Carroll Hall Shelby

„Only those who cannot build strong enough engines are concerned with air resistance!”

Over the course of his 89 years, Carroll Hall Shelby was a fighter pilot, a Le Mans-winning race car driver, a successful automaker, and a farmer—but he didn’t become world-famous for his chickens and chili peppers, but rather for the cars that bear his name. Without him, there would have been no V8 Cobra, no Ford GT, no Dodge Viper, and the world would be poorer for the lack of a whole host of souped-up Mustangs. He passed away on May 10, 2012.

Personal Life

He was born on January 11, 1923, in Leesburg, Texas, the son of Warren Hall Shelby and Eloise Lawrence Shelby. At the age of seven, he developed a serious heart condition, which had a major impact on his childhood. By the time he was fourteen, his health problems had resolved. Before turning to racing, he ran a chicken farm and a garbage collection business. During World War II, he served in San Antonio as a test and training pilot.

His first wife was Jeanne Fields, whom he married on December 18, 1943. They had three children. Their daughter, Sharon Anne Shelby, was born on December 27, 1944, followed shortly thereafter by Michael Hall (November 2, 1946) and Patrick Burke (October 23, 1947).

After the war, he became an amateur and then a professional race car driver, competing for Aston Martin, Cad-Allard, and Maserati. He set one record after another and competed at Le Mans as well as in Formula 1. His rising career was cut short by recurring heart problems, and he was forced to hang up his racing helmet.

It was around this time that he uttered his legendary line: “If I can’t drive it, I’ll just build it myself.” Although he was brimming with ideas, he was forced to resort to a bit of a workaround to bring his plans to fruition due to a lack of capital. He approached AC Cars to ask them to supply him with AC Ace bodies—he already had the engines. Then, doing the opposite, he approached Ford, and the rest is history. With the AC Cobra, which later became the Shelby Cobra, he won race after race and defeated teams with long-standing reputations. His relationship with Ford grew increasingly close; they remained under contract in various forms until 1970. Beyond the Cobra, this collaboration bore fruit in the form of the Shelby Mustang GT350, GT500, and Shelby Daytona, and he also played a significant role in the development of the GT40.

Shelby and Fields divorced in February 1960. Carroll later remarried. He married Cleo Patricia Marguerita Shelby on September 3, 1997.

After parting ways with Ford for good, he collaborated with the other two major automakers, resulting in many lesser-known models, ranging from pickup trucks to compact family cars. He also played a significant role in saving Chrysler, and the success of the Dodge Viper is largely due to him. Although he was one of the defining figures in the automotive industry, he actually designed only one car entirely from scratch: the Shelby Series 1. When he wasn’t working on cars, he managed his foundation, which helped provide healthcare to many families in need.

Carroll Shelby passed away on May 10, 2012, in Dallas, at the age of 89.

His Companies

After his racing career, he opened his own driving school and founded a company called Shelby American, which specializes in converting production cars into high-performance sports cars.

It has a particularly close relationship with the Ford Motor Company:
  • Shelby Cobra
  • Shelby Mustang
  • Shelby Mustang GT
Subsidiaries:
  • Carroll Shelby Licensing, Inc.
  • Carroll Shelby Motors Inc.

Shelby founded his company, Carroll Shelby International, in 2003. (It has no connection to the company called Shelby Supercars.)

Competition Results

  • In 1956, he set a new record at the Mount Washington Mountain Race with a time of 10 minutes and 21.8 seconds.
  • In 1956 and 1957, he was named “Racer of the Year” by Sports Illustrated magazine.
  • In 1959, he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans; Carroll completed the race alongside Roy Salvador of Britain. Their victory marked Aston Martin's first win in the history of the race.

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Carroll Hall Shelby
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