For over 40 years, Shelby automobiles have amazed the planet with their speed and power. Whether he was behind the wheel or leading racing teams, Carroll Hall Shelby was destined for victory. No matter how many cars he created or how many races he won, his main goal was always to make the next car even faster and better.
From the powerful Cobra roadsters to the Mustang “GT350” and “GT500,” Carroll created a series of incredible cars that were as beautiful as they were fast. True fans know that these cars are meant to be driven, not just admired. That’s why Shelby cars, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, participate in races during the “American Ford Shelby Convention” and other festivals. In addition to their immense power, they offer the thrill of driving a car created by a true motorsport legend.
Each car is a testament to his ability to assemble a talented team that could build race cars capable of competing on the world stage. Carroll’s passion for cars began in his childhood in Leesburg, Texas.
It’s all because of my father. As a local mailman, there were no cars in his childhood. His first car was a 1928 Ford Model A, and Dad loved cars. I also fell in love with speed. We would drive around delivering mail, and I would ask my father to go faster.
His father enjoyed his son’s desire for speed, taking him to races held on small dirt ovals.
There, he witnessed the birth of stock car racing. In high school, he eagerly awaited getting his driver’s license, dreaming of driving as fast as his idols.
At 14, after getting my license and getting a little too bold, my father owned a 1934 Dodge, and I said, ‘Dad, I’ll drive you to work!’ My father worked from 4 PM, and by 5 PM, I was fined for driving 130 km/h and had my license suspended for six months.
After graduating from high school, he joined the Army Air Corps in 1941. During World War II, Carroll trained pilots, tested aircraft, and flew across the country delivering parts and equipment. In 1945, after the war, Shelby returned home to Dallas and began searching for his place in life, still obsessed with cars.
I was discharged from the Air Force, where I served as a pilot for five years, and I tried to go into business. I can’t work from 8 to 5, I hate routine, so after 4-5 years, I decided to focus on cars, they’re all I can think about! And I started racing sports cars with my friend, Ed Wilkinson.
By the 1950s, Shelby was already making a name for himself on Texas tracks, building a reputation as a skilled racer. Carroll Shelby didn’t earn much, but it was clear from the start that he was made for racing. He had the determination that all champions need.
Thanks to his natural talent, will, and acquired skills, he managed to win victory after victory. After winning several races across the country, his reputation grew significantly. By 1954, his status as a rising racing star allowed him to join a factory team. This gave him the chance to race in Europe. Shelby continued to progress rapidly, winning 50 out of 111 races he participated in, and was named “Driver of the Year” by many magazines.
In 1959, Carroll Shelby reached the peak of his career, winning the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans. Unfortunately, heart problems forced him to end his career prematurely.
After racing for about 10 years, when I retired in 1960, I had been taking nitroglycerin pills for my heart for several years. I won the ‘National Championship’ for the 5th or 6th time and said to myself, ‘That’s enough!’
Retiring at 31, Shelby wasn’t about to pull over to the side of life, wanting to design his own sports and racing cars. Initially, he tried to create an alternative to the Corvette, and then-president James Ed Cole provided him with a couple of Chevrolets. General Motors engineers were furious.
I took the cars to Italy and had aluminum bodies installed on them, and suddenly Cole said, ‘Remember, I didn’t give you these cars!’ It turned out that Zora Arkus-Duntov and a couple of other guys went to the chairman of the board and complained, not wanting anyone but GM employees to design the cars, and that was the end of that.
In 1962, another opportunity arose. The British company AC had lost its engine supplier.
Bristol Engines stopped making engines, and they only had Ford six-cylinder engines, so I contacted them and Ford. Iacocca gave me $25,000 and told them to keep me out of the way until I bit someone. I wanted to make a car that would surpass the Corvette.
Thanks to Lee (Lido Anthony “Lee” Iacocca – Ford executive), he had engines, and AC provided bodies. After delivering the eight-cylinder engines to England, two prototypes were built. It was time to test the cars. Installing a powerful V8 transformed the lightweight AC car, reaching 240 km/h in the first test run. Hoping to secure full funding for his project from Ford, the prototypes were shipped back to the States. The company agreed as soon as they saw the car and watched the test footage.
