page4MustangShelbyHistory

Mustang
Shelby
History

The History of Shelby Automobiles

Carroll Hall Shelby was born to Warren Hall Shelby, a rural mail carrier, and Eloise Lawrence Shelby in
Leesburg, Texas on January 11, 1923. In November 1941, Carroll began his training at Lackland Air
Force Base near San Antonio, TX. During training missions, Carroll corresponded with his fiancée by
dropping love letters placed in his flying boots, onto her farm. He was a flight instructor during WW II and
did not leave the U.S. Carroll Shelby married his sweetheart, Jeanne Fields, on December 18, 1943.
Their daughter, Sharon Anne Shelby, was born on December 27, 1944.

Carroll left the Air Corps and became a civilian in August of 1945 and he started a dump truck business
in Dallas, TX. His first son, Michael Hall Shelby, was born on November 2, 1946. His second son, Patrick
Burke Shelby, was born on October 23, 1947. In 1949 Carroll went into the chicken business. His first
brood of chickens made a $5000 profit, but when his second group of chickens died of Limber Neck
Disease, he declared bankruptcy.

Carroll's racing career started with his first race behind the wheel of a hot rod fitted with a flathead Ford
V8 in a quarter-mile drag meet. This was in January of 1952. In May of 1952 Carroll drove in his first road
race in an MG-TC. He took first place in competition with other MGs. Later, the same day, he won again
against Jaguar XK 120s! In November 1952, Carroll Shelby drove a Cad-Allard to first place in an SCCA
(Sports Car Club of America) race on a road racing course set up near the town of Caddo Mills, TX.
During a race in August 1953, Carroll realized he would have to hurry to the track to get in any practice
and wore his work bib overalls from the farm. When he saw that his odd racing attire got him more
laughs and publicity than his racing record, Carroll decide to stick with the striped bib overalls, which
became his trademark.

In the beginning of 1954, Carroll attracted the attention of Aston Martin's team manager, John Wyer, and
met International Grand Prix driving greats Juan Fangio and Peter Collins. Due to Shelby's racing
expertise behind the wheel of the Cad-Allard, Wyer invites Carroll to co-drive an Aston Martin DB3 at
Sebring, Florida. In April 1954, Carroll goes to Europe and drives an Aston-Martin DBR3 finishing a
respectable second against C-Type Jags at Aintree, England. This led to a ride with the Aston Martin
team at Le Mans in June 1954. Carroll was co-driver with Paul Frére. Shelby continued to race Aston
Martins in Europe until returning to the States in August 1954. Then Donald Healey of Austin-Healey,
invited Carroll to at the Bonneville Salt flats in Utah where he help set 70 new Class D records. Carroll
entered the Carrera Pan Americana Mexico in November of 1954. At the 175-kilometer marker north of
Oaxaca, he hit a large rock and flipped his Austin-Healey four times. Indians found him and offered him
strong drinks to ease the pain. He sustained cuts, contusions, and a shattered elbow. March of 1955
saw Carroll still undergoing operations to recover from his racing accident. He continued to race, but,
with his arm in a specially made fiberglass cast and his hand taped to the steering wheel. At Sebring,
Shelby co-drove a Monza Ferrari with Phil Hill.

Shelby won the 1955 Torrey Pines race with a 4.1-liter Mexico Ferrari and defeated Phil Hill. Tony
Paravano, a building contractor in Los Angeles, took notice of Carroll and asked him to drive his new
4.9-liter Ferrari. Carroll won his first race and is then asked to go to Europe. In 1956, Sports Illustrated
named Carroll "sports car driver of the year". Early in 1957, Carroll started "Carroll Shelby Sports Cars"
which opened in Dallas, Texas, with backing from Dick Hall. Dick was an oilman from Abilene, Texas.
His brother was non-other-than Jim Hall of racing fame (who later built the Chaparral cars). Sports
illustrated named Shelby "Driver of the year" again in 1957.

In November 1957, Shelby won a 100-mile race at Riverside driving a double-overhead-camshaft V8
Maserati single-seat racing car. After spinning out on the first lap, he went to the back of the field, then
lapped everybody in one of the most amazing feats of his career. Carroll and Tony Salvadori co-drove an
Aston Martin DBR1/300 and won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June of 1959. Carroll Shelby began his last
racing season January 1960 in a Maserati 250F Formula One Grand Prix car (formerly driven by Juan
Fangio at Rheims in 1958).

