Shelby

#267, The Voice: John Kraman talks Mecum Auctions, Monterey

John Kraman knows the car auction business as well as a broadcaster. He’s the senior member of the Mecum Auctions team and the only announcer who’s been on all 16 years of the country’s largest automobile auctions broadcast. He’s our guest this week on The Weekly Driver Podcast. With broadcast colleagues and varied responsibility crew, co-hosts Bruce Aldrich and James Raia discuss with Kraman the auction’s participation Aug. 17-19 in Monterey Auto Week. Mecum is the only daytime auction during what is now nearly a two-week celebration on the Monterey Peninsula of all things automotive. The Monterey stop on the Mecum Auctions nearly yearlong circuit is the company’s smallest in volume. About 600 vehicles are sold in three days. But

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Shelby Supercar Tuatara gets non-speed record in record time

The need for speed has resulted in the Shelby Supercar Tuatara crossing a line it hadn’t hoped to cross — in a blur of doubt. Two weeks ago, the SSC touted with documentation a record of 316.11 miles per hour by its production car. With the mph record, the Tuatara also set “Fastest Flying Mile on a Public Road” and “Fastest Flying Kilometer on a Public Road” records. As expected, the accomplishment gained plenty of attention, including millions of views on various YouTube videos. Shelby Supercar Tuatara: MPH askew But it was also YouTube viewers who pointed to discrepancies in the company’s record-claiming, two-way run. The claimed record was read off a high-precision Dewetron GPS measurement device. It shattered the

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Shelby Cobra is back as an e-bike to celebrate Ford v Ferrari

Just in time for his portrayal in the movie Ford v Ferrari, the iconic Cobra made by automotive legend Carroll Shelby is back — sort of. Vintage Electric released November 15 a limited edition Two-Wheeled Cobra. It’s an homage to Shelby’s 289 Slabside Cobra in the form of an electric bicycle. Designed with the help of Shelby’s grandson Aaron, the bike has a motorcycle-like profile. It’s painted the same metallic blue with black racing stripes as its namesake. The bike also features hand grips, a matte black fork, retro LED headlamp and leather saddle seat that all reminiscent of the 289 Slabside. And the iconic Cobra logo is also prominent. Shelby’s powerful cars included the Ford GT40 that beat Ferrari

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Rare Barn Find Ford Mustang Shelby Set For Auction

Barn finds in the automotive world are still out there. The latest discovery is a varied collection of cars and trucks from an estate in Pennsylvania that includes a 1969 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Cobra Jet. The car, owned Larry A. Brown, a now-deceased car and truck collector,  is the expected highlight of more than a dozen vehicles set for auction April 25 at Ron Gilligan Auctioneering in Spruce Creek, Pa. The Mustang features a 428-cubic-inch Cobra Jet engine mated to a four-speed manual transmission, which has only 8,500 miles in total. The spark plugs, belts, fan and hoses are all original. The tires are the only equipment not from 1968. According to a report on Yahoo News, the car

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Tom Cruise set to play racing legend Carroll Shelby

Tom Cruise has played characters interested in speed, in one form or another, many times in his career. He’ll soon begin portraying a legend of auto speed and innovation, Carroll Shelby. According to a report on AOL Autos, Cruise and Joseph Kosinkski, the director of Oblivion, will team to make a movie from the book Go Like Hell. The book details the epic battle between Ford’s and Ferrari for dominance in the 1960s European racing scene. Shelby, the sole member of a rare automotive fraternity who rose to prominence as a driver, builder and owner, died earlier this year at age 89. Shelby won the 24 Hours of Le Mans for Aston Martin in 1959 with co-driver Roy Salvadori. He

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Carroll Shelby's life celebration planned at Rolex Motorsports Reunion in Monterey

The life of Carroll Shelby, a veteran who flew B-29s, an oil roughneck, a chicken farmer and automotive legend, will be celebrated August 17-9 at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at Mazda Raceway Laguna Raceway. The connection between Shelby and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca has long been intertwined. Shelby was a frequent participant in the formative years of the raceway, then named Laguna Seca. On Oct. 20, 1960, Shelby drove the No. 98 Tipo 61 Maserati “Birdcage” in the final race of his legendary driving career. Despite taking nitroglycerin pills to ease chest pains, he finished second after leading much of the race. That position, however, earned enough points for Shelby to clinch the 1960 USAC Sports Car Championship. Plans

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Carroll Shelby: Automotive legend, medical marvel dies at age 89

Carroll Shelby, the sole member of a rare automotive fraternity who rose to prominence as a driver, builder and owner, has died at age 89 in Dallas, Texas. Shelby won the 24 Hours of Le Mans for Aston Martin in 1959 with co-driver Roy Salvadori. He also won U.S. sports-car championship titles with Ferrari and Maserati and raced in Formula 1 for two seasons. In the 1960s, Shelby created the iconic Shelby Cobra. It dominated the racetracks of the era and defeated Ferrari for the world manufacturer's title. Shelby lent his name and tuning expertise to existing models, most notably the Ford Mustang with the Shelby GT350 Mustang. As a modern version, the 650-horsepower V8-powered Shelby GT500 Mustang, is still

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Shelby Mustang GT500 selected as greatest muscle car

Muscle car fanciers are as passionate about automobiles as any group of car enthusiasts. One recent example is an article in the automotive section of MSN.com in which the 1967 Shelby Mustang GT500 was chosen as the greatest muscle car in history. The Mustang was selected by site readers who cast more 6,000 votes or 17 percent of the total votes cast for the famous car. The writer of the article, explained: “The GT500 was basically a factory-authorized tuner Mustang created by Carroll Shelby. Introduced in 1967, the GT500 joined the GT350 on showroom floors and offered a 428-cubic-inch Police Interceptor engine with a conservatively rated 355 horsepower.” “Despite the larger engine, it was actually designed to be a more

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Ford Shelby GT500 Mustang 2011 Car Review

Legendary champion racer/performance car builder Carroll Shelby first built affordable “Shelby GT350 Mustang” models, based on the then-new production Mustang, in 1965. The car was so fast, it even beat Corvettes on tracks. And now a good GT350 is a prized collector’s item that costs at least several hundred thousand dollars. Shelby is still with us as of this writing, feisty as ever at nearly 90, and must be very proud of the muscular-looking 2011 Ford Shelby GT500 Mustang. It’s the latest in a series of Ford Shelby GT500 models built in the last few years, and is by far the best. Some feel that it’s the greatest Mustang ever. An honorable mention is the Mustang GT500 Shelby 1967, a

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Shelby, Tesla, Datsun (?) among world's top-10 fastest electric cars

“Below, we’ve listed the world’s top 10 fastest electric cars, based on the best available information (and a little creative license). Note that our criteria does not take into account a variety of important factors like charging time, availability and cost. All cars are simply ranked by the time it takes them to get from 0-60 mph. “Most of the machines shown here are either not available or otherwise out out of the realm of possibility for most, but then again, so are most high-performance gas-powered cars, but that doesn’t keep us from admiring them.” And here’s the list: 1. Shelby Supercars Aero EV, 2.5 seconds 2. 1972 Electric Datsun, 3.0 seconds 3. Wrightspeed Xi, 3.07 seconds 4. L1X-75, 3.1

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