The last Shelby Cobra: my times with Carroll Shelby

CHRIS THEODORE, Veloce, £35, ISBN 978 1 787114 50 0

Even after he passed away in 2012, opinions on Carroll Shelby remained unresolved and polarised. Yes, he was difficult and opinionated and not always terrifically nice, but name any success story in the motor industry or motor racing who is. No, the bigger issue was just how much of a success was Shelby, really? How much of the credit for GT40, Tiger or Cobra should be his? Did he ever have a major ‘hit’ entirely, indisputably of his own?

Just to complicate matters, for every disciple who declares him a hero there is at least one other who would brand him a huckster. Eight years on, and even having met him a few times before his demise, I honestly still couldn’t say. In fact, all I can say for sure is that he certainly knew how to ride a wave.

I guess that answering that age-old question – motoring messiah or marketing genius? – was my primary interest in reading this book from Chris Theodore who, in his Ford and Chrysler days, worked closely with Shelby, forming a close friendship and bringing the 2005 Ford GT into being. Focusing on the last 25 years of Shelby’s life and career (and the Tall Texan worked until the end), this book really majors on Dodge Viper onwards. By the end I couldn’t say that I was much the wiser as to the true character of Shelby – while Theodore is clearly a fan, his account is no hagiography – but I was a lot more clued up on ‘Daisy’ and the like, and had massively enjoyed a really well-written and enlightening book.

Of course, the fact that ‘Daisy’ existed suggests Shelby did have the smarts, but the fact that it failed leaves that tediously nagging doubt. Maybe the point with Shelby is that it ultimately don’t matter because it was all about entertainment. In that sense, this is a more than fitting personal tribute.