By Carroll Shelby
From Army Air Corps pilot to chicken farmer to world class racing driver to automotive visionary, the name of Carroll Shelby (1923-2012) adorns trophies and one of the most celebrated automobiles on asphalt.
The Carroll Shelby Story is Shelby’s autobiography. Previously published (1965) as The Cobra Story, the Graymalkin Media publication (2020) includes two chapters written by Jerry Titus that includes the years 1965 and 1966.
I think this book is outstanding, particularly for the lesson on vision that comes from the life of Shelby and his pursuit of the Cobra. Additionally, one can see the power of purpose when one has it and gives himself/herself to it.
About that Vision:
Summary: Shelby got the idea for “an all-purpose, all-American sports or grand touring car that you could drive to market and also race during the weekend, without having to … go into hock for the rest of your life . . . .” (91). He birthed the vision in 1958, it came to fruition in 1964 and would become an American automotive icon in the years that follow. Shelby envisioned a day when a US car maker would beat Ferrari at Le Mans. What makes this such a dream (and such an accomplishment) is that Ferrari won every Le Mans from 1960-1965. Shelby’s Ford GT40 won all three places in 1966.
Vision birthed: 1957-58 (see p. 93)
Early ridicule: “Every time I talked to anyone about the pet idea, even casually, they’d laugh a big belly laugh. ‘ha, ha! Yeh, yeh. Look what happened to Briggs Cunningham…’” (91, cf. 94).
The quiet work of visioneering: “This was the type of thinking that was going on in my mind” (95). “But I couldn’t just get it out of my mind” (94). “What I’m trying to do is put into words the thoughts that were going through my mind” (93).
An idea in the face of “impossible odds”: At the time I was waging this struggle—this absurd losing battle you might call it—no American automobile had won anything of any importance in racing since Ralph Mulford won the Seventh Vanderbilt Cup at Savannah in 1911 (96).
Vision brewing: Shelby won the Sebring 12 Hours and the Nürburgring 1000 KM and Le Mans in 1959. He writes: “Naturally it crossed my mind many times during the race (Le Mans) and afterward that I would like to see an American car succeed where Briggs Cunningham so gallantly failed; more so because of this idea that had been bugging me for years—to build something really fast and practical and not expensive, powered by an American engine” (142).
Vision stated: “One of these days I’m going back to Europe and Le Mans with one of my own cars and win it. No ifs or ands; no buts or becauses. The best car wins. The fastest car wins. That’s it” (144).
Something has to go: See below.
Vision coming to fruition (1962): “All the testing and modifying took time and patience, of course, and it wasn’t until February of 1962 that the first car was completed as a unity and ready for evaluation.” At that point they knew they had something! (175).
Lessons Learned:
The power of a purpose: “This whole thing . . . began as a dream. What I am try to do is build a car for a very special class of automobile buyers—the kind of car that instantly appeals to the man who, when he sees one like it, say, ‘There goes the hottest all-around setup your dollar will buy you. It may not have the fanciest roll-up windows and push-button top and so forth, but —you know—you’d better not try to fool with that one, jack!’” (223, 225). What’s your purpose?
On excellence: As with everything in life, excellence comes with diligent practiced effort. About racing the Targa Florio course: “This was the hardest circuit of all to learn and the most difficult to go fast on, consistently. I used to drive the Targa seven times a day for a week, then rest and assimilate it for a day, then drive it for another week, one full day in the race car. That meant I might take it eighty or ninety times—about 4000 miles—before I felt really confident” (74). He struggled for five years as a “poor race driver” before finally getting to the place where the pressure began to ease up (79).
More on practice: When asked, “How does someone memorize all those twists and turns of a race course?” Shelby: “I feel you should drive around the it until you’ve put in 200 or 300 miles at varying speeds and then thing about it; study the points that still bother you, make a special note of them, and go out and do it all over again for another 200 or 300 miles…” (107).
Give credit where credit is due: In the automotive world, the name Shelby is held in high esteem. Shelby pays respects to the icons of the automobile and then writes, “And, at Ford my debt runs deeper than to just the people in racing and technical positions. There are guy like Ed Dayton, Bell Ennis, Frank Martin, and Sev Vass, who have helped shape and guide my own company, Shelby American, and who have offered invaluable advice. Without their help there would be no Shelby American” (89).
On decision-making: “Even at, say, 145 to 150 mph, you have to think fast. No time to say, ‘Er . . .”’ (135). That’s leadership. Making decisions at 145-150 mph.
Something has to go: Shelby lived with a heart condition all his life. It resurfaced during his racing days. As he contemplated his health, his love of racing, and his dream of building his car, he writes: “If I was really serious about building the car I had so long dreamed about, it would be smarter not to spread myself out too thin—not to try to do too many things at one time. Something had to go so I could conserve my energies and build up strength, and racing was the most logical activity to give up, even if it was the hardest thing to do” (167). See The Dip by Seth Godin. At 37, he gave up racing and went after his dream (cf 169).
Pass off what someone else can do: Shelby left his driving school, Shelby American in the capable hands of Pete Brock so he could devote himself to the Cobra project (170-71).
Interesting Facts:
Shelby won 90% of his races in 1956 (78).
Shelby won Le Mans in 1959.
Shelby’s Ford GT40 won 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place at the 1966 Le Mans after Ferrari had won the race from 1960-1965.
Words to share:
On engines: “You can’t beat cubic inches.” Attributed to Briggs Cunningham and endorsed by Shelby (41).
On racing: “If you’re going to go around worry about getting killed, you might as well give up racing” Shelby (66).
On racing as a career: “Racing, I found out long ago, is absolutely not the way to get rich; it’s the short cut to the poorhouse if anything, and I never considered it as a means of getting rich or even well off. Racing was and will always remain a stepping-stone for getting into maybe a worthwhile business and putting something tangible together” (79).
On racing the clock: “Running against a clock is never the same thing as running against other guys. No sir.” In Shelby’s mind, practice times don’t mean much, because he knows some guys who are real tigers in practices but become kittens in competition.
The secret to winning: It’s the ability to drive a car as fast as possible without tearing it to pieces. You have to know a road course as well as have a feel for the machine and the power to concentrate (86).
No need to toot your own horn: Mr. Frey (Ford executive) is an academic, college professor type of man who wears glasses and talks softly, but he never says anything for the sake of hearing his own voice (93).
What leaders under pressure can learn from a dead race car driver: On winning Le Mans, people wanted to know what the strategy was, “So far as Roy and I were concerned, we had no strategy except for one thing—we planned to be the two most relaxed drivers in that twenty-four-hour grind” (126).
On what it takes to race: “As you’ll appreciate, there’s a lot more running in the Twenty-four Hours than just jumping in a car at four o’clock on Saturday and putting your foot down!” Stirling Moss (129).
About worry: What the average driver forgets is that while he’s fretting his guts out with all kinds of frightening mental pictures about the opposition, the opposition isn’t any better off, psychologically. Its drivers are doing exactly the same thing (130).
Who is your headache specialist? When an engineer took out his slide rule and told Shelby that his car was not aerodynamically fit to go 160 mph without a huge engine Pete Brock said, “Leave the headaches to me” (210).
Books to read:
The Behind-The-Scenes Story Of The Big Race by Stirling Moss
Recommendation:
One need not be a fan of automobiles or automobile racing to appreciate Shelby’s story. This is an interesting book of an American automotive icon. For me, tracing the birth, growth, and achievement of his vision alone made it worth reading. If you watched the movie Ford vs Ferrari, or intend to, you owe it to yourself to read Carroll Shelby.
