Carroll Shelby at Sebring 1954

the old Sebring Airport in 1954 as a young Carroll Shelby drives up in his Aston Martin DB3S that he co-drove with Charles Wallace. This was only the second 12 hour race at Sebring and the airport shows the long neglect it suffered since the end of World War II.

https://dailytimewaster.blogspot.com/2017/02/retro-speed_58.html
https://www.flickr.com/photos/smuckatelli/14984355323

Marvin Panch driving "Battlebird" Thunderbird (#98) beside Carroll Shelby driving a 4.9 l Ferrari

https://myautoworld.com/ford/history/tbird/trace/trace.html

Dave MacDonald getting in some practice time before the 1963 LA Times Gran Prix at Riverside

MacDonald outdueled an international field to capture the first-ever victory for the Shelby King Cobra .

http://racersreunion.com/rsm/gallery/44121/shelby-king-cobra-dave-macdonald-at-1963-la-times-gp

GT 350 getting an engine change? or just an oil change?

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2443967555624130&set=gm.1788091311337477&type=3&permPage=1&ifg=1

movie preview for Ford Vs Ferrari

Does anyone need a real Shelby Cobra seat?

https://ontime.mecum.com/auction/8/item/leveroll-shelby-cobra-seat-2004/

miscellaneous cool stuff from the Juliano collection of dealership showroom advertising

https://www.mecum.com/auctions/indianapolis-roadart-2019/collections/steven-juliano-road-art-collection/

It's been a long time since I've seen a Shelby Lancer

Granatelli didn't need to be a salesman to sell Carroll Shelby on the idea of ordering 500 superchargers

Paxton’s Joe Granatelli contacted Carroll Shelby early in 1965 and pitched him on the idea of providing supercharger kits for the new G.T. 350. Shelby was skeptical of the idea but lent Granatelli a car to put the kit on.

When Granatelli returned to Shelby’s facility near the Los Angeles International Airport with the kit installed, Shelby pitted the blown Mustang against one of his 289 Cobras. Granatelli and the Mustang spanked the Cobra, convincing Shelby that the blower was a good idea. Shelby promptly ordered 500 of the kits.

According to the Shelby American Automobile Club’s Shelby Registry 1965-1966-1967, 11 '66 models and 35 '67 models were equipped from Shelby's factory.  How many were sold over the counter or as upgrades in the garage are unknown

https://www.hotrod.com/articles/shelby-g-t-350-with-a-surprise-inside/

I'm ending the day with a Dragon Snake photo and banner, that I haven't seen before

https://www.facebook.com/212490422123357/photos/a.340485429323855/1654491177923267

The Shelby Mustang 1967 GT500 Super Snake, the one of a kind prototype Shelby had built for a Goodyear tire test, just sold for $2.2M, the most any car with a Mustang on it has ever sold for, in 2013 it sold for $1.3M

on the last known set of Goodyear Thunderbolt tires, which were found in a warehouse in Akron, Ohio, several years ago

7 3/4 inch wide white wall passenger tires. These were the skinniest tires ever mounted on a Shelby.
They were overinflated and filled with nitrogen instead of regular compressed atmosphere. This was done to prevent the tires from getting overheated on the long run.

Carroll Shelby figured he would be the first to find out if the tires would work, so he personally took the car out for a few laps on the track, He thought it was the best GT500 ever made, and loved every minute of it. Goodyear was able to film their Thunderbolt promotion after all the testing was done, which was a success story for all involved. The public loved the tires, and people started buying them for their own family cars. Ford noticed an uptick in new orders for Shelby Mustangs, which meant Shelby would be busy building new cars. Ford, Shelby, and Goodyear saw the profits from this effort quickly.

The Shelby Mustang Super Snake averaged 142 MPH for 500 miles, reaching 172 MPH in the straights. Even more amazing was the fact that these skinny little tires performed flawlessly, and retained 97 percent of their tread after the 500 mile run! The fact that he went 172 MPH on 7 1/2 inch wide Bias Ply tires was phenomenal. This was a fact that Goodyear promoted heavily, of course.

