By any normal standards, a Le Mans win and being instrumental in getting a team such as the Aston Martin works outfit to its first world championship win as a driver would be more than high achieving enough. But Carroll Shelby went on to have such a stellar career as an engineer and team manager that the high water marks of his driving have almost become the footnote of a glittering life in motorsport.
Celebrating the life of Carroll Shelby at the Revival
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In January of this year, Shelby would have been 100 years old and we’ve marked the centenary with a celebration of his career. His first prominent success came when he was recruited by John Wyer to join Aston Martin, and the team went on to take the World Sportscar Championship that year, as well as claiming its only outright Le Mans 24 Hours victory with the DBR1 (Shelby shared the car with Roy Salvadori).
But it was after that when Shelby really cemented his name in motorsport folklore when he founded Shelby America. He famously took the AC Ace and replaced its six-cylinder engine with a Ford V8 to create the monstrous Cobra. He then took on Ferrari with the Shelby Daytona Coupe before being recruited by Ford to find the GT40’s race-winning pace. Few individuals have done more to further the cause of American motorsport on the world stage.
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Shelby’s connection to Goodwood stretches back to the 1950s. He raced here in 1959, the Daytona Coupe won the RAC TT in 1964 and he attended the third running of the Goodwood Revival in 2000. Shelby died in 2012 but his legend lives on at Revival every year with his cars being at the forefront of grids for the RAC TT Celebration, Stirling Moss Trophy and Whitsun Trophy.
As a result, there was no shortage of cars to call upon to celebrate his centenary, and a huge willingness from car owners to mark the anniversary with a track parade on every day of the Revival. Swathes of Cobras and GT40s are joined by a host of less obvious cars from Shelby’s career. Aston Martins are represented by a DB3S, a DBR2 and a DBR4, there’s a brace of Sunbeam Tigers, ’Ol’ Yeller’ and a Maserati Birdcage. And the tribute wouldn’t be complete without the MG TC in which Shelby made his racing debut in 1952. Fittingly, it’s driven by grandson Aaron Shelby, who’s also a board member of Carroll Shelby International.
What could be a more fitting tribute to the great man than the sights and – to an arguably greater extent – sounds of the cars that defined his diverse and successful career?
Photography by Pete Summers.
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