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A man with a dream.... R.I.P.

Growing up car-crazy in Dearborn, MI in the 60s, son of a Ford employee, this man was a God to me.

In high school I dated a girl whose father was a Ford suspension engineer and she took me to where he worked. It was a non-descript building that only said KAR KRAFT on the front.

When I entered the back-room I nearly fell over. It was filled with AC Cobras that 'Shel' [what they called him] was developing, and several Ford GTs, GT Mk40, and GT 40MkIIs that had recently won at LeMans. They even let me sit in them.

This guy not only did a lot for the racing world, but was a huge influence on sports cars in general. He will be greatly missed.

That said, making it to almost 90 after a heart and kidney transplant is not a bad run.

Godspeed, Shel. May you be even faster in Heaven.

AC Cobra - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Shelby Daytona - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
My Boss (Car collector) has one of those, bone stock and original 66 Cobra. I did some work on it and took it few time for a ride. This is an amazing piece of equipment for the days... Some great man become "Legend" after they pass away... C. Shelby pass that bridge way long time ago. He will be missed but his legacy will live forever!
 
427 Cobra is my dream car. The amazing thing is, a kit 427 is not out of reach. An original car is a lottery win away, but I am hoping one day to build a kit 427 Cobra for less than 50k. Easily one of the coolest cars ever dreamed up. Shelby was an innovator and visionary, easily one of the greatest automotive minds in history. It is incredible what he accomplished, and a shame that sort of "elbow grease" innovation has all but disappeared from the automotive industry. Where are the days when all you needed was a good set of wrenches and a good idea to make one of the most influential cars in history?
 
Marthy said:
My Boss (Car collector) has one of those, bone stock and original 66 Cobra. I did some work on it and took it few time for a ride. This is an amazing piece of equipment for the days... Some great man become "Legend" after they pass away... C. Shelby pass that bridge way long time ago. He will be missed but his legacy will live forever!
Click to expand...

"This is an amazing piece of equipment for the days."

"Ken Miles used for his legendary 1965 Shelby 427 Cobra CSX3134 for a 0-100-0 run of 13.2 seconds, with Jerry Titus riding shotgun."

I'd say it's an amazing piece of equipment now.
 
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