Carroll Shelby, the creator of the American-European hybrid muscle car, has passed away at the age of 89. He first shot into fame as a racecar driver, and then for the Shelby Cobra, which he created by shoehorning Ford V8s into the AC Cobra, which only knew four-cylinder powerplants until Shelby came along. You'll also recognise the name for its association with the Shelby Mustangs, both the GT350 and GT500. He also had a big hand in the development of the original Ford GT40 - yes, the one that beat Ferrari at Le Mans four years in a row. More recently, he helped build performance versions of Dodge products, including the Viper, and the new 200mph Mustang also has him behind it.
Carroll Shelby had his fair share of aftermarket parts - he had a heart translplant a few years ago, and had contracted an illness recently which he never did recover from.
