Carroll Smith, the Shelby Team manager for the LeMans-winning 1967 effort passed away last week.
An ex-racer himself, Carroll spent his retirement years writing books on race car engineering. His "Nuts and Bolts and Fasteners" book is a classic handbook.
His claim to Shelby history came when...
" Ferrari was on a winning streak. With Ford's blessing and a radical car called the GT40 the sights were firmly set on winning the classic 24 hour race.
Shelby called up Smith one day, mostly out of the blue. When Carroll Smith confirmed that indeed, "I really did quit driving", Shelby released John Wyer and hired Carroll Smith as his Team Manager.
It took them a year to get the car sorted. They got trounced everywhere they went the first year. But at Daytona, 1967, they knew they had a winning car. The gearboxes broke on all of the cars, and the team was livid. After a little engineering magic, they won every other race in 1967, including the coveted 24 Hours of Le Mans."
(...from Smith's website.)
Carroll Smith's website...
(thanks to Paul, PDHse, for input on this)