The next step was the New York Auto Show, where the car was presented to the press and public. Before going public, the car needed a name, which came to Shelby in a dream – “Cobra.” By 1963, the Cobra was ready to strike. The car was an instant hit. Children across the country dreamed of it. Cobra roadsters began racing, challenging Corvettes, and the cars were nearly unbeatable on the track.
To maintain their lead in 1964, Shelby raised the bar by preparing a 7-liter engine. The Cobra was invincible in America, but Carroll wanted to conquer the world, it was time to “throw down the gauntlet” to Ferrari in Europe. The task turned out to be more difficult than Carroll thought, the Ferrari “GTOs” were aerodynamic and better suited to European tracks. The development of a new car began.
We decided to try our hand in Europe, but we didn’t have enough money. Castrol, Goodyear, and Ford helped us a little, and we managed to create the “Daytona Coupe.” Ken Miles spent a year of his life turning a “mule into a stallion,” we had to significantly improve the aerodynamics. I should have listened to my partners regarding aerodynamics, Ford specialists Benny and Hower – my old friend, if I had listened to them, it would have taken us half a year less.
Perhaps the team could have managed faster, but the result was stunning. The aerodynamic “Cobra Coupe” was ready for racing as early as 1964. Its streamlined body allowed it to surpass the roadster’s result of 240 km/h, making its first public appearance in Riverside, California, with Ken Miles behind the wheel. It broke the track record, with the speedometer showing 295 km/h.
The Cobra Coupe was prepared for its first race in Daytona. The car led throughout the 6-hour race at the Daytona International Speedway, but just a few hours before the finish, the Cobra came in for refueling. Hot brakes ignited spilled gasoline, and the car caught fire. One of the mechanics was engulfed in flames, and the race was over.
The car was restored and prepared for the next race in Sebring. They weren’t worried about the fire, the sky was overcast, and it started to rain, flooding the pit lane. Many said, “The competition looks more like a boat race than a car race.” Whoever floated, won, and the victory went to the Cobra Coupe. Ford rewarded Shelby, providing full funding for the European campaign. Carroll and the team were eager to challenge Enzo Ferrari in the European racing season.
Arriving in Europe, we managed to surpass the “Ferrari GTO,” although, to be honest, this was possible because our car had 100 horsepower more.
Ferrari left the “GT” class, leaving the powerful Shelby Coupe alone in its glory. Shelby won the coveted “World Championship” in the “Gran Turismo” class in 1965. A decision had to be made about what to do with the battered race cars, and Carroll wanted to leave them in Europe. No one could have imagined that these cars would be worth millions of dollars. Shelby shipped them home and sold them to team members and friends for just $1,500 each. If only he had known.
After winning the “World Endurance Championship,” I decided not to ship them home, a used race car was worth little, and there were only six of them… Recently, one of them was sold for 6 million.
On the wave of success of the “Cobra” and “Cobra Coupe,” Shelby was called upon by Ford to win Le Mans, becoming involved in the feud between Henry Ford II and Enzo Ferrari, which began because of the latter’s refusal to sell his company to Ford. Ford II invested millions in a company to overthrow Ferrari. In 1963, a team of top engineers was formed, and the “Ford Advanced Vehicles” division was created. “Advanced Vehicles” took a ready-made body from the British company “Lola” and installed it on a chassis with a Ford 8-cylinder engine, similar to what they did with the “AC” body when creating the Cobra. The car’s height was 40 inches, which is why it was named “GT40.” During the Le Mans race in 1964, all crews retired due to transmission and engine problems. In 1964, the cars did not finish a single race out of 10, and Henry Ford was furious.
Ford didn’t care about the costs, he gave Carroll Shelby the order to win, and the “GT40s” were delivered to Los Angeles. Engineers worked day and night. The cars were completely rebuilt. Engines, wheels, tires, everything was tested and, if it didn’t meet the highest requirements, redone. Shelby installed proven 4.7-liter Ford engines on them. They did a tremendous job, Shelby knew that such opportunities come once in a lifetime.
Such a large-scale program had never existed before, and I was happy to participate in it. Such a program could not have been launched by “General Motors,” only “Ford Motor Company,” because the company was directly managed by Mr. Ford.
The updated “GT40s,” Shelby’s work, were ready to conquer the world during the 1966 Le Mans. The “24 Hours of Le Mans” is one of the toughest races in the world, a 24-hour continuous high-speed test of cars, drivers, and their teams. Shelby and Ford passed the test with flying colors, the “GT40s” took the top 3 places, and Ferrari was defeated. The victory made Shelby’s legend even more impressive. Having dealt with Ferrari in Europe, he still had a serious rival at home, and Chevrolet Corvette was once again in his way.
