Carroll Shelby R.I.P

[Mark Stryker]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/12/sports/carroll-shelby-builder-of-cobra-sports-car-dies-at-89.html?hp

A very interesting life and important figure in auto history.

The jazz connection to Shelby, of course, is Herbie Hancock, who took his windfall from "Watermelon Man" -- a $3,000 royalty check that arrived in the spring of 1963 -- and bought the sixth Cobra sports car ever made (counting by serial number). He bought it right off the showroom floor and drove it pretty consistently until around 1990, when he put it in storage (and got a Ferrari for his daily drive.). With Shelby now gone, Herbie is the longest original owner of any Cobra. That car is easily worth a $1 million or more at auction.

Here's a funny story I found in a Vanity Fair article from five or six years ago:

"It was so fast it almost blew my head off," (Hancock) says. He remembers a night in New York when Miles Davis offered him a ride home from the Village Gate in his Maserati. Hancock told Davis he had his own car, the Cobra. "Miles said, 'It ain't a Maserati,'" Hancock says. "So we both got to a stoplight and when the light turned green we both hit it. I got to the next light, and I had time to light up a cigarette before Miles got there."

Footnote: When I interviewed Hancock at his house in Los Angeles once, I asked to see the garage, hoping the Cobra was there. Alas, it was stored offsite but I did check out the Ferrari -- when you work for a Detroit newspaper, your radar always has to be tuned to any potential auto angle for any story ...

Edited May 11, 2012 by Mark Stryker

[GA Russell]

I just saw this too. RIP. He was one of a kind.

http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012/05/11/shelby-cobra-designer-legendary-race-car-driver-carroll-shelby-dies-at-8/?intcmp=features

[Chuck Nessa]

The Charles Ives of V8s.

[Mark Stryker]

The Charles Ives of V8s.

Very well said! Mind if I tweet that? (with credit of course)

Edited May 11, 2012 by Mark Stryker

[Chuck Nessa]

go for it.

[GA Russell]

Here's the LA Times obit:

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-carroll-shelby-20120512,0,6452484.story