Carroll Shelby built some of America’s great muscle cars but he was also a legend in American high performance car racing. His racing career started in 1952. He started off drag racing but quickly moved to road racing. He won his very first race, driving an MG. He beat not only other MG’s in the race but also the more powerful Jaguars. By 1954 Shelby was racing in Europe driving Aston Martins for John Wyers team. In November of 1954 Shelby rolled his racecar 4 times in a Pan American Mexico race and suffered cuts, breaks and a shattered elbow. He continued to race in 1955 using a special fiberglass cast and taping his hands to the steering wheel, despite these hardships Shelby continued to win. In 1957 Carroll Shelby was named racecar driver of the year by Sports Illustrated magazine. In 1960 Shelby moved to California and opened a Goodyear Tire Dealership and later that year he competed in his last race.

Carroll Shelby was retired from racing but he would now begin a chapter in his life that would have a profound impact on American sports cars. He opened a high performance driving school in 1961 and in March of 1962 he opened Shelby America in Venice California. His first car the Shelby Cobra was a combination of a frame being built by AC in England and a small block V-8 being built by Ford Motor Company. The Shelby Cobra was the fastest production car being built at the time. Shelby America went through some start up challenges but eventually starts selling quite a few Cobras. The car is a proven winner in the racing world and in 1965 Ford asks Shelby to develop a high performance Mustang for the street and racing. Ford was eager to compete with the Chevrolet Corvette on both the street and the track and they felt that Carroll Shelby could give them the edge that they needed.

1964-1965

In September 1964 Ford Motor Company and Shelby America form a partnership to build high performance Mustangs. Ford starts shipping stripped down Mustangs to Shelby and lets him do whatever he wants to them. The first 1965 Shelby GT 350 race and production cars are built in late 1964. They are only offered in white and Shelby added a blue stripe down the side with the words GT 350. Under the hood Shelby put in an aluminum intake, which pushed the horsepower from 271 to 306; they also added a Borg-Warner T-10 four-speed transmission. The suspension received a larger front stabilizer bar, Koni shocks and traction bars as well as a 1″ sway bar. On the more cosmetic side the mustangs were fitted with fiberglass hoods with functional scoops. The rear seat was removed to make way for the spare tire and competition seat belts were put in. These models were put on the market in January of 1965. They did not sell fast but car enthusiasts were buying them, which was the target market. Read the rest of this entry »