In 1964, Ford released the Ford Mustang, which triggered a consumer boom. This model was followed by many imitations from other companies, but it had no real rivals.
Lee told me, ‘We want to make a real sports car. My guys can’t handle it, can you?’ and I said, ‘Maybe.’
Carroll Shelby assembled a team that disassembled the car. A more powerful engine, high-quality brakes, and suspension were installed, and excess weight was shed by removing the rear seat. As a result, the Mustang “GT350” or Shelby Mustang began to crush Corvettes all over America. If you couldn’t afford to buy such a car, you could rent it from “The Hertz Corporation,” an idea that became a disaster for the Hertz network from the start.
Before New Year’s, after delivering 200 of these models to New York, long lines formed for them. Customers rented the cars, and the next day a snowstorm hit, 40 of them were involved in accidents, many were wrecked… Real race cars, which some maniacs drove on the streets. The president of Hertz called me and said, ‘Shelby, take these damn heaps back, it didn’t work out, I’m afraid I’ll lose my job!’
The “GT350” models were enough for most, but Shelby turned up the heat in 1967 by installing a 7-liter engine in his new “GT500.” These cars became a real obsession for collectors and now attract attention wherever they appear.
After many years of collaboration with Ford, Shelby followed his patron Lee Iacocca to Chrysler. Now, instead of working on muscle cars, he planned to inject some power into Dodge’s compact car lineup.
In the 70s, a powerful car in this segment was considered to be a BMW with 90 horsepower. I decided that if we could surpass it, we would find our buyer. Setting a goal of 3,500 cars in the first year, we sold 7 or 8.5. The result of working with the engine in our technical center in California was the “GLH,” which still wins sports car races.
The transformation of compact cars into high-speed rockets foreshadowed the widespread passion for tuning reflected in the “Fast & Furious” movies.
Now the most popular type of motorsport is the competition of these guys on their pocket rockets. We created many such cars at Chrysler and were successful.
It was interesting, and Shelby couldn’t resist the chance to create another real sports car. Chrysler’s vice president at the time, Bob Lutz, proposed the idea of creating a successor to the Cobra – the “Viper.”
Regarding my work with the Viper, John Fernandez and I created a concept weighing 1310 kg. After Chrysler’s refinements, the weight increased to 1770 kg, but it still turned out to be a real sports car.
A truck engine significantly affected the car’s weight but made it powerful and fast. The Viper became a modern hit, and the Shelby Cobra also continued to rise in price.
The post-war children grew up and began buying the cars of their dreams. Those who couldn’t afford the original bought replicas. Shelby began to meet the growing demand with replica cars that were as close to the original as possible, offering maximum driving pleasure and even more. The Shelby Cobra with a 7-liter aluminum engine: 6 mounting bolts, reinforced block walls, allowing the engine to be bored out to 8 liters and even more. The car is equipped with a “Vortex” supercharger, the engine power is around 700 horsepower, all at a reasonable 5,500 rpm, and the weight is 1100 kg.
But some people want cars that are more like the original “AC” Cobras. In 2004, Shelby made a deal with the British company “AC Cars,” regaining the right to install “AC” bodies on his chassis.
You can order a car with a classic 4.7-liter Ford engine or larger. The buyer decides which retro car they want.
While some look to the past, others think about what the Cobra of the future will be like. Ford presented its 600-horsepower vision of tomorrow in January 2004. The concept car was the center of attention at the Detroit Auto Show. Before the car was shown to the public, 81-year-old Shelby drove it on the track in Irwindale.
Carroll Shelby became an idol to thousands of fans who take every opportunity to meet him, get an autograph, and take a photo.
I have an explanation. The kids of the 60s who were in school at that time loved muscle cars and couldn’t afford them, but now, having retired, they can buy such a car. Looking back, I say, ‘Those were great times.’
Devoted fans can relive their childhood at events like the “Shelby American Automobile Club (SAAC) Meet,” where members gather to participate in races.
Whether the racers are behind the wheel of a Mustang GT350, a Cobra roadster, or a Ford GT40 that won Le Mans, every lap on this track recalls the times when Carroll Shelby’s cars dominated the racing world.
