Say the name Carroll Shelby among a group of car guys and the response you’ll get will be as varied as the day is long. There are the worshipers, the haters, the historians, and those who don’t really care either way. Colin Comer’s The Complete Book of Shelby Automobiles covers all the bases, and we mean all of them. Even the guy who “knows” about Shelby cars will be educated by reading this book.
As an example, we pride ourselves on knowning a fair amount about racing history, and by proxy of that, knowing stuff about Shelby and his creations. We were floored to learn that the company produced eight drag race competition versions of the GT350 which ran in the 12s and held some records for a time in the mid ’60s.
The book covers all eras of Shelby creations including Carroll’s brief involvment with Toyotas, his Mopar period, and the botched launch and ultimate failure of the Series One supercars. As you’d expect, not a lot of time is spent on the failures in Shelby’s career and some of the cars, particularly of the Mopar era, are given more accolades than we’d be comfortable bestowing on them, but overall this is a fair picture and not a complete fan-boy account of the man’s career and of the vehicles that bore his name.
There are awesome photos and stories that revolve around the GT40 program and Shelby’s involvement in it as well as some neat insider stuff from the rolicking days of the 1960s when the money started rolling in from Ford and the guys in the Shelby shop were living the life of Riley, traveling the world, kicking asses, and generally living like rock stars.
No matter what you think of Carroll Shelby, his story is uniquely American and pretty inspiring. He’s a marketer par excellence and has played to his strengths through his long career with cars. This book educated us, awed us with photos, and earned our respect with an balanced look at the long and storied history of the vaunted Shelby name.
This book is available through Motorbooks and through your local bookseller.
