SELLIN' ON THE STRIP; Barrett-Jackson heads to Vegas.(NEWS)

Byline: GREG MIGLIORE

How much is Carroll Shelby's very first race car worth? We're about to find out. The 1949 MG TC, a dark green pocket rocket that the racing legend himself credits with helping launch his career behind the wheel, is the spotlight car at Barrett-Jackson's first-ever auction in Las Vegas.

Shelby's racer will headline the list of 500 cars expected to be sold at the Sin City spectacle, which runs Oct. 15-18 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. The field includes 1960s muscle, rare classics from the 1920s and "30s and a slew of exotics. They'll likely fetch eye-popping figures, as the last two Barrett-Jackson events have raked in a total of $111 million.

But the Shelby MG likely will generate the most attentionif not the most dollars. Organizers are reluctant to put a potential price tag on it (as they usually are), but past Shelby-connected cars have sold for anywhere from $600,000 to $5 million, said Steve Davis, Barrett-Jackson president.

While the value in dollars and cents is unclear, the MG clearly is rich in history. Shelby drove it to back-to-back wins in races in Okla-homa in 1952, after borrowing it from a friend. It has a 1,250-cc, four-cylinder engine and can hit a top speed of about 100 mph.

"From a historical standpoint, the MG stands alone, Davis said.

On the auction block, it will be joined by a number of rare cars, ...