OH. MY. GOD!
That is beautiful, and the story of the owner is fantastic.
1965 Shelby 289 Cobra Mk II
Chassis No. CSX 2356
Estimate: $400,000-$500,000 US
AUCTION DATE: Friday, August 17, 2012
OFFERED WITHOUT RESERVE CSX 2356 was first shipped to Detroit as a factory demonstrator in 1964 and registered by the Ford Motor Company. Eight months later, and showing 3000 miles, it was virtually “remanufactured” by Shelby American, including mostly new body panels, and sold by Hi-Performance Motors in Los Angeles, as a new 1965 model in May of that year, to its first private owner, Flora L. Darling, who owned it until her death in 2012 at age 81.
The late Carroll Shelby would have loved Flora Darling. When she picked up her Cobra from Hi-Performance Motors in Los Angeles, the salesman said, “That’s a mighty fast car, Ma’am. Who’s going to drive it home for you?”
She looked him straight in the eye and said, “I am. Why do you think I bought it (you fool)?” With that, she peeled out of the dealership and roared up the Grapevine to Bakersfield, where the car remained in her hands for 47 years.
“My great-aunt was a trailblazer,” said her niece Debra Redwine. “I’ve known that Cobra all my life. I remember, I was five years old when she bought it. I was playing in the front yard when she pulled up and said, ‘Want to come for a ride?’”
And it’s true that Darling was a remarkable woman. The youngest of six children who came to California from Texas during the Dust Bowl, she served in the Air Force during the Korean War, and then put herself through college, gaining a degree in anthropology. She bought her own house in 1956 and lived there for 55 years. Darling operated the Shafter Medical Laboratory in Bakersfield and traveled to the Third World on relief missions. She ran a motorcycle shop (and rode one) and a paint shop. Flora Darling was a competitive shooter and an archer who belonged to the Society for Creative Anachronism. The year after she bought the Cobra, Darling got a pilot’s license and bought her own plane. She was even a published author and a poet, a silversmith, and a fine arts painter, whose work fills Debra’s house in Crescent City, California.
Sadly, after her husband died in 1987, Mrs. Darling never again drove the Cobra. It was put away in her dusty garage under two car covers, where it remained. Neighbors’ inquiries were turned away with, “it’s just a piece of junk.”
Recently uncovered, CSX 2356 still retains its original California black plates in their original ‘Hi Perfomance Motors’ frames and numerous California registration slips, as well as the original FoMoCo Michigan registration. Also included with the car are its original spare, jack and handle, mallet, grease gun, and two vinyl bags, one with miscellaneous tools, and side curtains for both the hard and soft tops. However, the original soft top may never be found. The Cobra was repainted in the 1970s, and the seats were re-upholstered at that time.
This complete and correct Cobra has its original ignition key, hood latch T-handle key, and its etched “Cobra” sun visors and wind wings are intact. As a final remembrance of Flora Darling, her dusty 1960s Ray-Ban sunglasses remain in the glove box. As an extraordinary time-warp, this Cobra is presented exactly as found and will not be started before the sale. The new owner will have the pleasure of bringing it back to life, knowing that its distinctive exhaust note has not been heard for 24 years.
