How Shelby Swapped Chickens For Muscle Cars

The history of iconic cars isn't exactly littered with ex-chicken farmers, so how did Carroll Shelby create one of the most legendary classics of them all? After disease wiped out his poultry and bankrupted Shelby aged 26, he turned his hand to driving. There, he found a natural talent, and went on to build his own MG TC-based racer.

Auto Express Car Reviews

14th January 2004

He entered several competitions, often racing in his stripey farmer's boiler suit as he'd come straight from work. And those stripes appeared later on the Cobra 427. By 1954, Shelby was one of the world's most promising drivers, and set 70 land-speed records in an Austin-Healey. But a serious heart condition, diagnosed when he was 36, forced Shelby to give up racing - and he got involved in car development. In 1961, he mailed a proposal to AC Cars of Thames Ditton, Surrey, suggesting it fit a small-block Ford V8 into the Ace - and four years later, the Shelby Cobra 427 was born. Shelby has been involved with performance Fords ever since...

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