Carroll Shelby Dies at 89

[Don Payne]

Rest in peace Carroll. As much of a pain you were later in life, you lived the american dream and were one hell of a race driver.

[bcw]

Had it not been for Carroll, none of us would be reading this right now. I feel like the minority here but I for one appreciate what he did for automotive history and sparking my dream. With the big business that is the modern car industry there will never be another Caroll Shelby story.

[Avalanche325]

Thank you Carroll for inventing the Cobra and the Shelby Mustangs that I have cherished all of my life. You are an inspiration in the grass roots American motorsports arena. A guy that made the big guys take notice as you crossed the finish line first.

I will try to let go of the anger I have had about you trying to keep me from having my own dream car, and return you to the status of legend that you deserve from your accomplishments.

RIP Carroll. We will all think of you often.

Interesting that I bought a Shelby Cobra T shirt that I found out about here just today. I had mixed emotions about buying it. That is how I found out. I was wearing it and a lady stopped me and said that Shelby had passed on today.

[Nemo]

Thank you for everything Carroll.


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[clays123]

RIP Carroll Shelby, thanks for the legacy.

[luey2009]

Carol rest in peace. I know he has made things difficult in our ffr community in the resent years, however we all know we wouldnt be here as a group without him. Dave thank you for making our dreams come true. life goes on......

[zgt]

R.i.p

[AutoSmith]

May you rest in peace, Mr. Carroll Shelby. You helped create some pretty cool cars, and you were a great racecar driver!

[Turn Two]

1: "Ferrari's Ass is Mine."

2: "Too Much Horse Power is About Right."

R.I.P. CS~

[M DOUGHERTY]

RIP Carroll Shelby
His driving skills were awsome. His vision of a car set the stage for millions to dream about, and Some to own.
Personally he sparked a fire in me to persue building and tuning High performance cars.
Long before I ever worked on replicas. I worked on mustangs. I am thankful for all the good he has done.

Later
Mark D

[SunDude]

I never had the pleasure of meeting Carroll Shelby, but he touched my life in many ways.

My first glimpse of his Cobra changed me forever, and I've been 100% "snake bit" ever since. From my interest in the Cobra, I discovered all of the things that Carroll Shelby achieved as a driver, a car builder and a man.

I had hoped to meet him this summer at either the SAAC-37 convention or the Monterey Historics, but knew that his health was failing and that he might not be well enough to attend. Shelby has overcome the odds so many times that I just wanted to believe he'd do it again.

I'll be firing up my Cobra today in his honour. RIP Carroll Shelby.

[TD]

R i p

[mildlyamused]

Living the American Dream is the understatement of the century for this man-

Not only did Carroll get to drive em'....he created and changed the race car industry as we all know it!

Hats off to You...and say hi to Mr. Mcqueen when you see him for me.

[barrhavencobra]

RIP Mr. Shelby ... thanks for creating abunch of dream cars.

Jim

[Cheapsnake]

Somehow, a death in the family wipes out all past grievances. RIP Carroll, if it weren't for you, we wouldn't be us.

[JohnPR]

Originally Posted by CraigS

This is a sad day for sure. I realize he became a pain in the azz and that FFR suffered because of him. But, if it weren't for him, none of us would be doing what,for me, has been a life changing experience. RIP Carroll!

Ditto. RIP Carroll.

Dave, also many thanks to you and FFR for having the strength to stand up to him, which allowed us to build the dream car seeds he planted in our heads.

[Russ Thompson]

His dream sure inspired all of ours! He was good at many things and putting together the right people to do the job was one of them!
RIP Carroll

[cjrpony]

RIP and thanks for planting the seeds of an obsession in my brain that have lasted for many many years

The wife thanks you too

[plw]

So true Russ,he really knew talent it was one of his gifts and when i see here how almost everyone is taking the high road with there comments tells me why i keep coming back to this forum, RIP Carroll COBRAS FOREVER........

[Number 6]

I've been wanting to build a Factory Five Roadster for many years. I had the chance to take a factory tour on Friday of Factory Five. So it was sad when I got home and read in the news that Carroll had passed the same day. RIP Mr. Shelby. You left behind a great legacy with your car designs.

