The Texan’s Carroll Shelby – Carroll Shelby was born in Leesburg, Texas, in January 1923, Shelby’s childhood was marred with a diagnosed heart valve leakage problem at the tender age of 7. He spent much of his childhood days in bed. His dream of becoming an aeronautic engineer was cut short after his graduation from high school in 1940 by the war. The iconic Shelby left a remarkable footprint in the history books which this article will highlight just a few of them.
The Flight Instructor
The Texan’s Carroll Shelby – Missing the opportunity at Georgia School of Technology to study his dream of aeronautic engineering because of the war, the young Shelby never gave up his dream of dealing with speed as he enlisted in the Army Air Corps and became a sergeant flight instructor and test pilot an aspect of his passion (speed). He left the Army Air Force with a wealth of experience as a sergeant flight instructor and test pilot when the war was over to start up his own business as a civilian.
The Poultry Experience
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Carroll Shelby got married to Jeanne Fields on December 18, 1943. Before leaving the Army Air Force, he was blessed with three Kids. With this responsibility, he ventured into a dump truck business in Dallas before going fully into poultry farming. He made so much success in raising chickens that he made a whopping $5000 profit from the sale of his first batch of chickens. Shelby suffered a massive blow in the chicken business as he lost his second batch due to disease. this disaster leads to him being bankrupt.
Experience Behind The Wheel
Carroll Shelby brought excitement to motorsports and the American highway in January 1952. His friend’s MG TC was a perfect start as he piloted the race car for the very first time. This experience brought in a Cad-Allard whose combination of small size, lightweight, and American V8 power inspired Shelby to come up with his legendary Cobra brand.
Recording much success in his early racing career, Shelby was invited to drive for the Aston Martin and Maserati factory teams. He earned Sports Illustrated’s driver of the year award in 1956 and 1957 and competed in nearly a dozen F1 races between 1958 and 1959. Winning the Le Mans award in 1959 made him the second American to do so and was a great achievement.
The Texan’s Carroll Shelby – with an eye on car designing in the nearest future, Shelby took note of the performance of most of the cars he competed with as such he could learn a thing or two. Shelby made a lot of newspaper headlines for very good reasons racing for Aston Martin. He won some accolades to his name including the “driver of the year” in 1956.
The journey to Greatness
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Carroll Shelby begins his last season of racing behind the wheel of a Maserati 250F Formula One Grand Prix car in January 1960. With severe chest pain that was incorrectly diagnosed by his doctor as unrelated to his heart, he moved to California where he opens his Goodyear Racing Tire distributorship in February of 1960. With his health concerns, he was diagnosed with angina pectoralis, a hereditary condition in May 1960.
Shelby manages to compete in his last race on December 3-4, 1960, the Third Annual Los Angeles Times-Mirror Grand Prix for sports cars. He drives a Type 61 Birdcage Maserati and finishes fifth. Based on overall points, he wins the USAC driving championship for 1960. His health condition forced him to retire in 1961.
Shelby opens the Shelby School of High-Performance Driving and then went further to explore the world of automobiles. He collaborated with AC Cars of England who lost their source for its six-cylinder Bristol engine, to keep building the chassis so it could be used for a special Shelby sports car to be powered by an American V-8.
Shelby was licensed to import the AC Ace from England and had AC fly a body to Dean Moon’s shop in Santa Fe Springs, California, where Shelby and his team then assembled the first Cobra. Shelby American completes its first 125 Cobras in June 1963. Shelby puts together a deal with AC Cars and Ed Hugus. The top Cobra finishes seventh with an explosive performance.
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