The Shelby GT, powered by a cubic inch engine, was built from In just a few short months, Shelby American had transformed the Ford GT from a corporate loser to instant winner.
Winning both international endurance races at Daytona and Sebring. By the Shelby American Ford GT program was all conquering, completely dominating Ferrari and winning the famed 24 Hours of Le Mans, the crown jewel of international sports car racing, with a finish.
Carroll Shelby is the only person to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans as a driver with Aston Martin in , as a manufacturer with the Cobra Daytona Coupe in and as a team manager in and for the Ford GT program. Carroll Shelby selected only the finest, world class drivers for the Cobra and Ford endurance racing programs.
This gave Ford Motor Company another opportunity to build a performance image for Mustang. The Shelby-built cars and teams won championships in and Shelby American-built Mustangs earned more victories in the and Trans-Am seasons. Shelby American retired from the series at the end of the racing season after a very successful four-year run.
When Ford Motor Company assumed production of the Shelby automobiles in , the vehicles moved further away from the sports car Shelby American envisioned. In January , Carroll Shelby retired from the automobile and racing business.
The article was titled, A Legend Says Goodbye. In the early s, Carroll Shelby traveled to Africa for around nine months every year. Carroll was a fan of chili. At the cook-off, Shelby launched his Original Texas Brand Chili Mix to the delight of chili connoisseurs everywhere.
It was a huge success across the country. The company manufactured and distributed aftermarket specialty wheels. During the s, Shelby expanded his Goodyear Tire distributor, providing more and more racers with the latest Goodyear tires. He also founded the Shelby Wheel Company that produced performance wheels for a variety of vehicles.
During his frequent trips to the Texas ghost town of Terlingua, Texas, Shelby and his friends came up with the idea of a unique chili cook-off. Within a year Carroll Shelby Chili was sold in stores coast to coast. After a lifetime of racing and building world famous performance cars, Carroll Shelby decided to take some time off and go to Africa to explore, rest and enjoy the varied landscape and animals on that continent.
It was a quiet time for Shelby who became refreshed and began thinking creating new and exciting ventures. Carroll Shelby loved to spend time at his ranch located in Pittsburg, Texas. Here in East Texas, he could enjoy his horses, raise Kobe beef cattle and relax with his family. He especially looked forward to spending time with his grand children away from the rigors of all the business activity that consumed his life.
In late , Iacocca was hired by Chrysler Corporation to basically save the corporation from bankruptcy and oblivion. He succeeded mightily and by wanted to re-establish Dodge as the performance division of Chrysler Corporation. To accomplish this objective, Lee Iacocca called on Carroll Shelby to see if they could build a performance image for Dodge. The collaboration began with the Dodge Shelby Charger.
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Targeting Cookies Targeting cookies collect information about your browsing habits to deliver adverts which are more relevant to you and your interests. They also measure the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. Third Party Cookies. Close Settings. For one thing, it was powered by a CID engine with two CFM Holley carburetors, rated at hp and lb-ft of torque, paired with a choice of a four-speed manual or a three-speed automatic.
The engine itself also featured a cast aluminum intake manifold. In the cockpit the GT also received an upgraded mph speedometer, an 8,rpm tach and a couple of other additional gauges. But the biggest and the most noticeable change, and also one of the most practical, safety-wise, was the roll bar. Badging was relatively light on the inside: Cobras appeared on the passenger-side dash as well as the three-spoke steering wheel trimmed in wood.
There were plenty of other opportunities to advertise the car's performance on the outside, with Cobra badging along with a rocker stripe. Buyers had three options when it came to wheels, and all were 15 inches in diameter -- this was in the age of smaller wheels. A bigger engine wasn't the only mechanical change: Shelby fitted stiffer front springs to Ford's stock suspension, an upgraded anti-roll bar and Gabriel shock absorbers.
Ford saw the success Shelby had found with the Cobra, and hoped Shelby could breathe some performance into the new Mustang. Shelby and his company, Shelby American, accepted the job and began work on the very first Shelby Mustang in August It wasn't long before people began to associate the name Shelby with Mustang performance.
In all, GTs were released in In , Shelby took the Mustang to a new level. Because of its popularity as a race-day performer, Hertz rental car company purchased 1, of these "rent-a-racers," named GTH , which ended up at rental car locations all over the country.
This was big business for Shelby and gave the Shelby Mustang exposure across the U. Eleanor appeared in The original Shelby GT was the first American car to leave the factory with a roll bar. In addition, it featured a big-block V8 engine. This car is a favorite among collectors. In , Shelby released what many consider the "ultimate" Shelby Mustang.
The car was also available as a convertible. Shelby continued to produce Shelby Mustangs every model year until In the summer of , Shelby terminated his partnership because of differences with Ford. A Shelby Mustang did make its way to buyers, although the car was actually a carry-over from the previous model year that was legally marked with vehicle identification numbers.
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