America's Greatest Living Car Designer

Auto legend Carroll Shelby talks about Mustangs past and present, what ails Detroit, his favorite American cars, racing, and Texas
by Matt Vella

In the American auto industry, few things stay golden very long. Boom times go bust, and turnarounds become downturns. But if there’s one name that has managed to maintain positive buzz and consistently represent driving excitement, it’s Carroll Shelby.

Shelby first came to prominence in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a race-winning, maverick tuner. He was an upset victor at Le Mans in 1959. The 260/289 Cobra, which he designed and built, was the fastest car on earth in the mid-1960s. And, with his help, Ford turned the original Mustang into an automotive legend.

Since then, Shelby has worked with all of the Detroit Three, having helped create some of the most recognizable cars of the last 50 years, from Ford’s GT and Mustang revival to the Dodge Viper and Charger models. With his help, Ford has remade the Mustang into one of its most popular sellers.

Shelby, now 83, is launching a line of performance parts and opening a custom modification center. Enthusiastic fans will be able to send their newly purchased Shelby GT500s to be souped up and modified to specification. BusinessWeek.com’s Matt Vella spoke with Shelby from the annual Specialty Equipment Market Assn. (SEMA) aftermarket show in Las Vegas, Nev.

You’ve been at the heart of the American automotive industry in one way or another since the 1960s. In this time of considerable upheaval for each of the big three, what do you think of the U.S. automakers’ situation?

The companies are working on the three big problems. The foreign companies that come over here don’t have unions like ours, they don’t have health care on the order that American companies have, and they don’t have pensions.

I don’t know exactly where it will end up. I feel sure that the American companies are going to survive. But it’s a tough fight right now. The playing field is a little uneven. But for more than that, you’ll have to call Detroit.

Here you are at SEMA, what do you make of the current trend to customize, personalize, and "pimp" our rides?

There are probably 100,000 people here, and not any two of them would agree on what a car should be. And yet, every one of them wants to bring their car up to something that they dream of, what a car should be to them. They want to individualize it so when they drive that car down the road, it’s obvious that somebody cares about it. They want to be identified with that car. I think it’s great and those are the people we want to reach and the people we want to work with.

Looking back at the repeated success of Mustang—from the originals in the 1960s to this most recent revival—why do you think American consumers have fallen love with the car again and again?

I think the main reason that they have is because it’s been around for 40 years now. We’re here at SEMA and more people manufacture pieces and parts and modifications for the Mustang than any car on earth. I think that explains why it is so popular, because so many of the modders, so many of the tuners, so many of the parts manufacturers, well, they build for Mustang.

What place do you think the new GT500 would hold in Mustang history?

Well, I can’t tell you for sure. But I’ve never heard of a car that stickers for $42,000 and is bringing $45,000 over list price. My heritage has always been affordable performance. That’s what I like to think I stand for. And when you take a $40,000 car and it’s selling for $90,000—I don’t [know] whether that means we underpriced it or that, historically, it’s a very significant car.

What were your feelings seeing the Ford GT supercar cease production this fall?

I’ve always said that when you build a car that’s a halo car like that, that you shouldn’t keep on building it. I begged Dodge not to keep on building the Viper and they’ve built it and built until nobody wants it anymore.

Ford built a limited number of GTs, and I think that’s a smart way to increase the value of the car over the years.

In my opinion the Ford GT is the best sports car that’s ever been built. The Corvette has been a wonderful, wonderful sports car. I really wish Zora Arkus-Duntov [the Corvette’s early engineer] was still alive to see what’s happened, what they’re building now. But ultimately I think that the Ford GT will go down in history because there are only so many of them, and it’s a very unique automobile.

What do you think is unique about the relationship Americans have to their automobiles?

I think that it’s the first thing that a young boy or girl wants. The first thing that they want to buy is an automobile; they want to be mobile.

I go up the 405 every day. It’s absolutely amazing how many pickup trucks are jacked up two feet high, with 25-inch wheels that will never ever go off-road. But that guy is very, very proud of the fact that he drives that thing up and down the freeway on the way to work every day. He is making his statement: "This is what I want, this is what I work for." He expresses himself through his automobile and that’s all over America.

What do you think was the influence of your Texas upbringing on the way you’ve raced, the way you’ve made your cars?

I loved cars all my life. I had a little 1938 Willis that wouldn’t outrun anything when I was a kid. But I used to try like hell. I always wanted to build my own car and I saw in 1960 that I had to move to California where the hot-rodders were.

When we built these cars years ago—the Mustangs and the Cobras—we had hot-rodders from Japan, Australia, Italy, France, Germany, England, even a couple from Poland. I guess I feel that Texas just wasn’t big enough for me at that time.

What gets you worked up creatively?

I’m 83. And, if I live to be 183, I wouldn’t be able to put out all of the ideas that I have. I just wouldn’t be able to build all those vehicles. Every morning I wake up with new ideas. Unfortunately not a lot of them will ever get done. But I never get tired of dreaming up exactly what the automobile should be.

You got your start in white-knuckle racing. What qualities do you most admire in other race-car drivers?

When I started driving race cars there was no future in it and you did it because of the passion. Race-car drivers have to focus on so many different things. It takes an unusual person to do that—both being able to focus for long periods of time and being able to endure constant hardships like heat. You have to be able to keep your mind focused for three or four hours, otherwise you’re probably going to die.

Finally, over the course of your long career, who has been your greatest influence?

The biggest influence on me? Well, me.

Vella is a reporter for BusinessWeek.com in New York.