For an accurate restoration, it would need original Thunderbolt tires, but, as they hadn’t been made in over 30 years this was a problem. This SSS was purchased by collector Richard Ellis in 2008, and he was committed to an exhaustive nationwide search to find these tires took place. Finally, while looking through an old repair shop warehouse he found 10 of these Thunderbolt original tires, with the original stickers, in a tire rack in the back corner.

https://www.foxnews.com/auto/unique-1967-ford-mustang-shelby-gt500-super-snake-sold-at-auction-for-record-2-2-million
https://www.mecum.com/lots/FL0119-359599/1967-shelby-gt500-super-snake/
http://bryansworldofwheels.com/rarest-mustang-ever/
http://www.mustangandfords.com/events/1309-million-dollar-mustangs-at-mecums-spring-classic-auction/

Dodge Shelby racing program in 1982-83 was missing one thing, Shelby paying his share

Mopar provided Rossi with 2 new Shelby Chargers, but even with free cars and parts, the prize money for a stocker - even 3 or 4 winning stockers - is not enough to cover the costs of a racing program, so there has to be additional funding for the costs of the builds, being on the road, etc.

After running the numbers, Rossi outlined the final plan to Carroll for his approval.

"We can put this program together for $30,000"

"Each car?" asked Shelby

"No sir, for both."

"Hot Damn, son! Lets do it!" replied Shelby.

By 1984 Team Dodge consisted of 3 Shelby Chargers, a 600 convertible, a Shelby Daytona, and a Rampage with a 360.

Carroll Shelby never paid the $30,000, but instead told Rossi that "You can sell them for a lot of money after I die," and one of the Rossi Shelby Chargers just sold at an RM auction in Florida for $9900. So, there you go, Shelby screwed him over, twice. 

the 2nd owner of this GT500KR was worried about people bothering him to sell it to them, so he kept it stored away for 42 years and rarely ever enjoyed it... then he died. 21,990 miles.

This New Jersey-based 1968 Shelby GT500 KR “survivor” was discovered in a social media post after its owner, Art Winner, had passed away.

after only a few years of sparingly using it, someone rear ended it and damaging the rear panel. So, he parked it in his barn, and got a 427 Mustang GT for driving.

The Shelby stayed in the barn for many years until some of the land that was part of the farm was taken over by the township. As a result of that land grab a storage building was erected at his house, at which point the car was moved there. It was rolled into that building and rarely saw the light of day. As evidenced by the inspection sticker on the window that dates to 1995, it wasn’t a complete derelict that was abandoned. Art was always worried that people knew that he had the car, and that secrecy is evident, as some of his family members actually don’t recall ever seeing him drive it.

The last time he drove it was 1995

https://www.hotrod.com/articles/1968-shelby-gt500-kr-barn-find/

Found in a Texas field, an experimental Mustang that Ford loaned to Carroll Shelby to use as a test bed, named Little Redone of only 2 Shelby GT 500 EXP vinyl roof notchback coupes

Little Red instead of going to a junkyard as Ford had intended, was sent to Courtesy Ford in Littleton, Colo., where a wounded Vietnam vet decided to treat himself, not knowing the car he was about to buy was any more special than the other Shelbys on the lot.

After driving it for a couple of years he then sold to a man who lived in Wyoming at the time.

The second owner later moved to Texas and had it put away in a storage container that got broken into, the thief taking a few parts from the car, which was no longer in running condition.

After that, he brought it to his cousin’s house, and left it in his yard among a bunch of other old cars

and that's where is sat and has been rusting for decades.

But Craig Jackson who found and restored the "Green Hornet" Shelby Mustang, went looking for it's brother, this car, and found it by looking for the Ford VIN, not the Shelby VIN, and no one else had tried that.... so, it worked!

Little Red is the only GT500 coupe (hardtop) built by Shelby American
It is the only GT coupe ordered with and factory-equipped with dual-quads
Little Red is the second GT500 to be serialized and completed

Shell and Pennzoil are helping support, in part, the documentation of Little Red’s restoration journey. “As brands that have been part of American and worldwide automotive history for more than 100 years, we understand the importance of heritage. So, with that in mind, we’re thrilled to join Craig Jackson and his team on this historic journey to return Little Red to its original glory,” said Mark Henry, brand and communications manager, Shell Lubricants. “This will be one of the greatest stories of automotive history ever told, and we look forward to having a role in making it come alive for generations to come.”

http://www.foxnews.com/auto/2018/08/17/little-red-1967-ford-mustang-shelby-gt500-found-after-50-years-could-be-worth-millions.html
http://shelbyprototypecoupes.com/

accidentally finding a 1970 Shelby GT 500 when making a show featuring a 65 Mustang GT

https://www.hagerty.com/articles-videos/articles/2018/07/18/barn-find-hunter-episode-36

mini-documentary from the Ford archives, circa late 1965, Carroll Shelby talks about his Le Mans history, the Cobra, and introduces the original Mustang GT350 and Ford GT40

https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/videos/a6381/video-classic-1965-carroll-shelby-promotional-film-by-ford/

1967 Shelby GT 350, bought in 1979 for $4k, used as a daily driver for a few years, then taken apart about 15 years ago... and then the owner became to ill to carry on the restoration he'd planned

So, his wife decided it needed a new home, and the buyer invited Jerry Heasley along for the reveal of a Shelby that hadn't even been seen by the owner's wife in 5 years.

Full photo gallery and more story at http://www.mustangandfords.com/featured-vehicles/1807-1967-shelby-g-t-350-uncovered/

the raccoon ravaged 1970 Shelby Mustang GT 500

It had been sitting in a barn for an extended period of time, where a Raccoon had taken residence and trashed the interior. The owner, fearing the animal would do more damage, pulled the car out of the barn and brought it to the driveway at his house, where it sat for another few years.

http://www.mustangandfords.com/featured-vehicles/return-1970-shelby-gt500-driveway/

Shelby Dodge Prototype truck that Carroll kept in his private collection

https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2018/04/11/selections-from-carroll-shelbys-personal-car-collection-head-to-auction-in-greenwich/

Shelby's car company woes... after 1999

After the initial hype about an all-new Shelby died down, magazines of the day grew impatient when denied access to prototypes for testing. When Road and Track was granted access to a Series 1 for review, it declared the car too unfinished to test, saying that readers wouldn’t want to hear what the magazine would have to write about it.

Over at Car and Driver, Brock Yates was less kind, savaging the Series 1 when two separate prototypes failed during attempted testing.

 Despite the drop in performance and delays to market, the price of the Series 1 climbed almost unchecked.

When Motor Trend successfully tested a prototype in November 1998 (posting a 0-60 time of 4.4 seconds and a quarter-mile run of 12.8 seconds at 110 mph), the price had risen to $108,000, but this would later climb to $135,000, then $165,000, and then $175,000.

For that money, buyers received a car that borrowed seats, switchgear, HVAC controls, and an audio system from the GM corporate parts bin, which probably didn’t sit well with those who’d put down (sizeable) deposits sight unseen.

It was powered by a 4.0-liter Oldsmobile Aurora and rated at 320 horsepower and 290 pound-feet of torque.

The Series 1 received a Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards certificate for the 1999 model year, and production began. These rules were revised for 2000, so instead of going through the expense of redesigning the car for compliance and re-certifying it, Shelby kept producing the Series 1 into the ’00s as a 1999 model.

During the car’s production run, Shelby American was sold to the Venture Corporation, which itself went out of business in 2004.

Under the name Shelby Automobiles, Inc., Carroll Shelby was able to repurchase the remains of his former company for a fraction of the original selling price.

 Unable to continue building the Series 1 as a turnkey automobile, Shelby sold continuation cars (with seven-digit VINs instead of the original 17-digit numbers) without drivelines, employing the same tactic used to sell continuation Cobras. As late as 2005, buyers could still procure a “new” Shelby Series 1, as long as they were willing to install the engine and transaxle themselves.

https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2018/04/11/selections-from-carroll-shelbys-personal-car-collection-head-to-auction-in-greenwich/