Carroll Shelby Dead at 89

An America Icon and Car Builder has went Home to that Big Garage in the Sky......

DETROIT (Reuters) - Carroll Shelby, designer of the Shelby Cobra and other sports cars that placed him in the pantheon of auto industry legends, has died at age 89, his company said on Friday.

He died on Thursday at Baylor Hospital in Dallas, according to the company, Carroll Shelby Licensing. The firm did not disclose the cause of death. A post on his Facebook page last month revealed he had been hospitalized for pneumonia.

Shelby was one of the few prominent designers to work with all three major American car companies, starting with Ford Motor Co in the 1960s. His last collaboration with Ford was on the 2013 Ford Shelby GT500.

Shelby's high-performance cars helped Detroit challenge the dominance of the Europeans in racing. Ralph Gilles, head of product design for Chrysler, said Shelby created cars that helped enthusiasts worldwide find "joy and self-actualization."

"My name is Carroll Shelby and performance is my business," Shelby said in an early commercial for the Cobra.

He was born in Leesburg, Texas, in 1923. He started racing cars in the 1950s, and in 1959 he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a marathon race held in France.

source

Carroll Shelby accepts the winner's trophy at Riverside International Raceway after winning the 200-mile International Grand Prix in 1960. (Associated Press / December 31, 1969)


Believe it or not, in 1965 one could rent this car from Hertz Rent-A-Car.
This was the car that made this mechanic want to be a Hot Rodder!
Godspeed, Carroll.

Truly an automotive legend - RIP Carrol Shelby. I hope to own one of your infamous Cobras one day!

sad day for anyone that loves cars.

RIP Shelby - you've done a lot! Thanks (and also thanks for your super human effort in trying to turn useless american bathtubs into something that has a chassis - sometimes you did it, sometimes you didnt - but it takes a God to make a good chassis out of an american car anyway... thanks)

RIP, Carroll Shelby, My uncles owns a replica of the famous car, excellent design, hugs the road like glue on paper. Big motor, small car, very light weight, what else does a hot rodder need, just some gas, and balls of steel

I think I saw an interview with him once and that man seemed to be working and designing cars till the day he died.

reply to post by autowrench


what a shame,will it make mainstream news to any extent.
hope his life and achievements are celebrated properly
from the viper..farewell to the cobra