Carroll Shelby International

Not to be confused with Shelby SuperCars.
"Shelby American" redirects here. For the NASCAR race that ran with the name in 2010, see Kobalt 400.
Shelby world headquarters, Paradise, Nevada

Carroll Shelby International (OTC Pink: CSBI) was formed in 2003 from custom performance vehicle manufacturer Shelby American, when founder and owner Carroll Shelby took the company public, and additionally forming Shelby Automobiles as a subsidiary from which to continue manufacturing vehicles and parts.[1] In 2009, "Shelby Automobiles" was officially renamed to "Shelby American", bringing back the original company name to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the 427 Cobra and GT350.[2] Carroll Shelby Licensing, Inc. is the second wholly owned subsidiary that forms Carroll Shelby International,[3] which is based at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Clark County, Nevada.

Shelby American manufactures component automobiles, including replicas of the small-block and large-block AC Cobras, the Shelby GT350 and the GT500 Super Snake. Since 2005, Shelby American has released new models each year.

Carroll Shelby International was previously working with Texas-based Unique Performance to create new Mustang-based Shelby cars such as the GT350SR and "Eleanor". On November 1, 2007, Unique Performance was raided by the Farmers Branch Police Department due to VIN irregularities and subsequently declared bankruptcy, which effectively ended the Shelby continuation "Eleanor" production and the relationship.[4]

History

The first AC Cobra, CSX2000, at the Shelby Museum

Shelby American was founded by Carroll Shelby in 1962 to build and market high performance parts and modified cars for individuals. The company was based at Santa Fe Springs, California (1962), Venice, California (1962–1967), Ionia, Michigan (1967–1968), Whittier, California (1986–1998) and Las Vegas, Nevada (since 1998).[5] Some of the automobiles produced by Shelby American were the Ford Mustang-based Shelby GT350, Shelby GT500 and Shelby GLHS. Shelby American also installed the engines of US-market examples of the AC Cobra which was an AC Ace with a Ford V8.

The company was also highly involved with racing, with Shelby cars winning many races and the first title for an American constructor at the World Sportscar Championship in 1965.[2] From 1965 to 1967, Shelby American also provided support to Ford for their successful campaign to win the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans as historically the first American constructor ever with the mid-engined Ford GT40's. With Shelby Daytona, Shelby became one of only three American constructors (along with Ford and Chevrolet) to win a title on the international scene at the FIA World Championships.

Shelby American moved in 1998 to Nevada becoming the first automobile manufacturer in Nevada and began production. The line included:

In 2003, the company name was changed to "Carroll Shelby International, Inc." from "Shelby American", and it was taken public. Shelby Automobiles was also created as a subsidiary and manufacturing arm of the new company.[1]

On December 15, 2009, Carroll Shelby International announced in a press release that Shelby Automobiles was being renamed to "Shelby American" in celebration of the 45th anniversary of 427 Cobra and GT350.[2]

Shelby Museum

The Shelby Museum is located on the site. It includes a wide range of Shelby vehicles, from the first Cobra CSX2000 to prototypes of Series 1 and some of the latest creations.

Cobras

Totals 1962-65
260 Cobra street cars 62
Factory teams cars (initially 260 engines, then updated to 289) 4
Factory-prepared competition cars (initially with 260 engines, then updated to 289) 1
Independently prepared competition race cars 7
Dragonsnake (initially 260 engines, then updated to 289) 1
Total 260 Cobras 75
"Flip-Top" prototype
289 FIA roadster
1964 Daytona coupe (CSX2299)
289 USRRC roadster
427 Competition Roadster, "Ollie the Dragon" (CSX3009)
289 Cobras Totals 1962-65
Street Cobras 455
Standard competition 2
Sebring Cobras 3
Le Mans Cobras 10
427 prototypes 1
427 prototypes "Flip-Top" 1
FIA roadsters 5
Daytona coupes 6
USRRC roadsters 6
Total factory team cars 29
Factory-prepared competition Cobras
Standard competition 2
Le Mans prototype 1
Le Mans replica 3
USRRC roadsters 5
Independently prepared race Cobras 21
Dragonsnake Cobras 2
COB/COX* street Cobras 60
COB/COX* race Cobra 1
Total 289 Cobras 580

Total small-block Cobras 655

Coil spring big-block Cobras Cobra production totals 1962-65
Street cars 260
Prototype competition roadsters 2
Production competition roadsters 19
Semicompetition roadsters 1
Daytona Super coupe 1
Chassis only 3
COB/COX Cobras 32
1965-67 427 and 428 Cobras 348

Total Cobras built 1,003

Shelby production totals 1965-89

1965

Total 1965 Shelby Mustangs - 562

1966

Total 1966 Shelby Mustangs - 2,380

1967

Total 1967 Shelby GT Mustangs - 3,240

1968

Total 1968 Ford Shelby Cobra GT Mustangs - 4,451

1969 & 1970

Total 1969-70 Ford Shelby Cobra GT Mustangs - 3,294

Shelby cars totals - 13,912

1986-1989

Total Dodge production- 6,050

Shelby vehicle total- 19,962

References

  1. 1 2 "About Us". Shelby American Inc. Retrieved 2010-02-25.
  2. 1 2 3 "Shelby Autos Becomes Shelby American" (Press release). Shelby American Inc. 2009-12-15. Retrieved 2010-03-17.
  3. ↑ "Carroll Shelby International Inc. - About Us". Carroll Shelby International Inc. 08-10-01. Retrieved 2010-03-17. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ↑ Johnson, Merritt (2007-11-06). "Unique Performance raided by local police — Autoblog". Autoblog.com. Retrieved 2009-11-20.
  5. ↑ http://www.allcarindex.com/main-index/car-make-details/United-States-Shelby-2/

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, February 13, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.