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Posted by: bubba353z May 11 2012, 11:21 PM

http://msn.foxsports.com/motor/story/Carroll-Shelby-dies-race-car-designer-cobra-age-89-051112/

Definitely a sad day and the end of an era.......

Posted by: trackbird May 12 2012, 03:12 AM

Honestly he's been a bit of a jerk for the last few years and seems to have angered many people in the automotive community... He was a legend, it's just sad how the last few chapters of the story turned out.

Posted by: Mojave May 12 2012, 03:52 AM

He's been dead to me for years, ever since that first Z Max commercial. We lost an icon, but it was 20 years ago.

Posted by: bubba353z May 12 2012, 12:43 PM

I'll concede that he's been cashing in on his name the last few years (the worst was a "Shelby" SUV at Barrett Jackson a couple years ago) , but don't let that diminish his his overall contribution to the sport

Posted by: rlewi771 May 12 2012, 09:18 PM

I totally plan on being a jerk when i'm 89

Posted by: JACE323 May 12 2012, 09:42 PM

If I was as important as he was to ford people I could be an crotchety old f**k too. LOL

Posted by: Steve91T May 13 2012, 02:05 AM

I know he sued Factory Five Racing over their cobra replica and FFR won, but other than a bad Zmax commercial where he doesn't even say anything about Zmax, was he really that bad?

Was he doing anything that Mario Andretti isn't doing? Watching the Darlington race, I just saw Mario Andretti for GoDaddy.com. Being 30 years old, I honestly don't remember Mario Andretti doing anything other than commercials for Magnaflow and making an occasional appearance on Home Improvement. I don't blame him though, talk about income!

My wife's childhood friend races late models (I think) in florida. I don't remember what series, but he races when he saves up some money. Anyway, he happens to get selected to be the crew chief on a Kyle Bush commercial. In the commercial, he can be seen saying "let's go home Kyle", and that's it. He gets a check every time that commercial airs. From that one commercial, his little boy's college is already payed for. Can you imagine how much Shelby made from Zmax alone? Why not use your name and provide money for your family for years to come?

I still have respect for the man. Definitely a legend.

Posted by: robz71lm7 May 13 2012, 02:08 AM

Look into his charity and you'll see he really is worse than that! May the old, fu(k rot in hell.

Posted by: trackbird May 13 2012, 05:50 AM

Don't forget all of those "leftover" cobra chassis that he "saved" and decided to release one day and tried to call them original...and he got caught lying.

Posted by: roy May 13 2012, 08:22 AM

Mans dead , lets let him be.

Posted by: BPWilliams May 14 2012, 12:55 PM

The man was a visionary and brought the USA the first FIA championship in history. He by himself was nothing more that a fighter pilot, chicken farmer, but man could he assemble a team. Say all you want (and this forum is not the place for this thread for sure!, Stand corrected no Ford haters here...) but this man did go down in the history books. As a proud owner of the iconic Shelby 427sc Cobra I can say that his cars are legendary....



Corrected the general comment of "Ford Haters" based on a Chevy website...

Posted by: trackbird May 14 2012, 02:44 PM

Mario was the real deal, a true racer and legend. I am just old enough to remember when he was racing. Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, he hasn't been to the moon lately...but he's still Neil Armstrong. Mario has been retired for a while now, but he's still Mario. Hero's are hero's for a reason, even if you missed them in their prime...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Andretti




This forum isn't full of Ford haters. I think you have us confused with some of the other forums on the web. There are more than a few Mustangs here and we just swapped a 331 stroker into a 5.0 notchback at my house in the last year. I grew up in a Ford family...

And the 427 Cobra has been one of my favorite cars as long as I can remember. There's a 20x30" picture of a yellow Cobra over my desk at home. It's a photo I took at a car show years ago and several friends have asked for prints of that photo and there are a few of them on friends walls too.

Posted by: dailydriver May 14 2012, 06:54 PM

AGREED!!^^^

BUT, I certainly DO NOT "hate Fords". :no-no: < (we should get that emoticon!)

I would take a current; GT, Boss 302, or Laguna Seca edition in a 'heartbeat', over any current 5th gen f body (maybe even the great, but much too portly, ZL-1!! ).

Posted by: Steve91T May 14 2012, 07:30 PM

Ford GT...I want one!

Posted by: Mojave May 15 2012, 04:30 AM

The man...the legend...who's charity was a disgrace: http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070723/FREE/70723007/1065/SEARCH

It's worth nothing that he didn't donate to his own charity, because it meant that much to him.

I'm no Ford hater, and I respect all that he accomplished in his time, but the last 25 years did nothing but detract from his legacy.

Posted by: CrashTestDummy May 15 2012, 02:46 PM

Hmm, looks to me from reading that report that the foundation is doing pretty much what it should. Carroll really shouldn't have donated any of his own money or it would look like he might be trying to 'hide' taxable income. And it makes sense for the foundation to try to build reserves to a maintainable-level. A million-dollar well to dip from can get burned through very quickly paying for just a portion of a few transplant surgeries. It's good to build reserves that they can invest and then disperse funds from.

Looks like they really have a bad communication issue.

Either way, he did ground-breaking work in the automotive industry and racing back in the days when just a handful of people did that, and proved what one can do after a heart transplant.

Posted by: Al weyman May 15 2012, 05:12 PM

I think its a bit strong to suggest a man of his age was on the make no one ever heard you can't take it with you, why would he bother I am sure he was a wealthy man in his own right. For me he gave a huge amount to motorsport if for nothing else but stuffing it up that smug Enzo Ferrari with a very simple car that just worked. RiP Carroll you deserve it!

Posted by: dailydriver May 15 2012, 05:57 PM

I REALLY like the Paul Kelly song with the title of the bolded above (it says it ALL!).

Posted by: mitchntx May 21 2012, 12:16 PM

Using the tools and talent God gave you ... We can all stand in judgement about how a person uses those tools and why. But in the end, each of us uses what was given us to the best of our ability. And I certainly don't know how Mario and Carroll uses(d) the proceeds from those stints with advertising. But I bet that many other benefited from it, not just the Shelby or Andretti family.

I grew up watching Mario and lost all respect for him and AJ Foyt as drivers during post crash interviews after the 82 Indy 500.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k33sBpPsAu0

Of course, Sam Posey didn't wait till he was in his 80s to be a moron and jerk.
The point? We all have heros and goats.

God speed, condolences to the Shelby family and by all means use your time wisely.


On a side note, hasn't racing TV coverage come a long way?