Racing a Legend
It takes a fascinating man to create captivating cars. Born in 1923 in Leesburg,
Texas, Shelby served as an Army Air Corps flight instructor during World War II,
then worked as a truck driver, ranch hand, and salesman. He was into chicken
ranching when he turned to racing sports cars, starting in 1952 with a humble
MG-TC.
To many enthusiasts, the name Carroll Shelby conjures images of a lanky country
boy with a thick Texas drawl and a wide "aw shucks" grin beneath a black cowboy
hat. This down-home manner was somewhat calculated. In 1953, for example,
Shelby was late getting to a race and had no time to change out of his farmer's
overalls. Noticing how people reacted, he made the "Texas tuxedo" a sartorial
signature.
He might play to crowds, but Shelby was as smart about business as he was about
racing and building cars. He was, as one writer put it, "a promoter in the most
flattering sense. Like an alchemist, he had the unique ability to combine elements so
that their sum becomes greater than the total of their parts."
Shelby raced successfully in the U.S., Europe and Latin America in the mid- to
late-Fifties, wheeling Aston Martins, Maseratis, Ferraris, and other sports cars with
stellar teammates including Masten Gregory, Dan Gurney, and Phil Hill. He also had
a few Formula rides during the 1955 and '58 seasons.
A natural but fierce competitor, Shelby would often steal a quick pre-race snooze,
saying "Wake me up when it's time to grid." His high point as a driver came in 1959.
Shelby's friendship with John Weyer of Aston Martin led to his being paired with Ray
Salvadori in an Aston DBR for that year's LeMans 24 Hours. Carroll and Ray won
the always-grueling event outright.
The very next year, a heart condition forced Shelby to retire from driving, but not
from working with cars. Settling in Southern California, he became a Goodyear tire
distributor and opened America's first performance driving school. Meanwhile, he
dreamed of building a pure "sport car" -- trim, light, powerful, and fast enough to
beat anything on street or track.
He got his chance in September 1961. Ford had just introduced its revvy "Fairlane
221" small-block V-8, and Shelby heard that England's A.C. Cars was losing the
engine supplier for its lithe two-seat Ace roadster.
There are various stories about what happened next, but basically Carroll decided
the engine and car were made for each other. He cajoled A.C. into selling him Aces
and Ford into supplying engines, only he opted for the more powerful
260-cubic-inch V-8. Thus was born the Cobra in February 1962.
By year's end, Shelby was offering an even faster 289-cid version, built at his small
shop in Venice, California. By 1965 he had the brutal 427 Cobra.
By the time the 1965 Ford Mustang debuted, Carroll Shelby and his furiously fast
Cobra sports cars were already performance legends. The high-performance
machines Shelby would create out of the Mustang were destined to achieve fabled
status of their own.
During the Ford Mustang's highly successful initial model year, an even more
exciting and capable model premiered at California's Riverside Raceway on January
27, 1965. Though created by Carroll Shelby, the GT-350 was instigated by Lee
Iacocca, who wanted a Corvette-beater for Sports Car Club of America (SCCA)
B-Production racing. The idea was to give every Mustang a "competition-proved"
aura in line with Ford's "Total Performance" racing and ad campaign, then nearing
high tide.
Shelby laid down the specifics in the fall of 1964. SCCA required that at least 100
cars be built to qualify as production, and Ford sent that many 2+2 fastbacks to
Shelby's small facility in Venice, California, for conversion. The first dozen GT-350s
were hand-built by Christmas, the remaining 88 by New Year's Day (a feat that much
impressed SCCA officials).
Each GT-350 started as a white fastback supplied with the Hi-Po V-8, four-speed
gearbox, a stouter rear axle from the big Galaxie, and no hood, grille, side trim, or
wheel covers. Shelby muscled up the engine to 306 horsepower via a "hi-rise"
manifold, larger carburetor, free-flow exhaust, and other changes.
Additional component upgrades included Koni adjustable shocks, a bigger front
sway bar, rear torque arms (added to lessen axle hop in hard takeoffs), Shelby-cast
6 x 15 alloy wheels, 7.75 x 15 Goodyear Blue Dot performance tires, larger brakes
with sintered-metallic friction surfaces, and fast-ratio steering on relocated
upper-suspension control arms. A hefty steel tube was added to bridge the front
shock towers to lessen body flex in hard cornering.
Shelby installed a fiberglass hood with functional air scoop and competition-style
tiedowns and applied Ford-blue racing stripes above the rocker panels and atop the
hood, roof, and deck. Inside were three-inch competition seatbelts, mahogany-rim
racing steering wheel providing more arm room, and steering-column-mount
tachometer and oil-pressure gauge.
