Six Decades of Shelby performance—from the first Shelby AC Cobra to today’s Mustang Shelby GT500! A bad heart forced Carroll Shelby, one of the top racing drivers of all time, to retire in 1960. But that didn’t stop the lanky Texan from continuing to make history. He launched Shelby American in 1962 with the creation of the brilliant Ford-powered AC Cobra, soon to dominate both U.S. and international sports car racing. Shelby’s winning ways soon led to Ford seeking Shelby’s team of “hot rodders” help to make the Ford GT program a success. It worked. Shelby and Ford soon stunned the motorsports world by winning Le Mans and dominating other venues from 1966 to 1969 with the GT40. Fifty-three years later the legendary first Le Mans win of 1966 would form the basis for the acclaimed filmFord Versus Ferrari. As if the Cobra, Daytona Coupe, and GT40 were not enough, this small team of hot rodders, fabricators, and race mechanics also created the Shelby Mustang GT350 in 1965, and the GT500 two years later. Shelby American was nothing short of lightning in a bottle from 1962-1970. Shelby American 60 Years of High Performance covers all of these early triumphs, following the proceedings from a small shop in Venice, California, to sprawling digs at LAX all the while developing new road cars, running a top race team, and giving privateer racers the cars they needed to win. Get to know Shelby, as well as the innovators who surrounded him, including designer Peter Brock, genius engineer Phil Remington, “Mr. GT350” Chuck Cantwell, and a roster of top drivers that included Ken Miles, Bob Bondurant, Dan Gurney, Bruce McLaren, Denny Hulme, A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, and more. Authors Colin Comer and Rick Kopec, leading Shelby historians, follow the Shelby story through Carroll’s post-Ford relationship with Dodge, including his roles in the giant-killing, pocket-rocket Shelby Charger, GLH (“Goes Like Hell”), and GLH-S cars along with a slew of other Shelby-ized machines including his role in the birth and development of the menacing Dodge Viper. The story of the late Carroll Shelby and the company he founded is a classic tale of ingenuity, grit, and perseverance. Illustrated throughout with rare period imagery and modern color photography, Shelby American 60 Years of High Performance is the ultimate tribute to Shelby American and the team that made it all happen.

Shelby American Up Close and Behind the Scenes takes readers inside the shop that produced the 289 Cobra, Daytona Coupe, 427 Cobra, Mustang GT350, and more from 1962 to 1965.

Celebrate six decades of Carroll Shelby's brand of automotive excitement with Shelby American 60 Years of High Performance. Cobra, GT40, Daytona Coupe, King Cobra, Mustang GT350, and more are covered in this officially licensed, heavily illustrated overview.

Shelby Mustang details the entire story of these fantastic cars, from the early prototypes built in Shelby's Los Angeles shop to today's Ford-engineered high-tech performers. Written by one of the world's foremost authorities on Shelby automobiles, critically acclaimed author Colin Comer, and with a foreword by Lee Iacocca, the American automobile executive credited with the successful development of the Mustang, this is the definitive account of the Shelby. When Ford wanted to toughen up its super-successful new Mustang, they approached Carroll Shelby to give it the performance image it so sorely lacked. Beginning with a 1965 "K-Code" 289-cubic-inch-powered Mustang fastback, Shelby applied the same formula that had made his Cobra sports cars such devastating performers both on and off the track: more horsepower, less weight, balanced handling. The GT350 quickly established itself as a bonafide force in SCCA B-Production racing, twisting back roads, and boulevards alike—setting the course for future Shelby Mustangs, like the big-block GT500. Though those original Shelby Mustangs were done by 1970, Ford dusted off its Shelby relationship in 2006 and has been producing high-performance Ford Mustang Shelbys ever since. This is a must-have read for any fan of American performance cars, whether you're a muscle-era original or a 21st-century stormer.

Ken Miles is one of the most famous sports car racers in history, and his time at Shelby American was the pinnacle of his career. Ride shotgun with Ken Miles through the twists and turns of Sebring, Laguna Seca, Riverside, and Le Mans as seen through the lens of Shelby American photographer Dave Friedman! The hiring of Ken Miles by Carroll Shelby in February 1963 initiated arguably the greatest pairing of driver/owner partnerships in the history of motorsports. Not only did Shelby hire Competition Manager Ken Miles as an accomplished road racer but also Miles brought professionalism, innovation, and a keen attribute of being able to surround himself with budding, talented individuals. The list of race cars that Ken piloted at Shelby American is nearly unrivaled: the Shelby 289 Cobra, 390 Cobra, 427 Cobra, King Cobra, Shelby Daytona, Mustang GT350R, and Ford GT. Ken dominated the 1964 United States Road Racing Championship (USRRC) racing season by winning 8 of 10 races to secure the Manufacturers’ Championship. However, it was at Le Mans where Ken Miles became a worldwide household name. The robbery that was the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans is laid out in excruciatingly accurate detail as Ford royalty Carroll Shelby, Carroll Smith, Homer Perry, Leo Beebe, Charlie Agapiou, Bob Negstad, Carroll Smith, and Peter Miles recall the race and the tragedy that followed two months later. Recapture Ken Miles’s career as told by esteemed Shelby American photographer Dave Friedman in this firsthand account titled Ken Miles: The Shelby American Years!

As official photographer for Carroll Shelby's racing teams in the '60s, Dave Friedman chronicled the wide variety of racing efforts of Shelby American. Friedman's glorious photographic account of Shelby-built cars racing in Can-Am, Trans-Am, sports car classics, and other forms of racing is presented here. Enjoying complete access to the Shelby shop, race pits, and behind the scenes, Friedman recorded the complete scope of this popular racing team's efforts.