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How Carroll Shelby Reinvented Himself and The Muscle Car
Quite a bold statement, but imagine the world without Shelby vehicles (no sarcastic comments please Mopar fans…!)
Mr Shelby arguably brought some of the finest vehicles of the muscle car era which now also fetch the highest prices.
But how did a regular guy go from regualr racer to world-renowned car builder?
The website TopSpeed, stated, ‘Shelby learned about how internal combustion engines operated by tearing apart and rebuilding small go-carts.’
He once said, “When something doesn’t work out right, you can’t stop.” He learned about “more ways to get where you’re trying to get if the first one doesn’t work.” “You can figure it out if you have the drive to do it and don’t let disappointments kill you.”
But this alone doesn’t get you to the heady heights of muscle car stardom. you have to drive them and build them to know them intimately enough to make them even better.
Mr Shelby started his driving career in 1952 drag racing. He then went on to set 16 US and international speed records including the 24-hour Le Mans in 1959.
But after heart troubles which stopped his racing career in 1960, his efforts turned to car design.
The loss in one area became a motivation in another, where Shelby teamed up with British firm A/C cars and installed a compact Ford V8 engine into the cars in his California shop. Thus creating the A/C cobra in 1962. This then led onto his association with Ford and the Mustang, which led to the legends GT 350 and GT 500.
These early efforts have resonated for decades afterwards with the Shelby name.
In all, a man not afraid to push the boundaries and constantly innovated to the point of creating legendary cars.
These guys only come around every so often, so if you are a fan of Shelby vehicles or not, you cannot help but admire a man who would stop at nothing to create the ultimate muscle car.
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