During February of 1960, while staying at a friend's apartment in Dallas, Shelby experienced chest pains
and began slipping nitroglycerin pills under his tongue for relief. His doctor incorrectly diagnoses the
problem (as unrelated to the heart). Carroll moved to La Mirada, California, and separated from his wife,
Jeanne, who stayed in Dallas with their three children. Shelby then opened his Goodyear Racing Tire
distributorship. In May 1960, doctors diagnosed Shelby's chest pains as "angina pectoralis," in which the
coronary arteries are starved for blood. June 27, 1960. Carroll Shelby, drove a Scarab (Lance
Reventlow's famous car) to first place at Continental Divide Raceways, breaking a course record. He
then set his sights on the USAC driving championship. On December 3-4, 1960, Shelby competed in his
last race, the Third Annual Los Angeles Times-Mirror Grand Prix for Sports Cars. he drove a Type 61
Birdcage Maserati, and finished fifth. Overall, he won the USAC driving championship for 1960.

Out of racing by doctors orders in 1961, Shelby pursued another career and opened his "Shelby School
of High Performance Driving". A $90 ad in Sports Car Graphic returned $1400 in requests for literature.
Pete Brock, a talented automotive designer, stylist, and driver prepared the curriculum and also helped
with the teaching duties.
(Editors note: The 1961 Palm Springs Sports Car Race was held on the main airport runway. I was on
the SCCA Flag Team at the time, and the Race Director was non-other than Carroll Shelby. About 12:30
P.M. we had to "undo" two turns so the Commercial Airliner could land, unload, reload, and take off
again. This gave us about an hour and a half break in racing. When we put the course "back together",
Carroll came over in his street Maserati Coupe and directed the operation. Afterwards, he asked me if
we should "check out the corners" to see if we had a "fair line" in the course. I said "sure", so we got in
his 'Maser' and did two hot laps! The course was fine, and I got a ride with Carroll).

AC Cars (Auto Carrier) of Thames Ditton, England, lost the source for the six cylinder Bristol engine for
its two-seat roadster in September 1961. Carroll Shelby airmailed a letter of proposal to the company to
keep building the chassis for a special Shelby sports car to be powered by an American V8. At that time,
he knew nothing of the new lightweight, thin wall cast small-block Ford V8 that was later to be utilized in
the Cobra. Charles Hurlock, owner of AC Cars, returns Shelby's letter in October 1961, stating that he
would be interested in Shelby's plan as long as a suitable engine replacement could be found in the
States. The same month, Shelby finds out about the new 260 cid Ford small-block and dispatches a
letter to Ford's Dave Evans and explained his idea for a sports car and his need for a V8 engine.

The first (soon-to-be Cobra) 260 Roadster, minus engine and transmission, was air freighted, on
February 2, 1962, to Shelby's shop in Southern California. Carroll had a dream which revealed to him the
name 'Cobra' appearing on the front of his car. In Carroll's words, "I woke up and jotted the name down
on a pad which I kept by my bedside, a sort of ideas pad, and went back to sleep. Next morning when I
looked at the name 'Cobra,' I knew it was right." In less than eight hours, a 260 HiPo and Borg-Warner
four-speed were installed and Shelby and his friend, Dean Moon, test drive the new Cobra. They were
looking to blast some Corvettes, but none were to be found.

Shelby-American began operations in March 1962. The shop was on Princeton Drive in Venice,
California and Carroll hired Ray Geddes, a Ford finance business school graduate to come aboard to
coordinate the program with Ford. Among his first duties were Ray's efforts to keep Ford's involvement at
a low profile due to Ford's liability concerns. April 1962, CSX 2000, the first Cobra, is painted a
pearlescent yellow by Dean Jeffries and shipped to the New York Auto Show for debut. It appeared in the
Ford display. Dealers began ordering, and with deposits in the bank, Shelby-American formally commits
to building its new Cobra. May 1962, Shelby promoted his Cobra by offering test drives to the automotive
press, who respond with many superlatives. The May 1962 issue of "Sports Car Graphic" describes the
acceleration as explosive. CSX 2001 (the second Cobra built) was shipped by air from England (minus
engine, transmission, and third member) to New York and is prepared by Ed Hugas in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania. CSX 2002 was air freighted to Los Angeles and built into the first competition Cobra.
Production was slow as Shelby-American wrestled with start-up problems. It seemed that the AC
chassis required some rather extensive re-engineering. Meanwhile, CSX 2000 was repainted a different
color every time a different magazine test drove it, which gave the appearance of having several cars in
production. The Cobra had a 1-ton advantage over then current Corvette Roadster.

