RIP Carroll Shelby

[Bonehead]

Carroll Shelby, father of Cobra sports car, dies at 89

By Deepa Seetharaman | Reuters – 1 hour 4 minutes ago

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• Automotive designer and race car driver Carroll Shelby (L) walks to his seat at the Ford press conference at the LA Auto Show in Los Angeles November 16, …

DETROIT (Reuters) - Carroll Shelby, designer of the Shelby Cobra and other sports cars that placed him in the pantheon of auto industry legends, has died at age 89, his company said on Friday.
He died on Thursday at Baylor Hospital in Dallas, according to the company, Carroll Shelby Licensing. The firm did not disclose the cause of death.
A post on his Facebook page last month revealed he had been hospitalized for pneumonia.
Shelby was one of the few prominent designers to work with all three major American car companies, starting with Ford Motor Co in the 1960s. His last collaboration with Ford was on the 2013 Ford Shelby GT500.
"My name is Carroll Shelby and performance is my business," he said in an early Cobra commercial.
Shelby was born in Leesburg, Texas, in 1923. He started racing cars in the 1950s, and in 1959 he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a marathon race held in France.
But he was diagnosed with a serious heart condition that forced him to quit racing. In 1960 he drove one race with nitroglycerin pills under his tongue. He complained that he would have won if not for the pills.
Shelby had a heart transplant in 1990 and a kidney transplant in 1996.
In 1962 Shelby test-drove the AC 260 roadster, the car made with a Ford engine that would become the Shelby Cobra. His company built the first Cobras in Venice, California. Two years later, Ford asked Shelby to develop a high-performance Mustang.
"Whether helping Ford dominate the 1960s racing scene or building some of the most famous Mustangs, his enthusiasm and passion for great automobiles over six decades has truly inspired everyone who worked with him," said Edsel Ford II, grandson of the No. 2 U.S. automaker's founder Henry Ford.
His contract with Ford ended in 1970, and he then worked with Chrysler and General Motors Co. In 2001 Shelby was working with Ford again.
Shelby is survived by three children and his wife, Cleo.
(Reporting By Deepa Seetharaman; Editing by Xavier Briand)

[m2jordan]

A truely great car guy who will be missed.

[jmichna]

The passing of an automotive innovator and genius... 89 years... Mr Shelby had a good run. His involvement in racing design predates my first driver's license at 16.

[Bonehead]

I read there was a lot of bad blood between the Shelby camp and Holman/Moody as Holman/Moody built the engines for Shelby and from what I understand did pretty much all the chassis setup. they way it was told H/M did all the heavy lifting and didn't get any mention for it at all.

for those not familiar, H/M built the Thunderbolt Fairlane and had a very successful formula for the 427 Ford "cammer" and other engines.

[Beauslx]

Carroll Shelby has died at the age of 89. Rest in Peace Mr. Shelby. You will be missed.


American racing legend Carroll Shelby dead at 89 | Fox News

[n3tfury]

Stud.

[Falcon31]

May he rest in peace. the 67 shelby cobra is one of my dream cars

[johnnyjm84]

Man was a genious & an innovator

[USAF452]

This man defined American ingenuity. He transformed a vehicle that was dismissed as being only for middle-aged women and made it into the sickest, meanest, and most powerfull pieces of pure American machinery.

You will be miss Mr. Shelby. Thanks for everything you did.

[DanTheEldest]

Originally Posted by Falcon31

May he rest in peace. the 67 shelby cobra is one of my dream cars

+1. Eleanor is one of my top 5 favorite cars of all time, and I'm not even a Ford guy.





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