ENOUGH! Bill Kolb Jr recommended KR, SHELBY flat out lied! Does the truth matter

[shelbyhertz66]

Just be happy they are talking about Shelbys and not Pintos

[shelbydoug]

Just be happy they are talking about Shelbys and not Pintos

You starting up with us Pinto owners? 

[gt350hr]

   For those of you who don't know , when CS was invited to the '75 SOA convention, his "memory" was not as good as it was in the last 20 years of his life. Back then "HE" speculated the 350 came from the horsepower the race engine made and the 350 ft idea "didn't sound right". So did he have amnesia in '75? No , he just had to read the P.T. Barnum book. He was a different man back then and was totally surprised "by the interest in my old cars" as he spoke at that banquet. As his popularity grew again , he took on a different persona. Enter Carroll "the opportunist" for the second time. He could make money by just being Carroll Shelby!. This led to the "leftover' Cobras and the rebirth of SAI. CS "remembered" all kinds of things like "experimental aluminum driveshafts" on '67s (NOT) and sent a letter to the NHRA stating that. MANY other things "he remembered" were embellished as well.
     WE wouldn't have the cars and be here now if it weren't for him but he really "worked the crowd" to his benefit after he was "reborn".

[Coralsnake]

Actually, I think it was the readers of Hot Rod magazine that convinced Ford to build the Cobra Jet.

🤨

[Greg]

Let's lighten up things a little bit. Do any of you know the true meaning for the car GLHS? I know what Carroll told me when I was sitting with him at the SEMA show in Vegas in 1988 or 89.

   Roy

Don't leave us hanging Roy, share what he told you 

[OldMil]

Let's lighten up things a little bit. Do any of you know the true meaning for the car GLHS? I know what Carroll told me when I was sitting with him at the SEMA show in Vegas in 1988 or 89.

   Roy

Don't leave us hanging Roy, share what he told you 

Guess- Goes Like Hell Sh*t-box ?

[FL SAAC]

He has risen....can we get an amen hallelujah.. 

   For those of you who don't know , when CS was invited to the '75 SOA convention, his "memory" was not as good as it was in the last 20 years of his life. Back then "HE" speculated the 350 came from the horsepower the race engine made and the 350 ft idea "didn't sound right". So did he have amnesia in '75? No , he just had to read the P.T. Barnum book. He was a different man back then and was totally surprised "by the interest in my old cars" as he spoke at that banquet. As his popularity grew again , he took on a different persona. Enter Carroll "the opportunist" for the second time. He could make money by just being Carroll Shelby!. This led to the "leftover' Cobras and the rebirth of SAI. CS "remembered" all kinds of things like "experimental aluminum driveshafts" on '67s (NOT) and sent a letter to the NHRA stating that. MANY other things "he remembered" were embellished as well.
     WE wouldn't have the cars and be here now if it weren't for him but he really "worked the crowd" to his benefit after he was "reborn".

[shelbydoug]

   For those of you who don't know , when CS was invited to the '75 SOA convention, his "memory" was not as good as it was in the last 20 years of his life. Back then "HE" speculated the 350 came from the horsepower the race engine made and the 350 ft idea "didn't sound right". So did he have amnesia in '75? No , he just had to read the P.T. Barnum book. He was a different man back then and was totally surprised "by the interest in my old cars" as he spoke at that banquet. As his popularity grew again , he took on a different persona. Enter Carroll "the opportunist" for the second time. He could make money by just being Carroll Shelby!. This led to the "leftover' Cobras and the rebirth of SAI. CS "remembered" all kinds of things like "experimental aluminum driveshafts" on '67s (NOT) and sent a letter to the NHRA stating that. MANY other things "he remembered" were embellished as well.
     WE wouldn't have the cars and be here now if it weren't for him but he really "worked the crowd" to his benefit after he was "reborn".

Long periods under anastesia effect long term memory. The heart transplant for one surgery account for that alone.

He definitely was not a perfect human being by any stretch of the imagination but there in lies a tale?

The film Ford v Ferrari is actually quite kind to at least Ken Miles and probably Carroll too? Ken was known for his aggressive behaviors and that was actually the crux of the issue Bebe had with him.

That was all a very long time ago and I for one can't think of ever having a perfect person as a friend but I can think of those who I miss, warts and all, and wish still were around. Shelby and Miles are certainly two up there somewhere on my list?


As far as who is responsible for the KR, it doesn't matter. It exists and is just part of the Shelby legend and mystique. Arguing over it can do two things. One disparage it. Two, the controversy can bring it more into the eyes of the public in general, which is probably a good thing.

Here's to the good things.

[Coralsnake]

His first six wifes would probably agree he was not perfect.

[shelbydoug]

His first six wifes would probably agree he was not perfect.

They only married him to get a Cobra.

[Greg]

I get it that you want the record to be set straight as you put it, but unless you or I were in the room, a story rarely ever gets told 100% straight. 

At the end of the day, Shelby's name is on the car therefore, it will always be regarded as his.  Would the KR been born without him, who knows, but it is in the history books because of him (being a great snake oil salesman . 

It has been my experience that most of the behind the scenes folks don't get the credit they deserve. Does this mean that CS is a bad guy, no it just makes him human because he made a living from marketing his name and legacy.  I think this could be said of others for every industry from personal computers, cell phones to clothing. 

Relax, there are way more important things to get twisted up about than this. 

[Chad]

Bottom line if it had not been for Carroll Shelby there never would have been a KR much less a GT500 so he is responsible for everything that came out of SA, whether he named it or not!!!

[Side-Oilers]

As Doug said, "warts and all".  I spent a lot of time with Carroll over the years, worked for him, wrote about him, traveled with him, etc.

I loved the guy.  He was one of a kind, and literally the most interesting man I've ever known.

Yes, he got more irascible as he aged. He did some things that I don't agree with.  But my admiration of what he accomplished with those early cars and racing has never diminished.

None of us would be doing these Shelby car things we enjoy so much if not for CS. Because there would never have been any Shelby cars to do them with.  I'd probably be a Corvette guy instead. (I've owned a C1, two C2s, two C3s and a C6, but I'm still first and foremost a "Shelby guy.")

Pick at his bones if it makes you feel better.  That's not how I care to spend my time.  Plenty of other things on earth these days to be concerned about. 
Anything "Shelby" for me is part of my fun.

[Steve McDonald Formally known as Mcdonas]

I heard he could talk birds out of tree and women out of their panties, two skills I have tried but certainly did not have the skill set he had. Imagine if he didn't  B/S his way into Ford to get an engine or two and charm AC Cars out out of a car, none of us would be on the forum and talking about the bits and pieces of Shelby history. I don't see the Yenko forum having this much discussion (if it even exists) or the Motion Performance or Nickey Chevrolet, all great cars in their own right, but Shelby was able to capture lightening in a bottle, package it and sell it.
God bless that old chicken farming, snake oil salesman, race car driving, Texan, without him we wouldn't have such great cars, amazing stories and fond memories. Heroes' always die but legends live forever, to me Shelby is a legend.
I think I'll take the car out for a ride this evening 

[Side-Oilers]

^^+1 Steve^^

I hope the next thing, in our politically-correct & humorless society, isn't to want to desecrate CS because of his often colorful language and down-home sayings. 

The order he gave me (when I was his personal PR man at the '91 Indy 500) about how clean he wanted the Viper Pace Car still makes me laugh:

"I want that car as shiny as a kernel of corn in a goat's ass."

Tell me that isn't priceless.