In August 1962, Shelby-American submitted papers to register the Cobra as a GT III car under the FIA,
(the Federation Internationale de L'Automobile). On August 6, the FIA placed the Cobra in the
more-than-2-liter class for the FIA Manufacturers' Championship. At least 100 cars had to be built within
12 months, but at the time of approval, only eight Cobras had been completed. According to Carroll, he
contemplated switching the chassis and body to an alternative due to continued problems encountered
with the AC. On October 13, 1962, Shelby-American entered the Cobra in its first race, a three-hour
contest with Billy Krause behind the wheel, opening the Los Angeles Times Grand Prix at Riverside
Intern'l Raceway. Krause, with a poor start, fell back, but later took the lead on lap nine only to break a
rear hub and does not finish. The Cobra, however, is definitely lighter and faster than the new Corvette
Stingray. Phil Remington at Shelby-American goes to work building stronger rear hubs starting with
forging blanks from Halibrand.

Dave MacDonald and Ken Miles signed up to drive Cobras for Shelby-American and placed first and
second at Riverside, beating the Corvette Stingrays in January 1963. Miles was so confident, he pitted for
a drink of water and then eventually lapped the Corvettes to finish behind MacDonald. Ian Garrad, an
ex-Brit living in Southern California, felt he could imitate the Cobra with a 260 Ford version of the little
four-cylinder British Sunbeam Alpine roadster. Ken Miles was first hired to build a prototype "Sunbeam
Tiger," a job that was finally handed over to Shelby-American. Shelby-American arrives at Daytona for its
first international competition in February of 1963. The Ferrari GTO triumphed in that race, and after
Daytona, Chevrolet dropped out of racing. In March 1963, Shelby-American entered four cars at Sebring,
Florida which was an FIA race. Two of the four had the new rack-and-pinion steering. They were driven by
Dan Gurney and Phil Hill. Although Hill set the fastest GT lap, the Ferraris won the race.

In June 1963, Shelby-American completed the 125th Cobra. Because Ford refused to finance a Le Mans
effort, Shelby put together a deal with AC Cars and Ed Hugus, and they prepared one car each. The top
Cobra finished seventh that year. September 1963 sees Shelby begin the Daytona Coupe project, since
the roadster lacked the aerodynamics necessary for the needed 200mph+ speeds down the Mulsanne
Straight at Le Mans. Pete Brock was the designer of the Daytona Coupe Cobra production passed 170
mark. The first 'Cooper Monaco King Cobra' was ordered. Dan Gurney, won the Bridgehampton 500 KM
race in a Cobra and became the first American driver to win an FIA race in an American car in Europe.
The Cobra did not beat Ferrari in international competition in 1963, but it dominated the Corvette and
won the 'SCCA A-Production National Championship'. In December 1963, The Cobra won the USRRC
(United States Road Racing) Championship.

