What started as a trade between friends in 1974, led this authentic 1964 Shelby Cobra 289 (CSX 2436) to a garage where it sat collecting four decades of dust. Sy Allen from Vermont locked it away in his barn on stands where it sat for the last 40 years in a deep slumber.

That is, until now. The Cobra has been uncovered and it was estimated to bring in over a million dollars or more at the Gooding & Company’s Scottsdale Auction this past week. Did it get there? Very close, it brought in $979,000.

On May 26, 1964, this 289 Cobra was shipped to Shelby in Los Angeles and then made the journey to Greenwich, Connecticut just a few short months later landing at Town & Country Motors. It featured a slew of upgrades included in the “Class A” accessory package totaling $5,812 which featured WSW tires, luggage rack, antifreeze, rack-and-pinion steering, a Ford alternator, dual-reservoir master cylinder, Stewart-Warner gauges, and the cost of shipping.

Once painted the original production color of Rouge Iris with beige interior, it was listed as having a black finish as of September 1971, and a registered 30,000 miles on the clock. In some spots the Rouge Iris peeks through where the black has flaked off.

It may have sat for 40 years, but the car is in running condition and retains most of the hard-to-find details that are normally replaced during restoration. All documented history is in the Shelby American World Registry.