Shelby Cobra, Mustang et Supersnake : beaux livres - histoire, versions et technique

Carroll Shelby, éleveur de poulets texan devenu pilote de courses, a eu l'audace de créer sa propre entreprise de fabrication d'automobile, d'où sont sorties des voitures de sport ultra-performantes. Après le lancement de la fameuse Cobra, en 1962, le succès de Shelby American a surpris tout le monde, sauf Shelby lui-même. En matière de performances, ses voitures ont établi des références mondiales, encore valables aujourd'hui, tout en remportant au passage un Championnat du monde.

L'ouvrage "Shelby Cobra : cinquante ans" célèbre la voiture de sport hybride anglo-américaine de Carroll Shelby. Ce faisant, le livre rappelle les étonnantes réussites de Shelby, de même que l'inestimable contribution de sa brillante équipe comprenant Phil Remington, Ken Miles, Peter Brock et de nombreux autres génies automobiles. Cet ouvrage enrichira la bibliothèque de tout passionné de Cobra, de Shelby, de compétition ou de tous ceux qui seront heureux de découvrir une belle "success story" américaine.

Quand Ford a souhaité consolider la position déjà enviable de sa nouvelle Mustang, le constructeur a approché Carroll Shelby pour qu'il apporte au modèle la crédibilité sportive qui lui manquait.
En se basant sur une Mustang fastback 1965 à moteur "Code K" 289 ci (4,7 litres), Shelby a appliqué la recette qui lui avait permis de créer la Cobra, redoutable machine de route et de piste : plus de puissance, moins de poids, une tenue de route équilibrée.

La GT 350 s'est rapidement imposée comme une sérieuse compétitrice dans les épreuves américaines et européennes, sur les routes sinueuses ainsi que sur les longues lignes droites. Ces authentiques Shelby Mustang se sont arrêtées en 1970 mais, en 2006, Ford et Shelby ont renoué une relation qui a permis de produire à nouveau des Ford Mustang Shelby extrêmement performantes.

Ce livre retrace l'histoire complète de ces voitures fantastiques, depuis les premiers prototypes fabriqués dans l'atelier de Shelby, à Los Angeles, jusqu'aux machines actuelles, produites par Ford et dotées des technologies les plus avancées. Magnifiquement illustré de photos anciennes et récentes, en noir et blanc et en couleurs, cet ouvrage séduira autant les amateurs de Mustang que ceux de sport automobile.

Le Mans winner Carroll Shelby was one of the best American drivers during the fifties. But unfortunately, his racing career was cut short after the 1960 season due to his heart condition.

Always interested in car design and construction, Shelby conceived one of the most successful sports cars, the Cobra, followed by the King Cobra, the Cobra Daytona Coupe and Shelby Mustangs.
His company, Shelby American, won the World Manufacturers Championship in 1965. At the helm of the Ford GT program, he won the triple crown of racing: Le Mans, Sebring and Daytona.

This book details not only the triumphs, but also the tragedies as well profiling those involved including Mario Andretti, Phil Hill, Ken Miles, Dan Gurney and many others.

In 1962 retired racing great Carroll Shelby was looking for his next big move. He'd started a racing school at Riverside Raceway in California, but he really wanted to build his own sports and racing car.
He found a promising platform in the British AC Ace, and set about stuffing an American V-8 between the AC's dainty fenders. Thus was born the Shelby Cobra.

Shelby set up shop in Venice, California, later in 1962, marking the beginning of the classic Cobra era. It was a near supernatural combination of brilliant designers and wrenches, ever-faster cars, championship-winning teams and drivers, and sheer chutzpah.

The Venice shop spawned the 289 Cobra, Daytona Coupe, 427 Cobra, Mustang GT350, Sunbeam Tiger, and more. Eventually the Venice facility could not handle the work, especially when Ford tapped Shelby to create a high-performance version of its new and wildly successful Mustang.
Moving to a larger facility and the closer relationship with Ford seemed to diminish the fast and loose nature of the original enterprise. Some of the mojo was lost.

"Shelby American Up Close and Behind the Scenes" takes the reader inside the Venice shop in the critical 1962-1965 period. Author/photographer Dave Friedman was Shelby's official shooter, and he documented everything from Cobra construction to paddock wrenching to race wins.
This is an insider's look via Friedman's documentary photography and first-person stories from Shelby's key players. It's a must-have review of this critical period in both Shelby's history and the history of American racing.

In this book are perhaps the world's most desirable high-performance cars. From the first of Shelby's A.C. derived Cobras up through today's Ford Shelby Mustangs and all of the replicas and clones in between, this book shows them all.
For raw excitement, nothing beats these cars. Enjoy!