February 1964, Shelby-American completed the first FIA roadster and the first Daytona Coupe, both
entered the Daytona Continental Race. Bob Johnson and Dan Gurney finished fourth in an FIA Cobra
roadster, Although the Cobra coupe sets the fastest lap time, it was a DNF due to a damaged differential
and a small fire. Later in March 1964, Shelby-American entered a 427-engine leaf-spring Cobra, CSX
2166, at Sebring in the prototype class. Ken Miles spun off the course in practice and hit the one tree in
sight, but the 427 test mule was repaired for the race the next day. The Cobras, for the first time, beat the
Ferrari GTOs. At Sebring, Carroll Shelby meets with the Hurlock Brothers from AC Cars and Ford design
engineer Klaus Arning to develop the "big-block" Cobra. April 1964, after Sebring, Cobra led Ferrari in FIA
points for the GT III championship, and Shelby-American decided to go to Europe to race. Two months
before Le Mans, the Sartre circuit is closed off for testing. The Cobras and Ford's new GT-40 were tested
at Le Mans. Later, on April 26, the Cobra competed in the Targa Floria in Italy. Oddly, the new Porsche
904s triumphed over Ferrari, followed by the Cobra in third. In June of 1964 the Cobras and
Shelby-American won the biggest race of all in Europe, the '24 Hours of Le Mans'. The Cobra was fourth
overall and first in GT, defeating Ferrari. August 1964, Ford asked Carroll to develop a high-performance
Mustang fastback for street and track. Basically, the new car would challenge the Corvette in SCCA
B-production road racing. The Cobras scored in Europe at the Freiburg Hill climb in the Black Forest, at
the Tourist Trophy in Goodwood, England, and at Sierra-Montana Grand Prix De La Montagne in the
Swiss Alps. In September of 1964, the first '65 Shelby mustang GT350 race and street cars are built. The
prototype 427 Cobra, under development, was tested at Silverstone in England and later in the States in
October 1964.
Shelby-American completes the 427 Cobra prototype in November 1964. The 289 Cobra Roadster again
won the 'SCCA A-Production National Championship'. By December 1964, the SCCA accepted the
GT350 in the B-Production Road Racing Class. As cars were being completed at the Venice, California
shop of Shelby- American, Enzo Ferrari held his annual press conference and announces he will not
contest the GT III championship without his LM Ferrari, in effect, giving no factory Ferrari competition to
the Cobra team for the upcoming 1965 FIA season.

January 1965, The 427 Cobra, featuring a tube frame, aluminum body, and coil spring chassis, was
unveiled at a press introduction at Riverside International Raceway. Shelby-American began its move to
the Los Angles International Airport facility. Ford turned its GT-40 project over to Shelby-American and
The 1965 GT350 debuts. February 1965, with Shelby handling the racing program, Ford's GT-40, painted
in Shelby Guardsman Blue with two white stripes, won its first race, at Daytona, Florida. The Shelby
Mustang GT350 also won its first race, at Green Valley, Texas. Shelby-American began production of its
Ferrari-beating missile, the coupe version of the 427 Cobra Roadster. At Daytona, the Cobra Daytona
Coupe, with Jo Schlesser and Harold Keck driving, was first in the GT class. March of 1965 production of
the GT350 moved to the new Los Angeles International Airport plant just after the first 250 cars were
completed. The GT-40 Mark II (427 big-block) was under development also at that time. Jo Schlesser
and Bob Bondurant piloted the Cobra Daytona Coupe to first overall in the 'Sebring 12 Hours'. In April
1965, the Cobra team flew to Europe and continued its winning season. With team Ferrari out of the
picture, Shelby-American dominated the circuit. Bondurant and Grant were first at Monza, Italy, in the
Daytona Coupe. Meanwhile, the FIA denies the 427s Cobra certification because 100 cars had not been
finished. The first 427 street Cobra was built at the plant in Los Angeles. May 1965, at Oulton Park,
England, Sir John Whitmore took first in the GT class in a Cobra Daytona Coupe. Bob Bondurant was
second in a Coupe at Spa, Belgium. Back home, the first GT350 drag car was built. In June of 1965
Shelby-American and Ford staged an assault on Le Mans with two 427 GT-40 Mark IIs, four 289 GT-40
Mark Is and five Cobra Daytona Coupes. The GT-40s all dropped out, and only one Daytona Coupe
finished the 24 hour race.
On July 4, 1965, Shelby-American, raced Cobras at the '12 Heures De Reims' in France, scoring enough
points to assure the FIA World Championship of GT cars, wrestling the title away from Ferrari. Ferrari
had held this title for more than a decade. Next, the Paxton supercharger GT350 prototype was
completed at the factory. In August of 1965 production of the '66 GT350 was underway. The first 15
competition 427 Cobras were delivered to customers for SCCA A-Production Racing. October 1965 saw
the then-brand-new '66 GT350 Shelby fastbacks go on sale, and Shelby-American proposed a special
'Hertz Racer'. A prototype GT350H was built.

During November 1965, Hertz liked the GT350H and gave Shelby-American a contract for 200 cars. The
FIA certified the 427 for the 1966 racing season, and the '66 GT350 again won the national 'B-Production
Road Racing Championship' with the SCCA. December 1965, Hertz upped it's contract for GT350H
models to 1000 units!

