Carroll's First Race Car Finds a New Home with the Shelby Family

Carroll's First Race Car Finds a New Home with the Shelby Family

It’s easy to see how car collecting is in the genes at Barrett-Jackson. The passion for this hobby is literally in the DNA of multiple generations of families. One of the best examples of this is the First Family of Ford performance, the Shelbys.

The spirit of Carroll Shelby certainly lives on through his son, Patrick, and grandson, Aaron. Like the family patriarch, both are successful in their own right.

Patrick served as the chairman of the board of Legacy Texas bank for more than 25 years and operates a successful family investment office. Aaron was also a board member for the bank before it merged with another one; he is currently executive vice president. So, instead of working on cars, they finance them, along with mortgages and commercial loans.

However, their passion for their heritage is as tangible as the cars that Carroll built. Aaron Shelby’s office is adorned with memorabilia, model cars and photographs that pay homage to the only man to win 24 Hours of Le Mans as a driver, manufacturer and team owner.

For his father Patrick, the memorabilia is on an even larger scale.

Growing up, Patrick fondly remembered the race car that launched Carroll’s racing career – a ’49 MG TC, which was owned by Carroll’s friend Ed Wilkins. Though Carroll had no formal racing experience, Wilkins let Shelby pilot his MG at a race in Norman, Oklahoma. Carroll won that race and was well on his way to earning his stripes.

Over the years, the car passed through the hands of several owners. Just before it crossed the block at the 2008 Barrett-Jackson Las Vegas Auction, Carroll signed the car to verify its authenticity. It then became a prized piece of the Pratte Collection until January 2015.

“We were excited to hear the MG was going be available as part of the sale of the Ron Pratte Collection,” said Aaron. “My father and I reached out to (Barrett-Jackson President) Steve Davis to see if we could bid on the car quietly. We were concerned that people might not want to bid against Carroll’s family. That would not have been fair to Barrett-Jackson and Ron Pratte. So we asked that none of the other bidders would know that our family was bidding for the MG.”

When the big day came, the MG crossed the block as Aaron was sitting in another star of the Pratte Collection, Carroll Shelby’s personal 1969 GT500, in the staging area.

“I was asked to drive the GT500 across the block, so I had a very unique perspective of the bidding on the MG,” added Aaron. “My father was bidding by telephone from home in Texas, while I sat in my grandfather’s personal Shelby GT500 watching the crowd’s reaction to the bidding. It was an exciting moment when I realized that we had won and that my grandfather’s first race car was coming back home to Dallas.”

When Aaron stepped out of the Shelby GT500 as it crossed the block, Steve Davis officially announced the MG was purchased by the Shelby family. The crowd roared its applause, knowing the car had found its way back home.

Now that the car has come full circle, it is also a symbol of the “new Shelby.” That is because Aaron is beginning to play a much bigger role in the Shelby legacy. He is more involved in his grandfather’s company and has been asked to serve on the board. “I love being a part of the magic of the Shelby brand,” Aaron added. “I’m honored that our family continues to be a significant part of the legacy that he built.”

Check out the article as well as the auction listing for the MG TC on the Barrett-Jackson website.

 

Here's some more photos of the 1949 MG TC. I'lll post some other photos soon.

 

Here's the Barrett-Jackson auction listing description.

For sale at auction: Lot #2510 - The first car that Carroll Shelby drove in a road race — the car that started his racing career. In May 1952, his good friend Ed Wilkins let Carroll Shelby drive this MG TC in a road race at Norman, OK. It was Shelby's first sport car race. He won it and the second race too, easily outrunning the Jaguar XK120s. That race and this car changed the course of his life, as he went on to achieve immortality as creator of the Shelby Cobra and Mustang, as well as other significant cars. This vintage race car was part of the famous Syd Silverman Collection for 20 years before being purchased by Ron Pratte. It's well known throughout the MG vintage race car circuit. This historical MG was awarded the prestigious Collier Cup in 2005 at the all-MG vintage race in Watkins Glen, NY. It also sports the original 1250cc 4 cylinder engine that has been built up to 100+hp and is race ready. This was the car nostalgically referred to and extensively talked about in numerous stories and articles, including an interview with Carroll Shelby in the June 2008 issue of Octane magazine. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to own an important piece of automotive history.