[BlitzAttack]

I understand the accepted vernacular is to say its sad, how terrible, etc. I disagree. Its not sad that he passed away. He lived a life most of us could only dream of. He was born in the roaring twenties, grew up in the depression of the thirties, lived through a world war, came back home and eventually created an automotive empire where his name will always be associated with high performance automobiles, race track victories, and internal combustion powered good times. He is known by every gear head regardless of their chosen brand or sport. He then slipped away after almost a century of life....and what a life it was. We should all be so fortunate. Sad is seeing a twenty year old come home in a flag draped coffin. Sad is a child dying before they ever had a shot at life. Carroll Shelby passing at 89? Not sad. More like mission accomplished!
Death awaits all of us. He did more in his life than 99.9999% of us ever will. Godspeed Carroll. And if Godspeed isn't fast enough, grab a 427 side oiler and lay the hammer down!

[Big Blocker]

I remember back in the early sixties, a friend of the family and co-worker with my dad, purchasing one of the very first slab-side Cobras. Shelby's crew delivered the car as promised but left a small stipulation when they dropped off the car. It was to be returned to Shelby's shop in Venice to be retrofit with some equipment that had not arrived in time to be able to deliver the car at the promised time. Seems Shelby wanted as many as his cars out on the street as possible (for sales exposure) at the time, and promiseddelivery dates were priority one.

My dad's friend had the car for about three weeks and then was contacted by Shelby's crew to return it for a week or two "to finish it". The car was originally delivered with a 260 4V small block Ford engine and a wide ratio 4-speed.

Two and a half weeks later, Shelby called and said the car had been completed and could be picked up at any time.

The White w/Blue stripes slab-side Cobra had had it's engine replaced with a Hi-Po 289 with a full compliment of 48IDA Webers and a close-ratio 4-speed.

Needless to say, when I was introduced to that car, it made a lasting impression on my young mind. I had to have one!

Forty some odd years later, FFR came into the picture and made it possible for me to actually own one of these fabulous cars (the originals had gotten way out of my financial reach). Now, because of people like Shelby, who had a dream back then and Dave Smith who had a similar dream in the 90's, I can say; I'm the proud owner of FFR3712K.

Rest in Peace, Carroll. You were a tremendous influence to the racing world and I'm sure even Dave Smith thinks that. Without Shelby's foresight and intuition, we would all be driving something else . . . Instead, we are all driving our dreams.

Thank you Carroll Shelby, Thank you Dave Smith.

Doc

[ewh123]

BlitzAttack

I agree 100%, Shelby did live a life most of us could only dream about, and lived longer than most of us will, even with a couple heart transplants. So yes, Godspeed Carroll and may your accomplishments never be forgotten!

Eric

[33ratrod]

Rest In Peace Carroll

Rick

[dreamer65]

Rip carroll

[MARIAH]

These links came across Sports Car Digest this moring. I thought, in your leisure time, you might like to catch up on Carroll's history and photos from a friend's point of view.
Enjoy, Phillip.

Carroll Shelby

Remembering Carroll Shelby (1923-2012)

[CRZN 427]

Originally Posted by BlitzAttack

I understand the accepted vernacular is to say its sad, how terrible, etc. I disagree. Its not sad that he passed away. He lived a life most of us could only dream of. He was born in the roaring twenties, grew up in the depression of the thirties, lived through a world war, came back home and eventually created an automotive empire where his name will always be associated with high performance automobiles, race track victories, and internal combustion powered good times. He is known by every gear head regardless of their chosen brand or sport. He then slipped away after almost a century of life....and what a life it was. We should all be so fortunate. Sad is seeing a twenty year old come home in a flag draped coffin. Sad is a child dying before they ever had a shot at life. Carroll Shelby passing at 89? Not sad. More like mission accomplished!
Death awaits all of us. He did more in his life than 99.9999% of us ever will. Godspeed Carroll. And if Godspeed isn't fast enough, grab a 427 side oiler and lay the hammer down!

Of the responses I have read, this one comes closest to expressing my feelings, very well put.

I do harbor some small amount of resentment for the actions the last few years, but possibly by admitting it here I have a way of getting past that, all in all I believe that Shelby did a lot of good in the automotive industry.

As far as I know, he is the only person who holds the distinction of winning the World Cup in both the "Private Team" and "American Team" categories.

RIP

Regards, Rick.

[NiceGuyEddie]

Dave Smith said he had to gather his thoughts before he posted them, i've been checking this thread every day. i think i've had three bags of popcorn already.

if he posted something somewhere else, can someone please p/m me and tell me where?

.

[JKleiner]

Haven't seen any more from DS but Mark reminiced about walking out of the courtroom with Shelby following the first lawsuit. According to Mark, Carroll said ""Mark you tell your brother to relax...it's just business". To which Mark replied "Carroll, he's in there (the courtroom) quoting Abraham Lincoln..."

Jeff

[LuisL]

He built great cars. I love them all. RIP.

LuisL


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