The Shelby American (Fall 2021)

“Shucks,” says Carroll Shelby, “I’m not an engineer. I’m not even very smart. The only thing I understand is human nature. I just like to bring the right people together and see what happens. I think I’ve put the right peo- ple in Shelby American; they’re get- ting the job done.” Yes. At least the Ford Motor Company thinks Shelby has the right combination—they re- cently entrusted him with the care and feeding of their very special baby, the Ford GT. Shelby American has come a long way. Less than three years ago it con- sisted of Shelby and an answering service. Then Carroll conceived the Cobra. All he needed was a few of the “right people” and a couple of engines on the cuff. He approached Ford, just then committing itself to the perform- ance image, and the gambled on the Texan’s venture (though he still owns Shelby American in its entirety). The Cobra was an instant success on the race tracks and orders poured in. Shelby moved from the back room in Dean Moon’s speed shop to larger quarters, the ex-Reventlow “works” in Venice, California. As his business mushroomed, Cobras won four SCCA championships in two years and came within a whisker’s breadth of prying the World Manufacturer’s Champi- onship loose from arch-rival Ferrari. Today Shelby American is a bud- ding empire, doing a $15 million an- nual business and capable of producing 6000 cars a year. They just moved into a new facility adjoining Los Angeles International Airport: two huge hangars—North American Avia- tion used to assemble Sabreliners there—with about 96,000 square feet of working space on a twelve-and-a- half acre plot. One building will house the administration and racing depart- ment and the other will be devoted to the manufacturing assembly line. The space between the two hangars is al- ready blackening with wild tire marks. Shelby American employs about 200 people now, more than half of whom are the sexiest collection of fem- inine beauty we have ever seen. Shelby’s personal secretary, for in- stance, is Thayer Beyer, who many of you will remember as the statuesque Irving in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” Yes, Shelby American is big business and getting bigger all the time. And Car- roll is no longer just another one of racing’s colorful characters; the boom- or-bust nature of his career seems to have taken a permanent upward swing. Shelby was doing alright by Ford. And Ford was doing alright by Shelby. The two companies, drawing closer to- gether, signed an inro-clad five year contract that would keep Shelby American operating on a profitable basis, even if Ford pulled completely out of racing. Success! Ford designed a new all-coil, all-independent suspen- sion for the Cobra. Shelby turned Ford’s Mustang into a winning race car. Finally, under a reciprocal “techni- cal and marketing assistance arrange- ment” Ford handed the GT over to Shelby, lock, stick and barrel. Leo Beebe, Ford Division special vehicles activities manager, said, “We’re taking the move to consolidate the construc- tion and racing of all our GT-type ve- hicles within the same specialist organization,” or, in effect, “here—we’ll design ‘em, you build ‘em and race ‘em.” For two years Ford had tried to build and race their car, hopefully named the “Ford GT,” despite the fact that its still a prototype in the eyes of racing’s lawmakers. (The project name of the car is “GT40” because its 40- inches high; this was to distinguish it from another proposed GT prototype— somewhat taller—that never got be- yond the drawing board stage). In Ford’s hands, the little coupe had a checkered career but never saw a checkered flag. The first year of its ex- istence was consumed with getting it built. In ‘64 it was entered in four races—the Nürburgring, LeMans, Reims and Nassau—and failed to fin- ish each time, though it had led for two glory-filled hours at LeMans and set a new lap record lap record there. Less than two months after being de- livered to Shelby, the Ford GT made its competition debut in the 1,243- mile, 12 and a half-hour Daytona Con- tinental (Racing, May C/D). Two GTs were entered and two finished, in first and third place (a Shelby Cobra was second). Shelby’s two GT40s will be joined by two more at LeMans, where Ford would—and may have to—spend a million to win. But whether or nor Shelby races the Ford GT elsewhere on the GT prototype championship cir- cuit depends on how well it does at Se- The SHELBY AMERICAN Fall 2021 54 The Ford in Carroll Shelby’s Future By Steve Smith Reprinted from Car and Driver, June, 1965