This iconic vehicle could become the most expensive American car ever sold

The first ever Shelby Cobra may set a record for the most expensive American car sold at auction.

The car is going on the block at the Pebble Beach Concours de'Elegance in Monterey, California next month.

RM Sotheby's is calling the car "The shot heard 'round the world." It was the first time racing legend Caroll Shelby fitted a big, American V8 motor into a tiny British sports car and shocked the automotive world with a string of victories at racetracks around the globe.

"Carroll Shelby - the man, the larger-than-life Texan, and the battle-tested racing veteran - fired a shot across the bow of every sports car manufacturer in the world and, in doing so, set the car world on fire with the Cobra," RM Sotheby's said in a press release.

Wearing chassis number CSX 2000, the car was owned by Shelby himself until his death in 2012 at the age of 89.

It includes the original 260 cubic inch V8 engine from a Ford Fairlady, shoehorned (somehow) into an AC Ace, the lovely-if-underpowered British lightweight sports car then noted for its excellent balance. This combination meant the first Shelby Cobras could do 0-60 in the low four seconds.

Later cars would include a 289 or 427 cubic inch V8.

RM Sotheby's is not releasing an estimate for the sale, but it seems highly likely that the car will break the record for the most expensive American car sold at auction - currently held by a spectacular 1968 Ford GT40 race car -which also sold at RM Sotheby's Pebble Beach auction for $11 million in 2012.