In the new edition of this classic text, Brian Laban brings the story of the AC Cobra up to date. In the early 1960s, a flamboyant Texan, Carroll Shelby, dreamed of a special kind of sports car, a marriage of European style with lusty, affordable American V8 power.
He took his dream forward and he persuaded British sports car specialist AC Cars to build his car, and US industry giant the Ford Motor Co to fund it. Its name also came to him in a dream - Cobra.

The original production of the Cobra lasted just five years and encompassed barely a thousand cars built within the original framework. But it was only the beginning of a story that is still very much alive, encompassing 'continuations', spin-offs, and a massive worldwide replica industry.
"Shelby and AC Cobra" details the man behind the cars, the story of their development and engineering, racing pedigree and owning and driving these powerful, iconic cars today.

Carroll Shelby's creation of the Cobra automobile during 1961-1962 transformed an aging British sports car into a 1965 World Manufacturers GT Championship winner for Shelby American. Today, the Cobra is still one of the most recognized automobiles in the world.
This book (in 2 volumes) narrates the work required to develop the first production Ford-powered AC Ace 3.6 roadsters that today are referred to as Mark I Leaf Spring Cobras. Seasoned Cobraphiles, novice enthusiasts and especially those who had the foresight to buy the cars, will enjoy the hundreds of fascinating snippets and backstories about the people and the cars.

The author has researched each of the 125 production Mark I Cobras built and conducted several hundred interviews with the people connected with each car. This endeavor uncovered unknown histories and facts, as well as hundreds of previously unpublished photographs and documents.

Despite the lion's share of accolades going directly to Carroll Shelby and the staff at Shelby American for the success of the Cobra, some portion of that credit rightfully belongs to the hardworking craftsmen employed at AC Cars in the 1960s. The Cobra could not have been created without them.
Virtually everything except the Mark I Cobra's Ford engine and transmission had been hand-built by old-world craftsman in England. That partnership reflects the best of the Anglo-American spirit and produced one of the most iconic automobiles ever built.

This book, the fourth in the Exceptional Cars series, tells the story of three cars, the first AC Cobras created by the legendary Carroll Shelby in 1962.
The prototype CSX2000 has been described as 'the most important modern American car', although it was built on a British AC Ace chassis with an American Ford V8 engine.
CSX2001 was the first production Cobra and CSX2002 the first to race, leading to a series of competition successes that made Shelby's Cobras famous and a favourite of sports-car enthusiasts throughout the world.

- CSX2000 was the only prototype Cobra and was retained by the Shelby family until 2016, when it sold at auction for a record $13.75 million.
- The first production car, CSX2001, was delivered to American race driver Ed Hugus, and subsequently sold to a Frenchman, Jean-Marie Vincent, who raced in the Tour de France and numerous European hillclimbs.
- CSX2002 nearly won its inaugural race, at Riverside, driven by Bill Krause, but was side-lined by a broken rear hub. The first Cobra win, by this car, fell to Dave MacDonald at Tucson in March 1963.

All three cars are now the pride of car collections in the United States. CSX2000 and CSX2002 are part of the Larry Miller Collection, while CSX2001 belongs to a California-based motorsport aficionado Bruce Meyer.
The book is lavishly illustrated with a mix of period and contemporary images, many of which are previously unseen.

Un livre de Brooklands consacré aux voitures Shelby Cobra des années 1962-1969. Description des modèles Shelby Cobra 260, 289, 427, 427SC, BOSS 351, Daytona et Autokraft Mk IV.

• Les 37 articles, parus à l'époque dans la presse automobile anglo-saxonne, sont une bonne source d'information sur l'histoire, l'évolution des modèles et la technique.
• Cet ouvrage contient aussi des impressions de conduite, des tests routiers et comparatifs, des données techniques, etc.

Cliquez ici pour plus d'information sur les livres Brooklands Portfolio

This fascinating book tells the fascinating history of the Daytona Coupe version of Carroll Shelby's fabled Cobra with special focus on one of the six cars built. The fabulous Daytona Coupe, brutally purposeful in both looks and performance, was created to win the FIA World Sportscar Championship and duly did so in 1965, beating Ferrari in the large-capacity class - the category that really counted as it fired the public's imagination.

The specific car covered in detail in this book, CSX2300, took part in five championship rounds (one in 1964, four in 1965) and played its part in Shelby American's unique team success.
Truly one of the 'Great Cars', the Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe is a most worthy addition to this acclaimed series of books.

