterworth, who only raced the Cobra twice and reportedly kept the car at his friend John Carden’s Cheshire, UK, garage to conceal ownership of the ferocious Cobra from his parents. By 1973, the investment value of a “real” competition Cobra was abundantly clear, prompting Carden to purchase CSX3006 and the principals of the Chequered Flag to repurchase it late in 1977, and then later sell the car to Michael Shoen, the American Cobra enthusiast who wrote the definitive “Cobra-Ferrari Wars 1963-1965” book. The subsequent history of CSX3006 is much like that of Shelby’s rarest and most collectible cars, including a succession of noted owners and collectors. Among them were Steven Juliano and George Stauffer in the late 1980s, followed by David Livingston, who had the Cobra race-prepared at California’s Dralle Engineering and drove it to 1st Overall (Group 8) at the November 1990 Palm Springs Vintage Races. Following a Guardsman Blue repaint with white Le Mans stripes and reinstallation of the hood vents sported by the car in the 1960s, CSX3006 was shown at SAAC-17 in July 1992. Subsequent owners included Chris Cox of Prova International and Matt Prowse, followed by Jim Spiro, who regularly enjoyed the car and had it mechanically and cosmetically restored once again by Dralle prior to its acquisition in 2003 by Larry Bowman. Bowman subsequently commissioned Legendary Motorcar Company of Milton, Ontario, Canada, to return the Cobra to its May 1966 Brands Hatch-winning colors and right-hand drive configuration, with the cost-no- object work documented on Legendary Motorcar’s popular Speed TV program, “Dream Car Garage.” In 2009, the Cobra passed through Henry Pearman of Uckfield, England, before it was sold in 2013 to Gary Bartlett of Muncie, Indiana, who showed the car at a succession of top international events. Among them were the 2012 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, the 2014 Concorso Villa d’Este and the 2015 Goodwood Festival of Speed. Legendary Motorcar Company later restored the car back to its original specifications, including its metallic blue paint, FIA Halibrand wheels and its left-hand drive configuration, as seen at the 2022 Amelia Island event. Extremely rare and retaining its original aluminum body and chassis, CSX3006 is a racing legend in its own right, heightened by its May 1966 Ilford 500 victory at Brands Hatch in the hands of David Piper and Bob Bondurant. While Shelby American was unable to officially fulfill its founder’s desire to campaign the 427 Cobra internationally under full FIA sanction as a production car, CSX3006 did, nonetheless, prove its effectiveness for one brief shining moment in England—a singular achievement never to be repeated. Despite its original racing use in the mid-1960s, when competition cars were merely considered implements and not multimillion-dollar investments, CSX3006 is one of very few Competition 427 Cobras to retain its original aluminum body, making it an irreplaceable historical document from the heady days when Shelby’s Cobra decimated the opposition in American SCCA competition and then the world’s best—including Ford Motor Company’s own GT40. Offered in concours quality and instantly recognized as “the Brands Hatch” winner, CSX3006 is a must-have example of the incomparable Shelby racing legacy.
