Carroll Shelby to Be Honored at Goodwood Revival on His 100th Birthday

Carroll Shelby would have been 100 this year, and while he outlasted a lot of friends and lived way longer than he should have given all the medical challenges and OEM replacement parts that kept him alive for the second half of his life, even Ol’ Shel’ couldn’t make it into triple digits.

He passed away in 2012 at the age of 89, which was still something of a miracle considering that he raced in the era before fire suits, carbon-fiber halos and in a time when drivers hoped to be “thrown clear” of car crashes. When he finally arrived at the pearly gates—assuming that’s where he is—he had both a replacement heart and a new kidney.

In between he won Le Mans as both a driver and a team owner, invented the Shelby Cobra, the Shelby Mustang, and even something called the Shelby Series 1, the latter which deserves—and got—a book all to itself. He also sued just about anything that moved, up to and including his own fan club. He was often described as “opportunistic” in business dealings. He was married, some say, seven times, all but one of which ended in divorce and that wife died “in a single-car accident at night on his ranch.”

“People say when they made Carroll Shelby they broke the mold,” fellow American racing legend Dan Gurney said during a Shelby tribute at the Petersen Automotive Museum in 2012. “And if they ever tried to make the mold again, he’d sue them.”

Addressing the crowd at the same tribute, another Shelby friend, the artist Bill Neale, touched on Shelby’s propensity for litigation: “It’s a lot easier when you’re not being sued,” Neale said about his lifelong friend.

So while Shelby was flawed, as we all are, he accomplished a tremendous amount in a long and fulfilling life. Which is why he, his cars, and even the airplanes he flew as an instructor in WWII will all be honored at the Goodwood Revival Sept. 8-10 in England.