Many thought he was nuts. But his foresight and ingenuity has left a Legacy that may not be able to be surpassed let alone matched. He was truly brilliant and never stopped being innovative and involved till just a few months ago as illness came upon him.Not to say he had not dealt with physical frailty before,he was the oldest living Heart Transplant receiver in the world having had the operation back in 1990.
He has done so much and was the catalyst of so much more it is hard to know where to begin in listing his accolades. Driver,builder,designer,marketer,inventor,visionary and Ambassador for the world of Auto Racing to mention a few,he has truly left his mark and will be missed.
A Hero to me, the cars that bore his name,the Shelby Cobra, first showed up at Ford Dealers in 1963 and were a huge influence on me.Nobody had seen anything like that in this country and they proved to be world class.Although I could not convince my Dads Friend who owned a Ford Dealer that had one on the showroom floor(I was 13)to let me drive one I spent hours admiring it.It was just WOW!
He didn't stop there.The next year came the GT 350 Mustang,a Race Car detuned for the street.Then the GT 500,a Big Block Kick Ass Ride and by then I was driving them.
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| GT 350 |
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| GT 500 |
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| Ford GT 40 |
He won the World Sportscar Championship with his Cobra and led Henry Ford II to beat the Ferrari at LeMan,something most said could not be done.Ha!Ford dominated,not just won.The only American Car to ever do that.
He was something else a great man.
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