To meet racing rules for "sports cars" (defined as two-seaters), the stock rear seat
was omitted and the spare tire lashed in its place, though Shelby offered a different
bolt-in bench seat as an option.
As planned, there was also a race-ready GT-350R. This used basically the same
high-tune 289 as competition Cobras, which meant 340-360 horsepower. A
low-restriction side-exit exhaust system helped, as did replacing the front bumper
with a fiberglass air dam containing a large central air slot.
Also to save weight, the gearbox got an aluminum case, plastic replaced glass for
door and rear windows, and the cockpit was stripped down to a single racing seat,
roll bar, and safety harness. Super-duty suspension and tires were naturally
included, and a "locker" differential was installed. A few GT-350Rs were built with
all-disc brakes and ultra-wide tires under flared fenders.
Like the Cobra, the GT-350 was all business and tough to beat, even in street tune.
Racing R-models fulfilled Iaccoca's hopes by running away from Corvettes in the
Sports Car Club of America's B-Production class, winning the national championship
in 1965, '66, and again in '67. But then Ford and the stock Mustang began changing
in ways that Shelby didn't like, and he parted company with Dearborn in 1970.
The street GT-350 was priced at $4547, about $1500 more than a standard V-8
Mustang. A real sizzler, it could storm 0-60 mph in around 6.5 seconds, hit 130-135
mph, and make genuine track-star moves. The R-model was even faster -- and at a
nominal $5950 an incredible bargain for a showroom car that could race straight to
victory lane.
Though no GT-350 was easy to drive, orders quickly overwhelmed the small Venice
shop, prompting the newly formed Shelby American, Inc., to move into two huge
hangars at nearby Los Angeles International Airport in the spring of 1965.
Model-year production totaled 562, of which an estimated 25 were racing versions.
Texas, Shelby served as an Army Air Corps flight instructor during World War II,
then worked as a truck driver, ranch hand, and salesman. He was into chicken
ranching when he turned to racing sports cars, starting in 1952 with a humble
MG-TC.
To many enthusiasts, the name Carroll Shelby conjures images of a lanky country
boy with a thick Texas drawl and a wide "aw shucks" grin beneath a black cowboy
hat. This down-home manner was somewhat calculated. In 1953, for example,
Shelby was late getting to a race and had no time to change out of his farmer's
overalls. Noticing how people reacted, he made the "Texas tuxedo" a sartorial
signature.
He might play to crowds, but Shelby was as smart about business as he was about
racing and building cars. He was, as one writer put it, "a promoter in the most
flattering sense. Like an alchemist, he had the unique ability to combine elements so
that their sum becomes greater than the total of their parts."
Shelby raced successfully in the U.S., Europe and Latin America in the mid- to
late-Fifties, wheeling Aston Martins, Maseratis, Ferraris, and other sports cars with
stellar teammates including Masten Gregory, Dan Gurney, and Phil Hill. He also had
a few Formula rides during the 1955 and '58 seasons.
A natural but fierce competitor, Shelby would often steal a quick pre-race snooze,
saying "Wake me up when it's time to grid." His high point as a driver came in 1959.
Shelby's friendship with John Weyer of Aston Martin led to his being paired with Ray
Salvadori in an Aston DBR for that year's LeMans 24 Hours. Carroll and Ray won
the always-grueling event outright.
The very next year, a heart condition forced Shelby to retire from driving, but not
from working with cars. Settling in Southern California, he became a Goodyear tire
distributor and opened America's first performance driving school. Meanwhile, he
dreamed of building a pure "sport car" -- trim, light, powerful, and fast enough to
beat anything on street or track.
He got his chance in September 1961. Ford had just introduced its revvy "Fairlane
221" small-block V-8, and Shelby heard that England's A.C. Cars was losing the
engine supplier for its lithe two-seat Ace roadster.
There are various stories about what happened next, but basically Carroll decided
the engine and car were made for each other. He cajoled A.C. into selling him Aces
and Ford into supplying engines, only he opted for the more powerful
260-cubic-inch V-8. Thus was born the Cobra in February 1962.
By year's end, Shelby was offering an even faster 289-cid version, built at his small
shop in Venice, California. By 1965 he had the brutal 427 Cobra.
By the time the 1965 Ford Mustang debuted, Carroll Shelby and his furiously fast
Cobra sports cars were already performance legends. The high-performance
machines Shelby would create out of the Mustang were destined to achieve fabled
status of their own.
