GodSpeed Mr. Shelby
12 05 12 - 12:56
We lost one of racing's & rodding's greatest legends this week. He won LeMans in '59 as a driver & '66 & '67 as a team owner with Ford. He was a natural as a driver & won many sports car races before turning to manufacturing, where he stunned America & the world with his iconic Cobras. Ol' Shel, as he was known, lived on borrowed time for over 50 years after doctors made him quit racing because of a bum ticker.
Shelby's 2nd passion was his charitable work. During his time in ICU, he was deeply bothered by the kids he saw dying as they waited for transplants, so he started the Carroll Shelby Heart Fund (now the Carroll Shelby Foundation) to raise money or youngsters in desperate need of transplants. Scads of parents sent him pictures of their kids named Shelby. Shelby's LA office was wall papered with hundreds of photos. Older kids benefit from the Carroll Shelby School of Automotive Technology, located at the Northeast Texas Community College in Mount Pleasant, not 20 miles from the racer's birthplace.
We're gonna miss this tuff ol' Texan & his big ol' heart.
Read more: http://www.autoweek.com/article/20120511/CARNEWS/120519987#ixzz1uftpkReU
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