Carroll Shelby dead at 89

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krichardson said:
Zoodiver I was wondering if you were going to chime in here.
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Yeah, I'm just kind of shocked people don't realize alot of what he is know for is stuff he really didn't do. Took a Ford crate motor (developed by someone else for Ford's race program) and stuck it in an AC Cobra... suddenly, they're known as Shelby Cobras. The GT350/500 from the 60's 70's was already a fastback design Ford had on the table. He just used a different Ford motor that was planned for the factory version. Ford canned him after some major issues (some including cheating) with the Trans Am team he was running. I was shocked Ford brought back the name for the S197 performance Mustang - but even that wasn't stuff he or his company the R&D for. Even the newer 'CS' name products are made by other design teams. My favorite happens to be the line of Shelby motors that Roush Performance built. (If you ever see a pic of one, they have his CS logo on the top, then 'built by ROUSH' in small print under it.)

These days, SHELBY just the name.
 
Yeah,quite an interesting history.
 
Zoodiver said:
Yeah, I'm just kind of shocked people don't realize alot of what he is know for is stuff he really didn't do. Took a Ford crate motor (developed by someone else for Ford's race program) and stuck it in an AC Cobra... suddenly, they're known as Shelby Cobras. The GT350/500 from the 60's 70's was already a fastback design Ford had on the table. He just used a different Ford motor that was planned for the factory version. Ford canned him after some major issues (some including cheating) with the Trans Am team he was running. I was shocked Ford brought back the name for the S197 performance Mustang - but even that wasn't stuff he or his company the R&D for. Even the newer 'CS' name products are made by other design teams. My favorite happens to be the line of Shelby motors that Roush Performance built. (If you ever see a pic of one, they have his CS logo on the top, then 'built by ROUSH' in small print under it.)

These days, SHELBY just the name.
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I'm disappointed with you Zoo... I certainly can agree that these days, Shelby is just a name, but its a name that was earned. His racing credits alone are enough, http://www.autoweek.com/article/20120511/CARNEWS/120519987 and the "Shelby" Cobra is aptly named. Yes there was already an AC Cobra, and Yes it was a Ford engine, but who brought them together?

Was he an Engineer? No. But innovator? Yes! Those cars went on to destroy Ferrari's! I'm not saying that he deserves to be anything more than a brand name these days, but I do think he earned the right to be a brand name and a legend.
 
Zoodiver said:
Yeah, I'm just kind of shocked people don't realize alot of what he is know for is stuff he really didn't do. Took a Ford crate motor (developed by someone else for Ford's race program) and stuck it in an AC Cobra... suddenly, they're known as Shelby Cobras. The GT350/500 from the 60's 70's was already a fastback design Ford had on the table. He just used a different Ford motor that was planned for the factory version. Ford canned him after some major issues (some including cheating) with the Trans Am team he was running. I was shocked Ford brought back the name for the S197 performance Mustang - but even that wasn't stuff he or his company the R&D for. Even the newer 'CS' name products are made by other design teams. My favorite happens to be the line of Shelby motors that Roush Performance built. (If you ever see a pic of one, they have his CS logo on the top, then 'built by ROUSH' in small print under it.)

These days, SHELBY just the name.
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Putting the Shelby Cobra together was enough for me, that thing was a brute! I never knew his shop was here in Venice, I would have loved to live in LA at that time.
 
MaddMaxx said:
I'm disappointed with you Zoo... I certainly can agree that these days, Shelby is just a name, but its a name that was earned. His racing credits alone are enough.
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The part that I'm thinking about is that he got caught cheating/not follwing the rules to win. That wipes it all out for me. How many of those other "wins" were legit? We'll never know. Ford wanted nothing to do with him after that, so he HAD to promote himself.
Like I said, he was an AMAZING business man. Promoted product like no other - hence his world wide name. But I have a hard time seeing him as a true car guy.
 
Zoodiver said:
The part that I'm thinking about is that he got caught cheating/not follwing the rules to win. That wipes it all out for me. How many of those other "wins" were legit? We'll never know. Ford wanted nothing to do with him after that, so he HAD to promote himself.
Like I said, he was an AMAZING business man. Promoted product like no other - hence his world wide name. But I have a hard time seeing him as a true car guy.
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I was referring to his actual driving career being enough for me (I don't know of any claims to him cheating then). But I can understand/respect your view on his team management era cheating... Tho I think that all came after the Cobra fame, which to me is his crowning car contribution.
 
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