Category: Auto Racing

Carroll Shelby did things his way. Even his association with Ford didn’t hinder his independent thinking or methods. Sometimes his ideas worked, other times they failed. Much of the time Shelby was his own worst enemy.

I have always been fascinated by the Cobra and Shelby, and I learned a lot reading this biography.

Shelby American by Preston Lerner chronicles Shelby’s and Shelby American’s time as one of the dominant race cars of the mid 60s. It wasn’t all easy. Parts failures while leading races. engine failures (six in one weekend) were interspersed with podium sweeps and runaway victories.

Shelby was an outstanding sports car driver in the 50s, highlighted by his Le Mans win in 1959. He had a heart condition which he treated by gulping nitro pills while racing, but by the end of 1960, he had to retire. Shelby went out in style, finishing second in his final race at Laguna Seca in a birdcage Maserati and clinching the USAC Road Racing Championship.

Throughout its brief history many top drivers drove for Shelby- among them Dan Gurney, Ken Miles, Dave MacDonald, Lloyd Ruby, Parnelli Jones, and Bob Holbert.

Fourteen months later he tested an AC Ace at Silverstone. The car would become the basis for the Cobra. Shelby had a chassis shipped to Los Angeles and put a 260 cubic inch Ford V8 under the hood, modified the body styling, and the Cobra prototype was born.

Shelby American and the Cobra cars would have years of triumph and years of famine. 1966 was the best year, as the Cobras and the GT cars he helped Ford develop won almost every race they entered. Ford’s victory at Le Mans was vindication for Henry Ford II, who had a feud with Enzo Ferrari.

Winning Le Mans in 1966 came at a cost. In a test at Le Mans Walt Hansgen died in a crash. Ford’s 1-2-3 finish was badly handled by Ford executives, and Ken Miles was denied a win he deserved. Miles died in August while testing the car.

Shelby entered the Indianapolis 500 in 1968 with a turbine powered car. USAC had changed the rules for turbines for the new season, severely cutting their power. Bruce McLaren and Dennis Hulme drove the cars, which were slow in practice. One of Shelby’s mechanics did an illegal modification to boost the output of the engines, but it was discovered, and the cars were quickly withdrawn.

I wonder what the 500 would have been like with Andy Granatelli and Carroll Shelby together on pit lane, two colorful characters grabbing most of the attention .

In 1969 Shelby American closed its doors. Ford did not renew their deal with Shelby and took this part of their program back to Michigan.

The biography is well written, but the author gets into a lot of jargon and technical details at times. His best writing is when he is describing the races, especially Le Mans.

For those interested in racing history, it is a fascinating look at United States sports car racing in the 1960s. Shelby American is available frrom Octane Press