During the Ford Mustang's highly successful initial model year, an even more
exciting and capable model premiered at California's Riverside Raceway on January
27, 1965. Though created by Carroll Shelby, the GT-350 was instigated by Lee
Iacocca, who wanted a Corvette-beater for Sports Car Club of America (SCCA)
B-Production racing. The idea was to give every Mustang a "competition-proved"
aura in line with Ford's "Total Performance" racing and ad campaign, then nearing
high tide.
Shelby laid down the specifics in the fall of 1964. SCCA required that at least 100
cars be built to qualify as production, and Ford sent that many 2+2 fastbacks to
Shelby's small facility in Venice, California, for conversion. The first dozen GT-350s
were hand-built by Christmas, the remaining 88 by New Year's Day (a feat that much
impressed SCCA officials).
Each GT-350 started as a white fastback supplied with the Hi-Po V-8, four-speed
gearbox, a stouter rear axle from the big Galaxie, and no hood, grille, side trim, or
wheel covers. Shelby muscled up the engine to 306 horsepower via a "hi-rise"
manifold, larger carburetor, free-flow exhaust, and other changes.
Additional component upgrades included Koni adjustable shocks, a bigger front
sway bar, rear torque arms (added to lessen axle hop in hard takeoffs), Shelby-cast
6 x 15 alloy wheels, 7.75 x 15 Goodyear Blue Dot performance tires, larger brakes
with sintered-metallic friction surfaces, and fast-ratio steering on relocated
upper-suspension control arms. A hefty steel tube was added to bridge the front
shock towers to lessen body flex in hard cornering.
Shelby installed a fiberglass hood with functional air scoop and competition-style
tiedowns and applied Ford-blue racing stripes above the rocker panels and atop the
hood, roof, and deck. Inside were three-inch competition seatbelts, mahogany-rim
racing steering wheel providing more arm room, and steering-column-mount
tachometer and oil-pressure gauge.
To meet racing rules for "sports cars" (defined as two-seaters), the stock rear seat
was omitted and the spare tire lashed in its place, though Shelby offered a different
bolt-in bench seat as an option.
As planned, there was also a race-ready GT-350R. This used basically the same
high-tune 289 as competition Cobras, which meant 340-360 horsepower. A
low-restriction side-exit exhaust system helped, as did replacing the front bumper
with a fiberglass air dam containing a large central air slot.
Also to save weight, the gearbox got an aluminum case, plastic replaced glass for
door and rear windows, and the cockpit was stripped down to a single racing seat,
roll bar, and safety harness. Super-duty suspension and tires were naturally
included, and a "locker" differential was installed. A few GT-350Rs were built with
all-disc brakes and ultra-wide tires under flared fenders.
Like the Cobra, the GT-350 was all business and tough to beat, even in street tune.
Racing R-models fulfilled Iaccoca's hopes by running away from Corvettes in the
Sports Car Club of America's B-Production class, winning the national championship
in 1965, '66, and again in '67. But then Ford and the stock Mustang began changing
in ways that Shelby didn't like, and he parted company with Dearborn in 1970.
The street GT-350 was priced at $4547, about $1500 more than a standard V-8
Mustang. A real sizzler, it could storm 0-60 mph in around 6.5 seconds, hit 130-135
mph, and make genuine track-star moves. The R-model was even faster -- and at a
nominal $5950 an incredible bargain for a showroom car that could race straight to
victory lane.
Though no GT-350 was easy to drive, orders quickly overwhelmed the small Venice
shop, prompting the newly formed Shelby American, Inc., to move into two huge
hangars at nearby Los Angeles International Airport in the spring of 1965.
Model-year production totaled 562, of which an estimated 25 were racing versions.
Index of The History Section
References
Caroll Shelby's Mustangs
Carroll Shelby was part showman, all businessman
when it came to fast cars.
when it came to fast cars.
The Cobra engines Shelby used in the Mustang and
elsewhere boasted that they were "powered by Ford".
elsewhere boasted that they were "powered by Ford".
Bowing in January 1965, the GT-350 was a special
high-performance 2+2 conceived and built at Ford's behest
by Carroll Shelby of Cobra sports-car fame.
high-performance 2+2 conceived and built at Ford's behest
by Carroll Shelby of Cobra sports-car fame.
The desired Corvette-beater featured a 306-bhp
"Cobra-tuned" V-8, along with bigger tires, wheels, and
brakes.
"Cobra-tuned" V-8, along with bigger tires, wheels, and
brakes.
Omitting the rear seat in favor of a spare tire saved
weight -- and helped the car meet racing rules..
weight -- and helped the car meet racing rules..
The 1968 GT-500 came toward the end of Shelby's first
stint with Ford.
stint with Ford.
| Mustang & Shelby History Part III |
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