Las Vegas, Nevada, 2 September, 2011
Carroll Shelby, a giant of a man and a giant name in motor sport
circles, with his successful racing career through the fifties being
highlighted by winning the 1959 Le Mans 24 Hour Race in an
Aston Martin DBR1 with Roy Salvadori. Heart problems brought
his racing career to an end in 1960, although he finished on a high
by winning the 1960 USAC Championship. His business activities
in the early sixties, brought him further worldwide recognition, with
the announcement of the Shelby Cobra in 1962, a car based on
the AC Ace fitted with a small block Ford V8 engine, which took
the fight to the Ferraris in international GT racing through the
middle part of the decade. In 1990 he was given a heart
transplant, which led him to subsequently form, what is now
known as, The Shelby Foundation, to help youngsters in need of
organ transplants, a charity with which he is still deeply involved
to this day.
As a celebration of his successful racing and business activities,
there is a museum within the Shelby American Inc. premises
close to the Las Vegas International Speedway, which is located
about a 15 minutes drive north of Las Vegas on Interstate 15.
Entry is free, however, there are donation boxes near the entrance
for the Shelby Foundation, for those wishing to show their
appreciation of the facility, and the important work that the charity
does. For those who want to learn more about the cars and the
man, there are guided tours every opening day at 10.30 each
morning, and again there is no charge for this service.
The cars on display represent the cars with which he has been
involved, since the first Shelby Cobra, s/n CSX2000, appeared in
1962, through to the current Shelby GT350 and GT500 Mustangs.
He has always retained the first Shelby Cobra, and this naturally
is one of the cars that form the display, currently painted metallic
blue. Over the years this car has seen many colour changes,
particularly when it was new, starting off in pearlescent yellow at
the 1962 New York Auto Show, subsequently getting a re-spray
in a different colour for each magazine that road tested it, to give
the impression of volume production! There are also examples of
the iconic Shelby Mustang GT350 and 500 models, and the
special edition GT-H built for the Hertz rental car company, a
theme that was also followed up with the current Mustang series.
There is also a CSGT40, which is a recreation of the trio of sixties
Ford GT40s, serial numbers 1015, 1046 and 1047 raced under the
Shelby American banner, the former two entered by Ford/Shelby
American, finished 1, 2, at Le Mans in 1966, and the 3rd place
car was a Ford/Holman & Moody entry. This new series has 85%
interchangeable rolling chassis parts with the original cars, and
are finished in the original racing colours of the trio. There are also
vehicles from his liaison with the Chrysler group in the eighties,
like the prototype Dodge Shelby Charger and Dodge Dakota truck
prototype.
There is also plenty of Shelby licensed memorabilia in the well
stocked gift shop adjacent to the entrance. This ranges from lapel
pins, postcards, Shelby model cars in a variety of scales, garage
signs, posters, period photographs of Carroll Shelby in action, to
limited edition autographed scale models, in fact virtually
everything for the Shelby enthusiast. Definitely worth a visit when
in the area.
Location
6755 Speedway Boulevard
Las Vegas
Nevada 89115
Opening Hours
Monday – Friday: 08.00 – 17.00
Saturday: 10.00 – 14.00
Keith Bluemel
09/2011
|
