Presented by Mecum Auctions – Almost 60 years after its inception, the Shelby Cobra remains a touchstone of American automotive history, one that literally redefined performance. This 1964 Shelby Cobra 289, CSX2498, has recently emerged from an extensive nut-and-bolt restoration to like-original condition that was completed in 2020.
As chronicled in the Shelby Cobra Registry, the car was billed to Shelby American on July 3, 1964, shipped to Los Angeles aboard the “SS Loch Avon” and invoiced to Hellertown Motors in Hellertown, Pennsylvania, on March 29, 1965. Ordered in white with a black interior and the Class A accessory package including WSW tires, a landau hardtop, side curtains and a luggage rack (uninstalled), it was shipped to Pennsylvania via TWA air freight and delivered by Hellertown Motors to its first owner, Dennis Richmond of Allentown, on April 16, 1965. Richmond enjoyed driving his new Cobra, travelling some 38,000 miles before selling it to its second owner, Cass Ludyard of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania in 1967.
Two years later, by which time it was repainted in silver and fitted with a Boss 302 engine, the Cobra was purchased by Karl McKeever of Collegeville, in whose care it remained for the next 50 years. During that time, CSX2498 was refinished in Guardsman Blue and an NOS 289 HiPo engine was installed along with new upholstery and other new parts as needed. Its recent restoration included refinishing the car in its original white with the black-painted wire wheels and chromed spinner centers seen earlier in its history. A rack-and-pinion car with full-length undercar exhaust, it is authentically finished and beautifully detailed throughout, including such important details as the correct Shelby aluminum intake, hollow-letter Cobra valve covers and Tri-Y exhaust headers, and it is also well documented with an entry in the Shelby Registry and an album of restoration photos.
This vehicle will be auction at Mecum Auctions’ Kissimmee 2021 event (January 7-16, 2021).
