"Carroll Shelby Speaks Out" Article

[Jamo]

Nothing new here...

Mr. Shelby did not create the cars or get to where he is today by being conventional.

Turk's mini-treatise on management analysis is on the money--if someone wanted to approach it on a conventional basis. And it would probably work.

But being unconventional can be conventional when one reviews the histories of the most revered industrialists--especially in the automotive world--Ferrari, Bugatti, Porsche, etc. The personality of the person can create the personality of the company/car. The aura of Mr. Shelby that we love to hate (or hate to love) is part of every Cobra we buy--he flipped everyone off in the 60s and continues to do it to this day--just like our Cobras do to all of the mass produced vehicles on the road when we drive them. Owners of pretenders try to conjure up Duntovs and even Shelby himself to create the passion that is built into our cars. Shelby even tried to recreate that "soul" with the Series 1--a great car, but rather mundane in its execution compared to what else is out there.

As Jim notes, when Mr. Shelby eats chili, others fart--and everyone else smells it. Yes--he speaks out in ways that causes others to cringe or get their backs up--but he also continues to keep the Cobra in the mind's eye. Like it or not--he has helped every other mfg. because of this. FFR came off looking pretty damn good fighting him off, so did SPF. Kirkham must be doing something right if the old fart relies on them. ERA is able to point to how close a reproduction theirs is to the Old Man's. And people read about Cobras in trade magazines and even the newspapers because he's out there starting ****. And we have long threads to discuss his latest antics.

Give the devil his due--he's keeping it hot.