Caroll Shelby

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Caroll Shelby's Bio: Carroll Shelby is a name and a brand, both of which are foundations of America's car culture.

The name Carroll Shelby refers to a proud son of Texas born in that great state in 1923. He is the shuffling, lanky chicken farmer in the striped overalls who proved to be part daredevil, part entrepreneur, and all genius when it comes to the art of moving faster. Shelby's remarkable career as a race car driver is eclipsed by his even more remarkable influence on American auto design.

Carroll Shelby had a life before rac ing, and it was not a quiet one. Shelby started out as a test pilot and flight instructor for the US Army Air Corps during World War II. Shelby spent the war at Lackland Air Force Base near San Antonio, Texas, checking planes and training pilots.

Shelby star ted the New Year in 1952 by climbing into a hot rod powered by a flat-head Ford V-8 and driving in a race.

Shelby was a hard-working and often-winning race car driver, but in the early 1950's even the winning drivers had problems making the rent. He didn't w ant to lose any time behind the wheel, though, so he would often rush straight from his chores to the racetrack, and jump into the car while still in his hickory-striped overalls.

Shelby, ever the showman, soon realized that he was getting at least as much at tention for his racing clothes as for his racing abilities. Long after he had the need to attend his chickens on race day, he still showed up in his overalls, and they became his trademark.

By 1954, Shelby was racing for the Aston Martin team in the US and in Europe. In November of that year, he drove the Carrera Pan Americana race in Mexico. Shelby flipped his Austin-Healey and rolled it four times just north of Oaxaca. He suffered broken bones, a shattered elbow and innumerable bruises.

The next spring Shelby was still going through surgeries to put his elbow back together. Carroll Shelby wasn't going to let a little thing like a crippling injury get in his way, though. He kept racing, using a specially made fiberglass cast and taping his hand to the steering wheel .

Shelby wore the cast when he and Phil Hill co-drove a three-liter Monza Ferrari at the Sebring in March of 1955. A few months later, he won at Torrey Pines against Phil Hill and soon found himself racing in Europe again.

In 1957, Carroll Shelby established himself as a race car legend and started on what would become his third career as a car designer. At the beginning of that year, he opened Shelby Sports Cars in Dallas, Texas. In March, he was named Sports Illustrated's Driver of the Year. In November, he sho wed everyone that Sports Illustrated knew what they were talking about. In the 100-mile race at Riverside, California, Shelby spun out his Maserati single-seater and ended up at the back of the field. Shelby then made the double-overhead-cam V8 earn it's keep by running up to the front of the pack and lapping his competitors. This amazing feat established Shelby as one of the greatest race car drivers in history.

In 1960 Carroll Shelby's racing career came to an abrupt end. Shelby began experiencing severe chest p ains. He started using nitroglycerine pills under his tongue for relief. After an initial misdiagnosis, Shelby found out that he has a heart condition that would no longer allow him to race competitively. Shelby's last race was the Los Angeles Times-Mirror Gra nd Prix in December of 1960. He finished fifth, but won the overall USAC driving championship for that year.

Every so often in history, a few unrelated events converge and result in a minor revolution. 1961 was one of those years. Carroll Shelby was forced in to an early retirement and consequently had time on his hands.

Shelby, who knew about the Ace and had fallen in love with the car's design, heard about AC's vendor issues. He wrote to AC owner Charles Hurlock and proposed that they continue to produce the car and switch to a V8 engine. Hurlock replied that the idea had merit, if the appropriate engine could be found. Then Shelby found out about the Ford small block engine. The first AC Cobra went into production in May of 1962.

Between 1962 and 1970, Shelby's par tnership with the Ford Motor Company resulted in a thundering herd of steel-encased horsepower.

Throughout the sixties, though, the Shelby Cobra remained the core production vehicle for Shelby Automotive. In 1967 the last roadster, fitted with a big-block 42 7 engine, rolled off the line at the Los Angeles International Airport Facility. Shelby stayed with Ford Motor Company a few more years, producing GT's and Shelby Mustangs, but in 1969 Shelby Automotive Racing went out of business and in 1970 Shelby ended his partnership with Ford Motor Company.

Shelby had time on his hands again, and spent the next few years starting and closing businesses and other ventures. The 1980's found Shelby designing cars again, but this time for Chrysler. Dodge Shelby Chargers and the D odge Viper helped Lee Iacocca re-build the Chrysler Company into a proper automotive giant again.

Carroll Shelby never stopped designing cars per se, but there was a 10-year period when he turned his resourcefulness toward another goal.

The same heart proble ms that forced Shelby to quit racing in 1960 made him a candidate for a heart transplant by 1990. After his successful heart transplant Shelby founded the Carroll Shelby Children's Foundation, a charitable organization focused on children in need of organ and tissue transplants and acute cardiac disorders. By 1996, Shelby also needed a kidney transplant, which he received from his son, Mike. Shelby is currently the oldest and longest living double organ recipient.

In 2003, Carroll Shelby founded a new company, Sh elby Automobiles. In 2005 he renewed his partnership with the Ford Motor Company, and together they produced a new Ford-Shelby GT 500 convertible.

Carroll Shelby is a cultural icon. He has had three significant careers, half a dozen unprofitable hobbies, sev eral broken bones and two organ transplants. He has started seven businesses (then closed or sold five of them) and one foundation, and has been instrumental in working with two of America's "big three" auto makers. Shelby has made his mark on the Am erican auto industry, and American culture in general, and he's not done yet. … Read more