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Shelby United States
1962 - 2009 | 1,143 Vehicles
Company Website

Carroll Shelby is associated with some of America's most iconic and valuable high-performance cars. Shelby started racing in the early 1950s, and soon earned drives in Ferraris, Maseratis, and Aston Martins, the latter of which he co-drove to win Le Mans in 1959. In the 1960s, he focused on building sports cars that could beat the world's best. In 1962, he re-engineered the lightweight British AC Ace sports car with he small-block Ford V8. The result was the Cobra, a car that weighed nearly a ton less than the Chevrolet Corvette and offered stunning performance. Cobras were soon winning races, and Shelby set his sights on Le Mans. His Daytona Coupe, a hardtop Cobra with improved aerodynamics, won in its class at Le Mans in 1964 and 1956. In 1965, Shelby unveiled the 427 Cobra, powered by a 7-liter Ford V8.

Shelby was involved in the design of the Ford GT40 that dominated Le Mans from 1966 to 1969, and recently helped design the reintroduced Ford GT, a street version of the original. From 1965 to 1970, Shelby produced two versions of his Shelby Mustang: the small-block GT350 and the big-block GT500. In the 1980s and 1990s, Shelby helped develop performance models for Dodge, and provided input on the design of the Dodge Viper. In 1998, Shelby produced the Series 1 roadster with a carbon-fiber body over an aluminum honeycomb frame, powered by an Oldsmobile Aurora V8. Shelby's long career forms a unique chapter in the history of American cars.