When Ford wanted to toughen up its super-successful new Mustang, they approached Carroll Shelby to give it the performance image it so sorely lacked. Beginning with a 1965 "K-Code" 289-cubic-inch-powered Mustang fastback, Shelby applied the same formula that had made his Cobra sports cars such devastating performers both on and off the track: more horsepower, less weight, balanced handling.

The GT350 quickly established itself as a bonafide force in SCCA B-Production racing, twisting back roads, and boulevards alike - setting the course for future Shelby Mustangs, like the big-block GT500.
Though those original Shelby Mustangs were done by 1970, Ford dusted off its Shelby relationship in 2006 and has been producing high-performance Ford Mustang Shelbys ever since.

"Shelby Mustang" details the entire story of these fantastic cars, from the early prototypes built in Shelby's Los Angeles shop to today's Ford-engineered high-tech performers.
Written by one of the world's foremost authorities on Shelby automobiles, critically acclaimed author Colin Comer, and with a foreword by Lee Iacocca, the American automobile executive credited with the successful development of the Mustang, this is the definitive account of the Shelby.

Un livre de Brooklands consacré aux voitures Shelby Mustang des années 1965-1970.

• Les articles, parus à l'époque dans la presse automobile anglo-saxonne, sont une bonne source d'information sur l'histoire, l'évolution des modèles et la technique.
• Cet ouvrage contient aussi des impressions de conduite, des tests routiers et comparatifs, des données techniques, etc.

Cliquez ici pour plus d'information sur les livres Brooklands Portfolio

This volume of CarTech's Muscle Cars In Detail series covers the 1968 Shelby GT350, GT500, and GT500 KR. In 1968, Ford sought to take over much of the process of producing Shelby Mustangs and increased that production dramatically to meet anticipated sales demand, so it was a bit of a transition year.

In an effort to appeal to muscle car fans rather than race fans, the cars were losing their edgy race car feel and were becoming more high-end performance road cars with a long list of performance and comfort options including 428 Cobra Jet engines, automatic transmissions, and air conditioning.
They may have no longer been sports cars, but they were now fantastic muscle cars.

Each volume in the In Detail Series provides an introduction and historical overview, an explanation of the design and concepts involved in creating the car, a look at marketing and promotion, and an in-depth study of all hardware and available options, as well as an examination of where the car is on the market today.
Also included are paint and option codes, VIN and build tag decoders, as well as production numbers.

This newly updated and expanded edition gives incredible insight into the life and times of Carroll Hall Shelby, from his humble brith as the son of a rural Texas postman up through his death in 2012.
Updates include 16 additional pages of photos, updated information and larger text, Bonus 50 question Shelby trivia quiz, new Foreword by Bob Bondarant, and coverage through 2013 Mustangs.
Get the nitty-gritty details only an un-authorized Biography (as this book is) would include!

It was motoring author Rinsey Mills' passion for AC cars and motorsports history that led to his first meeting with Carroll Shelby. His suggestion that they should collaborate in order to create an accurate record of Shelby's life and achievements at first was rebuffed but later taken up with enthusiasm. This authorized biography is the result. Fascinating photographs from Shelby's personal collection complete the book.

This work was a long time in the making, as Mills left no stone unturned in his quest to produce the complete study of Shelby's remarkable life. He carried out extensive research and conducted numerous interviews, fully capturing the narrative of Carroll Shelby within and outside of the automotive racing world, including his:
- Childhood in Texas
- Wartime service with the Army Air Force
- Postwar entrepreneurship
- Earliest race wins in 1952
- Legendary 1959 victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans
- Monumental release of the first Cobra and the formation of Shelby American in 1962
- Historical partnership with Ford that would last for decades
- Personal interests and travels
- Present-day legacy.

Carroll Shelby, der 2012 verstorbene texanische Rennfahrer und Geschäftsmann, hat den größten Teil seines Lebens damit verbracht, Performance-Cars auf die Räder zu stellen - und er hat Ikonen geschaffen: Mit seinem Namen verbunden ist die legendäre Cobra, dem Ford Mustang hat er sein praktisch unzerstörbares Image als der amerikanische Sportwagen verschafft, und mit dem GT40 hat er Ferrari das Fürchten gelehrt.

Aber kennen Sie auch den Sunbeam Tiger? Die Viper-Connection? Den Cooper Monaco "King Cobra"? Den Talbot Horizon, der in den USA als Shelby-Dodge dem Golf GTI Paroli bot? Wussten Sie, dass Shelby den sagenhaften Toyota 2000GT zum Rennwagen machte?
Lesen Sie die mitreißend geschriebene Geschichte und schwelgen Sie in phantastischen Fotos aus mehr als fünf Jahrzehnten.