Shelby interview in Road & Track

[Excaliber]

In the 50's, and you can bet thats when Shelby first started thinking about the concept, Olds and Caddillac engines were a pretty common 'hot rod' setup. It would have been quite logical to consider their use for his project. When the NEW Olds alloy 215 came along, well, that surely would have been reason to again seriously consider Oldsmobile as a power plant. Small block Chevies, 283/327, were rapidly gaining popularity and after market parts were available by 1960, a serious contender for the project no doubt.

Ford had NOTHING even worthy of consideration at the time. An FE? Get real, heavy and largely unproven at the time with virtually no after market or 'hot rod' experience under it's belt. The 292/312 was all but a joke, universally accepted as an engine with no racing future. Ah but then, that new 221 cube (later 260/289, etc.) light weight Ford V8, whoa, suddenly it's a new ball game! Shelby was in the right place at the right time to capture 'history'.

The Olds 215 was just slightly ahead of it's time as it concerns the alloy process' available then. But 'what might have been' had research continued on that lovely little engine!