Robb Report Interview with Carroll 10/23/2002

Robert Ross (Automotive Editor, Robb Report magazine) interviewed Carroll Shelby about cars, chili, his heart transplant and children’s charities.

Click here to listen to the audio version of the interview!

A Conversation With Carroll Shelby

“I started out with the idea to build a sports car powered by an American V-8 at a time when most European sports cars were coming over here with little 4-cylinder, 1918-model taxicab engines,” writes Carroll Shelby in the foreword of Remembering the Shelby Years—1962–1969. “I went to AC Cars because they had an available chassis, and I went to Lee Iacocca at Ford for a little money and a couple of engines to help me get started.” If he had done nothing else, the blinding performance and voluptuous envelope of the Cobra would have guaranteed Shelby an honored place in the automotive pantheon. But it’s only one of several highlights in the rough-and-tumble Texan’s career. Among other achievements, Shelby drove an Aston Martin to victory at Le Mans in 1959, his team raced Ford’s GT40 to overall wins there in 1966 and 1967, and between 1965 and 1970 his company Shelby American transformed Mustangs into Corvette-killers.

When Carroll Shelby visited Robb Report, many staffers crowded into our recording studio to listen as Shelby discussed his cars, muy picante chili, his heart transplant and children’s charities. The following are excerpts from his conversation with Robert Ross.

On The Shelby Mustang
Robert Ross: You pitched the idea for the Cobra to Ford. Am I correct that Ford came to you about the Mustang?

Carroll Shelby: When the Mustang was first developed by Don Frey and the people at Ford, it was built with a 6-cylinder engine and a 3-speed transmission—it was more or less a secretary’s car. They said, “We’re going to deliver this car for $2,395.” It became an immediate hit with the secretaries. Then Lee Iacocca wanted more than that.

[Iacocca] picked up the phone and said, “Shelby, I want you to make a performance car out of the Mustang.” And really, I didn’t want to do it because we were tied up with five different racing programs, with the building of the Cobras and with moving into a new facility, and I really had my hands full—I was in over my head. But Ray Geddes, who was actually a Ford employee but assigned to coordinate everything between Shelby American and Ford, said, “No, we’ve got to do this. If Iacocca wants it done, we’re going to have to do it.” So we put a budget together. There wasn’t any money to speak of so they decided that a $1,500 budget was going to produce the prototype of a GT350.

Shelby consulted John Bishop at the Sports Car Club of America.

[Bishop said], “Take the rear seat out, put some larger brakes on the front. Put 300 or more horsepower in it, and a good, close-ratio transmission. Improve the stiffness of the suspension and make a sports car.” Well, sure enough, it took us about 60 days to do that, and we wound up with a car that won the national championship in its production class for six or seven years. I think we built 500 the first year, 1,700 the second year, and 5,000 the next year. That’s the way it began. Then the Mustang got too heavy and too big so it went away.

On The GT40
RR: How did you get involved with the GT40 racing program?

CS: When the GT40 didn’t do very well in ’65, they turned the thing over to us in California. After [that] fi-asco, [Henry Ford II] called Don Frey, Leo Beebe and me in and said, “Well, boys, here’s your name tag.” It said “Ford Wins Le Mans in ’66.” After we got over having a heart attack, we walked back down the hall. It was Don Frey who pointed out that Mr. Ford didn’t say anything about our fiscal responsibilities. There’ll never be another Henry Ford, for the simple reason that no one will have that clout again. We spent the equivalent of a billion dollars in today’s dollars in ’66 and then again in ’67.

RR: What do you think of the new GT40?

CS: [Ford] did an amazing job of building the new one. It looks proportionately right. When you raise something four or five inches, lengthen it a foot or two, and keep the proportions, it’s a major design accomplishment. So the guys did a great job on that. Ford is going through some hard times, but they’ll get it straightened out. They need an image car right now, and I’m glad they have decided to go ahead and build it.

On Design
RR: How involved were you with design?

CS: I never got into what something should look like, except on the 427 Cobra and the Daytona Coupe. I would go and look at the things we were doing, but I don’t get into designs. I see the chairman and the president go down to the design studio and try to tell a person who is trained in that particular [field] to take this off or add that, and they don’t know shit about it, really. It’s all a matter of opinion. I let these guys do what they are trained to do.

On His Role In Automotive History
RR: Your contributions have made a stellar difference in the history of the automobile.

CS: I was very fortunate to come along in that era and know these people. Hell, I didn’t know it at the time, but they called it the Golden Era. But, boy, it never gets easy. It wasn’t easy then, and it’s not easy now. So you just get up every morning and do the best you can. Somebody called me a legend and I said anyone who thinks they are isn’t. Mr. Ferrari never thought he was a legend. He was just a hardheaded old guy who knew what he wanted to build and loved his race cars, and didn’t want to build street cars. Colin [Chapman] didn’t want to build street cars but he was forced into it. Because you have to have income . . . back then you couldn’t make your living just off race cars.

On His Heart Transplant And Charity
RR: It’s an amazing thing what you went through a decade ago with the heart transplant.

CS: I’m the most fortunate person in the world because I’m not supposed to be here. The doctors told me in 1960 that I would be lucky to have five years.

I try to put a little back in with my foundation. We put a liver in a little girl in Bosnia this year, and we try to help [children] that fall through the cracks. We do a lot of operations for kids in Mexico and outside the country. Most of the kids that are eligible get taken care of in this country.

On Chili
RR: Obviously you have quite a chili reputation.

CS: Chili’s a state of mind. I may want to make chili one way one day, and the next day I might want to make it some other way. That’s the beautiful thing about chili. You can make chili verde, New Mexico, or red like they think it has to be in Texas. But there’re so many variations. In Cincinnati, they don’t eat chili without putting it over spaghetti. And there’s more chili eaten in Cincinnati per capita than in any place in the world. Did you know that?

Link to the Interview on Robb Report

Carroll Shelby, www.carrollshelby.com. To learn more about his children’s foundation or to make a donation, visit www.shelbychildrensfoundation.org.