Sam Pack, posing with CSX3279. Photos courtesy RM Auctions.
The 131 vehicles offered for sale through RM Auctions by Texas businessman Sam Pack (who was seeking to pare back his collection to a more manageable size) offered something of interest for collectors of all types, and few lots could be described as anything less than exceptional. Despite the variety of desirable vehicles offered up, the top sellers proved to be a pair of Shelby Cobras, including a 1967 427 Cobra and a 1963 289 Cobra, which sold for a combined price of nearly $2.2 million.
1967 Shelby 427 Cobra, CSX3279.
CSX3279, a 1967 427 Cobra, was originally delivered to Ron’s Ford Sales of Bristol, Tennessee, with a 428-cu.in. Police Interceptor engine instead of the 427, a practice that was not uncommon for Cobras above serial number CSX3200. Early documents may be incomplete, as the car’s first owner of record was Danbury, Connecticut, resident Geoff Howard, who purchased the car in 1975 and commissioned a high-quality restoration shortly after. The 428-cu.in. V-8 was pulled, replaced by a 427-cu.in. side-oiler V-8 with dual four-barrel carburetors, and the car was repainted in dark green.
Howard didn’t keep the car long, selling it to an SCCA racer from Illinois who had originally planned to turn the Cobra into a race car, but quickly realized the car’s value. Instead, Ken Brenneman built a replica of his 427 Cobra for SCCA competition, reserving the genuine article for the occasional (spirited) drive on public roads. Brenneman kept the Cobra until 2002, and in 2000 funded a restoration that saw the car’s color changed to blue with a silver stripe, along with the addition of a competition fuel filler and chrome side pipes.
The car’s next owner changed the color back to dark green, and it was acquired by Pack in 2008. Sold with its original Sunburst wheels and Goodyear Blue Dot tires (and a replacement set of Halibrand wheels wearing Goodyear Eagles), the Cobra has amassed just 12,000 miles over the past 47 years; this, along with the car’s remarkable condition, likely contributed to its $1,292,500 selling price (including fees).
1963 Shelby 289 Cobra, CSX2048.
The second Cobra to crack the top-10 was CSX2048, a 1963 Shelby 289 Cobra that began its life as a show car touring with the Ford Custom Caravan. Its first owner was Jacques Passino, then the director of Ford’s Special Products Division. It’s not clear how long Passino retained possession of the Cobra, which next surfaced for sale from a Massachusetts used car dealer’s inventory in late 1970. In May of 1971, CSX2048 was purchased by New Hampshire resident Mark Panageotes, who would own the Cobra for the next 30 years, amassing an average of 5,000 miles per year on the car. Panageotes even used the car for lengthy trips, including visits to 21 states and four Canadian provinces, a tour of Nova Scotia and a roundtrip run to Florida.
In the late 2000s, with an estimated 200,000 miles on the car, Panageotes funded a full restoration and shortly after sold the Cobra to Pack for his collection. When it crossed the stage last weekend, the red Cobra commanded a fee-inclusive price of $880,000, making it the second-most valuable car in the collection.
CSX7049, registered as a 1965 Shelby 289 Cobra.
The first and second-place Cobras were joined by a third in the top-10. Titled as a 1965 Shelby 289 Cobra, CSX7049 is officially an alloy-bodied “continuation Cobra,” but bears the distinction of having been purchased new by Carroll Shelby for his own Cobra collection. Despite its registration as a 289 Cobra, the engine beneath the hood is a 427, built from a bored-out Shelby 351 Windsor crate engine and fitted with AFR heads. Though the added performance may have contributed to the car’s value, it surely was the documented Shelby provenance that helped the polished aluminum Cobra realize a fee-inclusive selling price of $225,500.
1932 Chrysler CG Imperial Roadster.
Other cars in the Sam Pack Collection top-10 included a 2006 Ford GT, which sold for $418,000; a 1931 Chrysler CG Imperial Roadster, which sold for $341,000; a 1969 Shelby Mustang G.T. 500 Convertible, which sold for $280,500; a 1939 Lincoln-Zephyr Coupe Custom, which sold for $253,000; a 1957 Ford Thunderbird ‘F-Code,’ which sold for $247,500; a 1932 Packard Eight Coupe Roadster, which sold for $209,000; and a 2005 Ford Sport Trac Adrenalin Concept, which sold for $173,250.
For complete results from the Sam Pack Collection sale, visit RM Auctions.com.
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