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Carroll Shelby
Photo: Sherry Lambert Stapleton / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

Racing drivers and constructors

Carroll Shelby

1923–2012

Carroll Hall Shelby

Racing driver · Founder of Shelby American · Car builder

American racing driver who won Le Mans in 1959, then built the AC Cobra and Shelby Mustangs and helped Ford's GT40 win Le Mans.

Born
11 January 1923Leesburg, Texas, United States
Died
10 May 2012Dallas, Texas, United States
Nationality
American

Biography

Carroll Hall Shelby was born in Leesburg, Texas, on 11 January 1923. His greatest win as a driver came at the 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans, which he won with Roy Salvadori in an Aston Martin DBR1. Health problems ended his driving career in October 1960.

In 1962 he founded Shelby American to build and sell performance cars, and in March that year production of the AC Cobra began. The Shelby GT350 Mustang followed in 1965 and the GT500 in 1967. With Ford he developed the GT40, working with Ken Miles, and the car won Le Mans every year from 1966 to 1969.

From 1983 he worked with Dodge, starting with the Dodge Shelby Charger. He received a heart transplant in 1990 and a kidney transplant in 1996, and in 1997 unveiled the Series 1 roadster at the Los Angeles Auto Show. Carroll Shelby died in Dallas on 10 May 2012, aged 89.

Timeline

  1. 1959Wins Le Mans in an Aston Martin DBR1[1]
  2. 1962Founds Shelby American; AC Cobra production begins[1]
  3. 1965Shelby GT350 Mustang[1]
  4. 1966Ford GT40 wins Le Mans, the first of four wins in a row[1]
  5. 1967Shelby GT500[1]
  6. 1983Begins working with Dodge[1]
  7. 1991Inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame[1]
  8. 1997Unveils the Shelby Series 1[1]

Cars

Carroll Shelby in 1CARS stories

Related people

Sources

  1. Carroll Shelby — Wikipedia · accessed 13 October 2026

All people who shaped the car

Photo credits