The world is filled with figure heads, Hollywood stars being the most obvious. Where the real leadership comes from is often obscured. When the battle is won the General gets the glory, but perhaps the critical decisions came from a brilliant team of advisors? All through history it is repeated, more oftne than not, ONE man gets the credit. Iaccoa for the Viper, Duntov for the Vette, Shelby for the Cobra, etc.
I don't know about the Vette, the Viper and the various war Generals but I suspect as in Shelbys case, they had a great team of advisors. Perhaps great men assemble great teams? In the case of the latest Ford projects some "leader" within Ford decided it was best to stay anonomous and promote the "game plan" using Shelby as a figurehead/spokesman. I guess they could have used Jack Nicholson, but his reputation doesn't fit with high performance cars. Shelbys does. As a "leader" it makes perfect sense to put this guy, Shelby, on their "team".
While WE, those of us who study and soak up the history of the marque, have a greater understanding (NOT perfect) of the "truth", the "people" will know what History records. For now I will tell my son (a young man) of the great things Shelby has done. To my son Shelby IS a great man, a "hero". In time he will learn some of the darker "truths", I will not hasten that time nor will I hide it,,,,,,, in time.
But heck, pic a hero any hero, a leader any leader. Look hard enough at their life and I'm sure you will find plenty of stuff they did wrong. You might even find that more often than not they were terrible to work for! Hard headed, single minded, brilliant a$$holes!
Hybrid Mode
