Shelby name question

Carrol Shelby has made or licensed a wide variety of vehicles over the years.

If anyone comes across a Shelby de Mexico Maverick, let me know, I'll buy it.

Shelby made a lot of cars, and most of them were Mustangs. There's (of course) the Cobra, which was orginally an AC car. Then the hand built Daytona Coupes. Now he's make his own cars; Cobra replicas, Mustang tuners, and his concept car roadster (can't remember the name) He also put his name on a few Dodge products. Including a pick up.

His name has also gone one some less desireable vehicles such as the GLHS, Lancer, CSX (Shadow/ Sundance) or other Chrysler products when Lee Iacocca brought him over.

The Shelby De Mexico Maverick was once on ebay not to long ago.

-Nick

It would require a book at this point to catalog everything that Carroll Shelby put his name on (chili mix, anyone?). But to go back to the earliest days, C. Shelby was a fairly successful race car driver with a bad heart, so bad he actually kept a nitroglycerin pill under his tongue during races. His Drs. told him he had to quit. At the same time, there was 4-cylinder British sports car called the Ace, built by a company called AC, that was going out of production. Shelby thought a small block Chevy transplant would make this car come alive. He created a company called Shelby American to do it. But GM wouldn't supply him with the engines. So he went to Ford, and Ford agreed to supply the new for '62 260 ci Challenger engine. Here's a picture of Shelby watching his helpers assemble the first Shelby American car, in February 1962:

called it the Cobra. Although some people nowadays call these "ACCobras," and although AC in England actually built a few, they areproperly called Shelby American Cobras. By the time the Mustang came out in April 1964, the Cobras, including a variant called the Daytona Coupe, had had a lot of success on the racetrack. So Shelby American was a known Ford performance brand. So Ford came to Shelby and asked him to produce a performance version of the Mustang. These cars are properly called the Shelby American GT-350, and are sometimes called Shelby Mustangs. But they are NOT Cobras.

In '67 Shelby American started ordering 390 big block cars and transplanting so-called "Police Interceptor" 428's. These were called GT-500's.

In '68, GT-350 and GT-500 production shifted from the Shelby American factory in Los Angeles to the Detroit facilities of a Ford vendor called W.O. Smith. Cobra production ceased. At some point, the data plates in the W.O. Smith Mustangs started bearing the name Shelby Automotive, not Shelby American. But they are still properly called Shelbys.

In April 1968, Ford started putting "Cobra Jet" 428's in Mustangs. So W.O. Smith didn't have to do an engine swap any more. They called these 68.5's the GT-500KR.

Finally, '69 was the last year for GT-350 and GT-500 production. Leftover '69's were re-VIN-ed as '70's, but they were built in the '69 model year.

By the end of 1968, Carroll Shelby was tired of the car biz, and spent his time in Africa hunting big game. He returned to the fray with an association with Mopar in the early '80's, starting with the turbo four Dodge Omni GLH-S (S for Shelby).

180 Out ,

Shelby Charger! Who can forget it? Who doesnt WANT TO!

Whattapieceacrap!

Thankfully, they had the lifetime of a hyperthyroidic mouse, thus we arent assailed by the sight of those mutants, ... which looked old and beat up at only a couple years on the road.

And while this history may be technically accurate.... CS "might" put a bit of a spin on some of it... like the Mustang fastback came out and he saw it and thought it would be a great race car platform... rather than Ford approached him. But, this is to be expected 'cause he's a good ol' boy.... : 0 )

I remember a letter to Car & Driver that joked that the initials stood for "Great Little Hand-grenade, Short-fused." I also remember Carroll Shelby saying that his goal with the GLH-S was acceleration, braking, and skidpad g-force on a par with Ferrari -- which, with the Ferrari being the 308 GTB, the bar was not all that high.

180 Out

And he never mentions that Ford couldn't win LeMans till they got someone else to prepare the cars......

Ed

Gotta give the man his due. He took some cars and made them into legends for Ford. Considering how little difference there is between the stock 289 and the Shelby version, Mustang might have remained as that cute little secretaries car. AC might have been eclipsed by Triumph, Jag, or MG... or ...Cooper... : 0 )

And I happen to like his chili mix.... Wouldn't mind having his pocketbook either.... : 0 )

What? Less desirable? The Omni GLHS was freekin' fast as hell and cheap to purchase new. Shelby's whole take on it was to build a fast car that a family could afford. Now whether the kids should be in the car, that's another issue. A total sleeper that took many V8 boys by surprise. The last one I drove, about 12 years ago, was basically enough to keep me happy through the winter when I couldn't ride the bike.

If I remember correctly, that was a pretty fast little car, especially for the time period.

Great info 180!! This is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks!!

Schweet!!!

Didn't they make 2 models... The Goes Like Hell and the Hoes Like Hell Somemore? That is the nick name that comes to mind.

...Ron

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68' Camaro RS 88' Firebird Formula 00' Mustang GT Vert

Didnt SAY it wasnt fast! It was a hoot. My dept secy had one and she let me drive it. Then tried to sell it to me.

a year later I bought my SVO... I let her drive it. She wasnt happy at the comparison.

Here are some online article about Shelby that may interest you: