Sad day as we lost an auto legend. Gonna miss that guy! Done so much for us Mustang freaks.

 

yeah i got pretty bummed when i heard that. i just recently heard that he and some people at ford or something were gonna do an anniversary type deal with the cobra

 

I remember growing up in the 60's and seeing the first Cobras when they raced. OMG, I wanted one of the hard top versions so bad....especially the 427. Nothing like the sound of a big block torquing around the curves and punching it--coming out sideways. Legend has it, that 40% of the new Cobra buyers didn't live to make their 2nd payment. Keep in mind, back in the day, at LeMans, there were the Ferrari 512's, Porsche 917's-(my ALL TIME fav), Cobra's, and GT40 Fords (after FIM began their rule games.) First, there was the MKII. Then came the GT40's; Mk 3 and Mk 4. The GT40 got it's name because it was 40" tall. Stand up.....measure 40 inches. Imagine THAT with a ton of big block horsepower.......The recent remakes aren't even close to the bare-bones raw frame-body-engine of the original (but still kick butt.)
Rent or buy the movie LeMans. Listen to the whine of the old 917 gearboxes on the Mulsanne straight. Listen LOUD**. They don't make 'em like THAT anymore. Carroll lived during the best era of racing IMHO. The pre-turbo 60's and 70's. The beauty of the old racers and muscle cars is the "purity" under the hood, and the orgasmic sounds they made. The new stuff just doesn't do it for me.
Agree^ RIP, Mr. Shelby.

** EDIT: If you have any kind of home theater audio, my favorite audio in LeMans is the tree-top level shot of McQueen blasting down the Mulsanne Straight (visual left to right --probably a helicopter shot--through the trees.) CRANK that soundtrack!! Listen to the whine of that "box-12" engine. AUUUUGH.

 

....and yes; I realize the 512's and 917's happened in the early 70's AFTER Ford had things well in hand with the GT40. (I.e. AJ Foyt won LeMans in '67 in a GT40.) Ferrari and Porsche got busy and said "Ford will not beat us again." However, it WAS Ford and Ferrari in the mid-late '60s. The early MkII had aerodynamic problems at 200mph, ironically just like the Porsche 917 had in early development. Porsche followed the 908 kinda "flatter" tail section design on the mighty 917 and the test drivers said it was "uncontrollable." (I am referencing from memory the book "The Making of the 917.") Porsche then brought the (short-tail version) rear fenders up above the rear tires and with the upward curvature (and small center spoiler between the tail; in the valley) it gave the down-force necessary for control---specifically for LeMans and less-so for Daytona. The GT40, on the other hand, had these beautifully-styled brake and engine ducts on the sides, just in front of the rear wheels and behind "the doors." The ducts carried over to the Mustang GT500 (remember those??) Those, in addition to the rear spoiler and wider "hips" made the difference in handling between the MkII and the GT40.
Sorry for the trivia. I studied those race cars and drivers much more seriously than I probably needed to, back then. I'll shut up.

 

RIP Mr Shelby.

 

Thanks for the info Jeff! Very interesting. I've always been a Ford freak. I grew up around them since we have lots of old stangs in the stable and newer ones. Never got to meet mr shelby but have seen his cars. A friend of ours does have a gt350 and 500. We have an original 69 boss 429 that is as close as I ever got to a legendary car like a shelby. My dad wants to build a cobra kit car since we have the drivetrain to make one. Got a 427 sittin ready to come to life again.

 

BTW, the 917 crash car McQueen drove in LeMans was reportedly Lola chassis; not pure Porsche. Gulf/Wyer won 2 LeMans in GT40's, but never with a Porsche.