[Kputz]

Say what you will about GM's stupidity in running Carroll out of the building, but you must remember the times. Ford at the time was for the most part a private company, hardly resembling GM's vast shareholder base. Try taking a multi million dollar race program to the stockholders meeting with any number of insurance companies and mutual funds owning hundreds of thousands of shares. GM wasn't interested in anything that couldn't/didn't maximize shareholder value. What could CS have done for GM, aside from taking market share away from the Vette? Remember too that even Ford treated CS like the bastard step child he was, using his racing efforts only to tweak GM's noses. It was only later, when they could realize some market value from his name, did they allow him to "participate" in the other Ford Shelby ventures, however small his participation was.