Carroll Shelby's Racers

Supreme Reign
When the Trans-Am Sedan Championship cranked up in 1966, Shelby whipped up a run of white notchback Mustangs with GT-350R underpinnings. These ruled the 1966 racing season, and Shelby fielded factory teams of Mustangs in the Trans-Am until 1969.


In 1963 Shelby also entered a team of Ford-powered Cooper Monaco sports-racing cars in professional big-bore sports car races. These "King Cobras" weighed around 1,500 pounds and sported Cobra 289 engines with four Weber carburetors. They were race winners, even against the fantastic Chevy-powered Chaparrals. In 1964 the King Cobras returned and took a win at Riverside, but by the end of the season they were obsolete.


Although Shelby-American did not build the Ford GTs, the company was responsible for turning them into race winners. In 1965 Shelby took over the project and beefed up the fragile chassis, installed Cobra 289 engines and started collecting trophies. In 1966 the Shelby team won Le Mans with its Ford GT Mk.IIs, now packing 427 engines. The next year Shelby was back with all-new Ford GT Mk.IVs collecting wins at Sebring and Le Mans. With that, Ford had proven its point and turned off the money tap.

Carrolling Along
Shelby American contested several other racing series, but not with same degree of success. In 1967, Shelby's King Cobra Group 7 (an all new design) sported a radical single-shock suspension and a lovely body, but the 351-inch Ford engine was too puny to take on the big-block Chevys in the Can-Am series. It was only raced twice, without any wins. In 1968 Shelby tried a Lola T-70 with a Ford 351 engine, then upgraded to a McLaren M6 powered by an aluminum 427 Ford. Neither was up to the factory McLarens that dominated the series.


Shelby even built two Toyota 2000 sports cars for amateur events. These lovely two-liter sports cars proved competitive against Porsche 911s, but after one season Toyota pulled the plug. Only two cars were built. Lacking new projects, Shelby-American closed the doors in late 1969.