CARROLL SHELBY, 1923-2012: I could say something about Carroll Shelby,
who passed away today, but why say it when I can show it? You don't have to be a car lover to appreciate these curves, among the most iconic in American industrial design history.
<sigh> Sex on wheels. They really don't make 'em like that anymore.</sigh>
ReplyDeleteHow about the days when Hertz would rent you a Shelby Mustang GT350? I think that was 66 or 67. There are tales that they would sometimes be brought back with marks where renters had spotwelded roll cages into them because they had taken them to the race track (at pomona). The Hertz cars had a special paint scheme, black and gold instead of blue and white...
ReplyDeleteAnd as for that Cobra, Shelby really did improve dramatically on the much less inspiring AC Ace upon which it was based. Bonus points if you can tell just by looking whether that car had the 289 small block or the 427 big block...
ReplyDeleteI get zero bonus points. I do know that most of what looks like Shelbys on the road today are really kit cars.
ReplyDeleteMy only experience driving a Shelby comes from Test Drive 5 on the original Playstation, where the Cobra was the greatest car in the game -- 0-60 in 4.3 seconds, I think, with superior handling. Top speed was lower than some of the American muscle cars (including the Shelby Mustang), but it made it all up in the acceleration out of turns. There was a superior Italian car that you could unlock later in the game, but that one felt like cheating.
http://www.windingroad.com/articles/lists/list-ten-greatest-shelbys/?utm_campaign=Weekly+Email&utm_medium=email&utm_source=email-408&utm_content=WR82+1#1
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