Oh, no. Il Commendatore would not have liked this one bit. Scuderia Ferrari's now-retired seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher has gone and bought himself a Shelby Cobra. Initial reports identified the car as one of six super-rare Daytona Coupes, but corrected reports confirm it was actually a 1967 Mk II Shelby Cobra 427 roadster.
Shelby set out with the mission to beat Ferrari in GT racing, and made the Daytona to achieve those ends. Only six were made, five in Italy and one in the US, and they're currently valued at about $4 million apiece. The Daytona met significant success in 1964 and 1965 before Ford and Shelby shifted their focus to the even more successful GT40. The Cobra roadster didn't have the same mission, but for the tifosi the Shelby name represents the antithesis of the Prancing Horse.
Schumi apparently bought himself the Shelby as a 38th birthday present. The exact sum the champ paid wasn't disclosed, but you can bet it was a big figure. Whatever it was, though, he can afford it: even after retirement, Schumacher is still one of the top-earning F1 drivers alive.
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/01/05/s...buys-a-shelby/
Schumacher's Birthday Present
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