Carroll Smith Dies

[David Kirkham]

I have heard that Carroll Smith died. Does anyone know anything about this? He was a GREAT man. I had the pleasure of taking him out to lunch a couple of years back. He had more knowldege than I could believe. One of the nicest men I have ever met. He was a consultant for ARP Bolts and once told me F1 teams used to fly into California to pick up connecting rod bolts from ARP and then turn around and fly home...easier, (and quicker) to get through customs. When they were really under the gun, they would pay someone in California to personally fly the bolts to them to save a day. Talk about an expensive bolt.

For those of you who don't know, Carroll Smith is the author of "Tune to Win", "Engineer to Win", "Prepare to Win", "Nuts, Bolts, Fasteners, and Plumbing" (Originally called "Screw to Win" I have heard), and "Drive to Win."

All of those books...with the possible exception of "Drive to Win" should be mandatory reading for all Cobra owners. Carroll was the head engineer for Ford on the GT-40 projects. He worked extensively with Shelby.

Sincere condolences to his family and to the racing world.

David