A Life Well Lived
Carroll Hall Shelby, a man whose vision for performance transformed the automobile industry, has died at age 89, his company, Carroll Shelby International, said today. Mr. Shelby passed yesterday at Baylor Hospital in Dallas.
Born on January 11, 1923, in East Texas, Shelby is considered one of the truly great American success stories of the 20th century. Race car driver, WWII "Flying Sergeant", philanthropist, automotive entrepreneur and racing team owner, he came to embody the ingenuity, tenacity and grit needed to win during his 60+ year career.
The son of a postal worker in the hamlet of Leesburg, Texas, Shelby attended high school in Dallas and joined the Army to fight in World War II. After serving as an aviator in the war, he returned home to Texas where he dabbled in business with a dump truck operation, a chicken farm and a sports car dealership.
Moving on to road courses, he raced throughout the USA in his spare time. When all of his chickens died of limberneck disease, Shelby moved into the cockpit as a career. Once on his way to a race, Shelby had to wear his work clothes from the farm to make the start time. When his odd racing attire netted him more attention and publicity than his victory, Shelby made the striped bib coveralls his trademark.
In just a few short years, he became a dominant figure on the racing scene. He was courted by the top car manufacturers in the world to drive for them, including Ferrari. Shelby captured three national sports car championships in the United States, earned a spot on the Aston-Martin team in Europe, won the 24 Hours of Le Mans and set land speed records at Bonneville Salt Flats. Twice, he was named Sports Illustrated's "Driver of the Year."
Still in his prime, a heart condition caused him to abandon his driving prematurely in 1960. Instead of reeling in self-pity, Shelby turned his attention and talents to race car design and automotive manufacturing.
Carroll Shelby believed in combining big horsepower with inspired engineering. He first approached Chevrolet because of his experience with the Scaglietti Corvettes. That led Shelby to approach Lee Iacocca at Ford Motor Company with the idea of building a two seat sports car using the company's new small block engine. It was the beginning of a lifelong friendship between the two.
When Ford agreed to supply motors and cash to start the venture, Shelby vaulted into action. He formed "Shelby American" around a group of Southern California hot rodders. They shoehorned Ford's engine into the lightweight Ace roadster. Christened the Cobra — a name which Carroll said many times came to him in a dream — Shelby's CSX2000 was introduced at the New York Auto Show in 1962. It turned the sports car world on its ear.
In 1965, they won the FIA sports car world championship and the next year captured the overall win at Le Mans with the Ford GT and a class win in the Cobra Daytona Coupe. Carroll Shelby is the only man to have won the prestigious Le Mans race as a driver, team owner and automotive manufacturer.
"Carroll Shelby was an automotive visionary and leader," stated Dan Gurney. "His West Texas downhome bib overall style had a huge emotional impact on me and when he launched his now legendary Ford powered Cobra team, I found myself a very willing volunteer to lend my driving ability to his quest to take on the established European teams on their home turf."
Shelby considered his greatest achievement to be the establishment of the Carroll Shelby Foundation, created in 1992 while Shelby was waiting for a heart transplant in the hospital. The charity is dedicated to providing medical assistance for those in need, including children.
"We are all deeply saddened, and feel a tremendous sense of loss for Carroll's family, ourselves and the entire automotive industry," said Joe Conway, President of Carroll Shelby International. "There has been no one like Carroll Shelby and never will be. However, we promised Carroll we would carry on, and he put the team, the products and the vision in place to do just that."