In February 1966, the Ford GT-40 Mark II won at Daytona. Shelby-American built a Mustang notchback
prototype for the brand-new Trans-Am racing series. And in June 1966, Henry Ford II watched proudly as
a trio of GT-40 Mark IIs crossed the finish line at Le Mans, 1-2-3! This was the 'big moment' for American
road racing! No one in Europe expected the Americans to do this well in their big endurance race. The
specifications for the '67 GT350 and new GT500 are finalized in August.
Then comes the bad news -In August 1966, Ken Miles was killed at the Riverside International Raceway.
(Editors note: We lost one of the greats of American Road Racing and a good friend, and very nice man
in British born, Ken Miles. Ken started his racing career in his own modified MG-TC and beat them all.
He then went on to great fame over the years and had many wins in many different cars including the
Shelby Cobras. Ken sold Lotus Sports Cars a half a block from my apartment in North Hollywood in
1958. I walked down to the showroom and sat and talked with him many times).

September 1966 the 1967 production began at LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) facility. Jerry Titus
won at Riverside and Ford won the 'Trans-Am Manufacturer's title'. Then in November 1966, the first of
the '67 Shelby GT350s and GT500s were delivered to dealers nationwide and the in March 1967 the last
427 Cobra Roadster is built. With June 1967, Ford again won at Le Mans with its Mark IV GT-40.

Shelby-American lost the lease on its LAX facility in August 1967. In September 1967, production of '68
Shelby Mustang moved to Ionia, Michigan, and the A.O. Smith Company. The Lone Star, to be the
successor to the Cobra, was constructed in England by John Wyer's JW Automotive Engineering
Company.

In October of 1967 Shelby-American took the '67 'Trans-Am Manufacturer's Title' for Ford and completed
construction of a Cougar-Cobra Can-Am racing car. In November of 1967, Shelby-American racing
moved to Torrance, California, as the '68 Shelby production begun. Then the '68 Shelby Mustang
convertible joined the lineup, and Shelby held his first Chill cook-off. June 1968, The '69 Shelby GTs
were finalized, and again, a GT-40 took first place at the 24 hour Le Mans. The last brand-new 427 Cobra
Roadster was sold by Shelby in August of 1968. In September 1968, Shelby opened his own Ford
dealership in Lake Tahoe, California. The next month, the only Lone Star was offered for sale for
$15.000, the price it would have retailed for if it had made production. The 1969 model year Shelby
Mustang production begun in November '68. At Lime Rock, In the Trans-Am racing series, Sam Posey
piloted a Shelby team car to the company's last Ford victory in May of 1969.

The Shelby Mustang project was ended in September 1969 as sales slowed dramatically. The leftover
'69 models were updated to '70 specifications and production ended. In October 1969, at Riverside
Raceway, in the Trans-Am, Shelby fielded his last Ford team race car. Shelby Automotive Racing
Company closed in December 1969. In February of 1970 Ford ended it's long-term racing agreement
with Carroll Shelby.

The Shelby-American Automobile Club (SAAC) was started in September 1975.
SAAC-1, the first annual convention of the Shelby Automobile Club of America was held in Oakland,
California during August 19-21, 1976. About 600 people attended. It was the first time since the Sixties
that Carroll Shelby got together with his team drivers, such as Lew Spencer and Bob Bondurant.
This finished an era for Carroll and started a new one. He has since revived the Shelby-American
Company and today builds his own replicas of the great machine he started back in 1962. The current
production of csx4000 (427), and now csx7000 (289) cars is in production. Carroll also builds the Series
I Cobra, a modern version with newer styling. As long as he lives, Carroll will be a legend in his own
time, "The Living Legend of Auto Racing".

Now there are almost 30, mostly small private companies, building some versions of the Cobra
look-alike replicas in 7 countries. Some are only "similar in appearance", and not worthy of the name,
'Cobra'. Others are actually better than the originals because of modern engineering and equipment that
is available now. There is some debate about these replicas, and if they should be built using the name
'Cobra' (which is a registered trade mark of the Ford Motor Company). But in any case, they continue to
be much more popular today then they ever were back in the 1960s. Now, instead of a price tag around
$6200, it costs at least $20,000 for a poor man's cobra, and up to as much as $125,000 for a top-notch
replica with an aluminum body. Mean while, the "real thing" will set you back from $60,000 for pieces of a
wreck to upwards of $1,000,000 for a perfect 427 SC model or 289 FIA. The number of 'replicas' is
unknown, but is suspected to top 40,000 world wide! Quite a tribute to the "original", Carroll Shelby.