Posted on 05/11/2012 1:18:15 PM PDT by b4its2late
If you haven’t caught it yet on social media outlets, we’re here to share some sad news in the Ford Mustang world, everyone. As the headline states, we’ve lost Carroll Shelby from this land and he’s no doubt headed to the 1320′ strip in the clouds for the hereafter. Shelby passed away at age 89 yesterday, at Baylor Hospital in Dallas. As of this point, we know he was not doing well health-wise, but the official terminal cause has not been released.
The automotive magnate of all things Mustang, and other Detroit muscle, will be sorely missed as one of the legends…one of the greats…one who shaped the automotive industry AND aftermarket then, now, and the future.
Hats off from StangNet, Carroll Shelby. Your presence will be sorely missed by many.
Keep reading at the link to get more detail in the Press Release following…
At that time, Hertz had put a whole bunch of GT 500s into the rental fleet. The story was that sports car racers were renting them and pulling the engines to put into their rides for the weekend, then reinstalling them on Sunday evenings.
Sorry ‘bout the image folks...well, he was larger than life. :(
I don’t have that knowledge but my BIL let me behind the wheel of his ‘70 Mach I in the day and I was not let behind that motor ever again. Good Lord, toes rattled and nose hair shriveled up. I was a bit of a youngster shy of my teenth years. Whew!
I believe both Lotus and TVR also made good use of Ford V-8s.
Racing in those days was mostly on the old Mansfield, LA airport. I still have a slide (and mental image) of Carroll Shelby driving someone's big Ferrari, one hand on the wheel and the other arm propped on the door rim.
My brother’s best friend bought one of those first Shelby Mustangs when he was just out of high school. The kid had worked at a garage since he was 14 and bought his own garage when he graduated from high school and year or two later bought himself a Shelby Mustang and went to the Shelby racing school to learn to drive it, had the car brought out to CA for the racing school on a car carrier and drove out in another vehicle, which he left behind after the racing school was over.
I remember seeing the odd little TVR with a 260 Ford motor. TVR hadn’t completely thought out placement of the motor as i recall the steering wheel shaft was slightly off center, forcing a curious seating position.
Agree with your Camaro assessment. I loved the 67-69 shape. This new thing looks like a squashed bug, and it is huge..
Yeah, but you couldn't make a car that looked like any of the classics today due to all of the mandated equipment that has to go on them.
The Cobra came first in late 1962 early 1963. When Sunbeam(Roots Group) saw what the cobra was doing on the race track and on the Show Room floor they wanted to get in on it. They had Carrol Shelby at Shelby American to do the enginering on the conversion of the Alpine to the Tiger.
Actually I like them all. The more horsepower the better.
Yep, as did the Lola GT. In fact, that's what drew Ford's attention and led to that car being developed into the GT-40. The 427 Cobra and the GT-40 were among the first cars, IIRC, to have had their suspension and chassis designs done by computer. Shelby really knew how to get the most out of his big corporate partner.
Master at going faster. Ol’ Shel’s Chili was pretty hot too!
Never like the Mustang Shelby. Looks like a bloated gawdy mad magazine car. Looks Dodgy.
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