Buried treasure; Historic Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe resurfaces after decades in hiding.

For 24 years, a historic racer considered by many to be the Holy Grail of collector cars, sat in an Anaheim storage shed gathering dust and mystique with each passing year. The car, the first of six Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupes produced, reappeared briefly in February, only to vanish quickly into the hands of a Philadelphia collector for the tidy sum of $3.75 million.

But the intriguing story of the Cobra Coupe goes beyond its historic significance or its seclusion. The only Cobra Coupe built in the United States (the remaining five were put together in Italy), chassis number CSX2287 won Sebring in 1964 and set 23 national and international speed records at the Bonneville Salt Flats in December 1965.

``It's kind of like the first child,'' said Dan Hampton, a LaCrosse, Wisconsin, stockbroker and collector who owns an original Cobra roadster. ``To me, it's the most handsome of all the coupes.''

Like the disappearance of Teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa, the exact whereabouts of CSX2287 has been the stuff of legends. ``It's almost like the car is star-crossed, given how kooky the story has been for the past 30 years,'' said Hampton.

After the Ford-powered Cobra Coupes had made their mark on the racing world, builder Carroll Shelby moved on to other projects and the cars were sold. According to the 1997 Shelby American Registry, CSX2287 went to the owner of a company that produced model car and slot car kits in late 1965. He drove it for a short time before selling it to famed ``Wall of Sound'' rock `n' roll record producer Phil Spector.

In 1971, the car ended up in the hands of Spector bodyguard George Brand (though Spector now contests the transfer of ownership, saying he asked Brand to keep the car for him). Brand, who reportedly paid $1,000 for it, eventually gave the car to his daughter, Donna O'Hara, and ...