October 5, 2009 by JP

THE ULTIMATE CARROLL SHELBY MUSTANG | THE GT500E SUPER SNAKE

Carroll Shelby after winning the 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans (in his signature striped coveralls, no less).

OK, so surely you could smell a Shelby sequel coming. There is no one more iconic in the world of high performance American sports cars in terms of both racing and design than the charismatic, plain-talking Texas farm boy, Carroll Shelby. Shucks– back in the day, Shelby would even rush from the farm to the racetrack for practice– wearing his old work overalls. His ‘original’ racing attire got him more than a few chuckles and publicity, so he stuck with it. Seen sporting the striped overalls above, (after winning the 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans) they became his trademark look. But more memorable than those overalls, as cool as they were– is his legacy of Shelby original sport cars. Each one better than last, and perhaps the one most talked about these days in nostalgic circles is the mythical Shelby Mustang GT500E (oft referred to as Eleanor) Super Snake.

1967 Shelby GT500 Super Snake --photo via SuperSnake.org

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October 4, 2009 by JP - 9 Comments

THE FORD MUSTANG GT350 | CARROLL SHELBY & THE AMERICAN PONY WAR

Carroll Shelby, whose Ford powered cars have been a constant contender in International racing, plays a toy flute to charm a toy Cobra out of its basket on the hood of his latest offering to the automotive world, the Mustang GT 350, at the first showing of the car- January 27th, 1965 in Riverside, CA. The Shelby is a modified Ford Mustang Fastback, with a 289 Ford Cobra engine, front disc brakes, and improved suspension for road racing or high speed driving. -- Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

Carroll Shelby was undoubtedly the greatest single force behind American auto racing over the last 60+ years. From his legendary racing career, to reinventing the image of American road-racers in European competitive racing and beyond. In 1962, and with no official engineering background, Carroll Shelby created the legendary, stallion-slaying Cobra, which soon ended Ferrari’s all-out domination of the World’s Manufacturing Championship. For him, the recipe was simple and oft repeated– put a massive engine in a lightweight, nimble car.

In 1965, the Shelby Mustang GT350 made its production debut setting off a legendary battle for power and prestige between rival Detroit automakers– which would from that day on be known as the “Pony War”.

The legendary Shelby Mustang GT350

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January 27, 2009 by JP - 2 Comments

THE LIZARD KING & THE LEGEND OF HIS LOST SHELBY GT500

I have always wanted to know more about Morrison’s ’67 Shelby Mustang GT500 and why we never hear so much as a peep about it. Shouldn’t it be the prize of someone’s car collection? I went in search of the story behind the legend’s mysterious car and found Bret Matteson had done some digging–

Rumor had it that Electra Records bought Jim Morrison a night mist blue ’67 Shelby Mustang GT500 as a present for the release of the album “The Doors.” Morrison had a reputation for trashing everything he touched, and true to form the GT500 sat on Wilshire Blvd in Los Angeles just waiting for something bad to happen– and unfortunaely, it did.