In my life time I have been honored to know many incredible men some of whom I idolize and one of them that stands out is none other than Carroll Shelby himself. Tomorrow marks Carroll’s 85th birthday and there is going to be a gala event held at the Las Vegas factory on January 11-13, 2008 that is sure to make even the biggest car enthusiast envious.

It would be easy at this time to do what most other automotive journalist in the world typically do by starting in with all the redundant kudos and accolades about Carroll’s many amazing accomplishments. The truth is, Carroll’s many successes are so well documented that it seems almost impossible to discuss anything new. What can possibly be written about a man who has his resume as if dominating sports car racing in the mid 50s, twice being named Sports Car Illustrated’s “Driver of the Year.” and then winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1959 wasn’t enough? In retrospect he was just getting started. With all due respect and I do mean that in every sense of the word, what I would rather write about is a special memory I shared with Carroll almost 17 years ago.
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Did you know Carroll was responsible for the very first World’s Championship Chili Cookoff and it was held in at his ranch in Terlingua, Texas? Legally he owns the rights to all Chili cookoffs and it originated simply for fun but when you look at many of the people who competed in it for many years you light be surprised. There was Woodruff DeSilva who was the former manager of Los Angeles International Airport, Scott Carpenter the astronaut served as head judge, Dave Witts the mayor of Terlingua, C.V. Wood, Jr., the man who built Disneyland for Walt Disney and brought the London Bridge to Lake Havasu, Actress Ruta Lee, Bill Ray, owner of the BBC and Jon Clark, BBC VP, and celebrities such as Robert Mitchum, William Conrad, Peter Marshall, Dale Robertson, John Derek, Vicky Lawrence, Joey Bishop, Michael Dante, Jane Withers, John Casavettes, Harvey Korman, Peter Brown, Ross Martin, Robert Mitchum, Ernest Borgnine, Joanne Dru, Peter Marshall, Artie Johnson, Dennis James, Jack Kelly, Tom Poston, Rory Calhoun, Mike Connors, Slim Pickens, Earl Holliman, George Gobel, Billy Barty, and Chuck Conners just to name a few. These are but a few and the list grows every year and all as a result of a man who just wanted to have some fun and in the process made it possible to help others using his and others celebrity status as a tool.
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Much has been said about Carroll Shelby following his decision not to renew the licensing agreement for Shelby American Automobile Club, and much of it has not been terribly nice. Here in The Garage, we were fortunate to receive a bit of insight into the situation from our man on the west coast, Gary Faules earlier this week. Shelby’s people have been kind enough to keep The Garage in the loop with the following release:

CARROLL SHELBY LICENSING RESPONDS TO COMMENTS BY
KEN EBER AND RICK KOPEC

Gardena, Calif. – December 7, 2007
Carroll Shelby, CEO of Carroll Shelby Licensing Inc., (CSL) has issued a statement in response to allegations made by the owners of the organization formerly known as the Shelby American Automobile Club.

“I wanted to explain my concerns to the members of the Shelby American Automobile Club directly, but couldn’t because SAAC has refused to give me a list of its members, even though the licensee agreement with SAAC requires them to allow me access to their books and records. So I am being forced to share the facts through a news release.

Rick Kopec and Ken Eber, two of the individuals who run the for-profit business called SAAC, have said that they don’t know why we didn’t renew their annual license. That’s not true. We’ve sent e-mails, made phone calls and mailed letters explaining our concerns for quite some time. Except for the message noted at shelbylicensing.com, they went unanswered. For the past several years, I’ve repeatedly told them that I was unhappy with their disregard of the reporting requirements of their license agreement and the way they managed the club. And, for the past eight years, their business hasn’t kept the terms of its extremely favorable agreement with my licensing company, Carroll Shelby Licensing.
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Recently the Internet has become an explosion of controversy with regards to Carroll Shelby’s announcement that he will not be renewing SAAC’s licensing agreement to use his name in conjunction with the operation of the club and furthermore Shelby has demanded the handing over of all documents regarding the registry of all Shelby vehicles by SAAC. (Click here for letter from Shelby’s lawyers.) I am appalled by all the bad mouthing of Carroll Shelby especially by so many that have no personal relationship with him whatsoever. I have been reading hundreds of post many of which are slamming Carroll and talking smack about a subject they know very little about. Many of them are making comments about how Shelby will do anything for a buck and how he is no longer interested in the old Shelby’s and so on. Give me a break and get real! The truth is the majority of them sound like a bunch of high school kids getting ready to fight in the school parking lot. I will say I am impressed with a few members of SAAC who agree that Shelby obviously knows what’s best and has a bigger vested interest in preserving the integrity of all things Shelby.
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Photo from Drew Phillips at Fast-Autos

Amongst the world’s most incredible cars, there tends to be the odd one that stands out and becomes a legend among icons. One such car was the Shelby Supersnake. A twin supercharged 427 S/C that produces in excess of 800 horsepower. There were two Supersnakes. One was destroyed by another legend, Bill Cosby. The other one, pictured above is was Carroll Shelby’s personal ride.

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