Carroll Shelby

Carroll Shelby, the charismatic Texan who parlayed a short-lived racing career into a specialized business building high-performance, street-legal cars, died Thursday. He was 89. Shelby died at Baylor Hospital in Dallas, according to an announcement by his company, Carroll Shelby Licensing. A cause was not disclosed. He led a colorful, outsized life that touched virtually every corner of the automotive world, said Leslie Kendall, curator of the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.

Twenty-one-year-old Taylor Dankel darts around a quick corner of the racetrack and buries the throttle. The supercharged, 650-horsepower V-8 in his father's modified 2008 Shelby Mustang GT500KR lets out a guttural roar. It's a scene that would have put a smile on the face of Shelby American's founder, Carroll Shelby. An automotive icon whose career evolved from chicken farmer to world-class racer, engineer and businessman, Shelby died in May 2012 at the age of 89. Photos: Shelby after Shelby But his legacy is everywhere on this windy day in Pahrump, Nev., about an hour outside of Las Vegas.

A settlement was reached in a bizarre custody battle between the children of automotive legend Carroll Shelby and the last of his seven wives that has left his body stuck in a Dallas County morgue for months. Shelby, a famed auto designer, has been in the morgue since his death May 10. His children wanted to cremate him, and his surviving wife Cleo Shelby, 64, said she wanted to decide what happens to his remains. Both filed petitions in a Texas court for control of the body and a hearing was scheduled for later this month.

Shelby American Inc. has long been known to turn out fire-breathing autos with powerful turbo-charged engines, but with its diminutive new “pocket rocket,” the car company has changed things up a bit. At the 2013 Detroit Auto show, Shelby American unveiled a souped-up version of a Ford Focus. The company took the four-cylinder compact car with front-wheel drive and wrenched in a new turbo-charged Ford EcoBoost engine the cranks out more than 300 horsepower. Named the Shelby Focus ST, the hot hatchback was designed at Shelby American's skunkworks division in Las Vegas and tested extensively at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

An iconic piece of Southern California car culture is up for sale. The former Marina del Rey headquarters of automotive legend Carroll Shelby is on the market  for $4.7 million. The red brick shop at 1042 Princeton Drive is known in Shelby lore as being in Venice but later became part of Marina del Rey. In March 1962, the 10,860-square-foot structure became the birthplace for Shelby's fledgling car company, Shelby American Inc. That year, Shelby, a retired race car driver, took a lightweight two-seat roadster and married it with a powerful V-8 Ford Motor Co. engine.

Carroll Shelby, the charismatic Texan who parlayed a short-lived racing career into a specialized business building high-performance, street-legal cars, died Thursday. He was 89. Shelby died at Baylor Hospital in Dallas, according to an announcement by his company, Carroll Shelby Licensing. A cause was not disclosed. He led a colorful, outsized life that touched virtually every corner of the automotive world, said Leslie Kendall, curator of the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.

A bizarre custody battle between the children of automotive legend Carroll Shelby and the last of his seven wives has left his body stuck in a Dallas County morgue while a Texas court decides who gets to dispose of his remains. Shelby, a famed auto designer, has been in the morgue since his death May 10. His children want to cremate him, and his surviving wife has said she wants to decide what happens to his remains. Adding to the imbroglio is a cryptic comment by Dallas County Medical Examiner Dr. Jeffrey Barnard, who said he was in control of the body "because an allegation was made which falls within" Texas laws pertaining to criminal procedure.

As NASCAR drivers take their warm-up lap around the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Feb. 28, a shiny Shelby GT350 will lead the way. The pace car's trip to the racetrack will be remarkably short because it was built -- or, more precisely, modified -- right across the street at Shelby American, where workers convert Ford Mustangs into Shelby GTs and assemble the legendary Cobras from scratch. Former race car driver Carroll Shelby began making sports cars in Los Angeles nearly 50 years ago but relocated to three buildings just off Interstate 15 -- about 20 minutes north of the Strip, on Speedway Boulevard -- in 1998.

A heart transplant from a Las Vegas gambler has given Carroll Shelby a new lease on life, and at 68, the legendary racing guru from Texas and Bel-Air hopes to do the same for American sports car racing.

A variety of cars churned out by Shelby American Inc. are set to hit the block at next year's Barrett-Jackson auction, including a 1965 Shelby GT350 Fastback and a 2012 Super Snake. The 14 Shelbys are consigned for Jan. 19 auction in Scottsdale, Ariz. at no reserve. The following vehicles will go on the block: 1967 Shelby GT500 Fastback - This original, unrestored vehicle is one of the lowest mileage Shelbys in existence. Powered by a 428-cubic-inch V-8 engine with a four-speed transmission and complete documentation.

An iconic piece of Southern California car culture is up for sale. The former Marina del Rey headquarters of automotive legend Carroll Shelby is on the market  for $4.7 million. The red brick shop at 1042 Princeton Drive is known in Shelby lore as being in Venice but later became part of Marina del Rey. In March 1962, the 10,860-square-foot structure became the birthplace for Shelby's fledgling car company, Shelby American Inc. That year, Shelby, a retired race car driver, took a lightweight two-seat roadster and married it with a powerful V-8 Ford Motor Co. engine.

The Green Hornet, a storied Shelby Mustang prototype that many pony car enthusiasts assumed was destroyed decades ago, will come up for auction early next year. The Barrett-Jackson auction house will sell the car at its Scottsdale auction on Jan. 19. The Shelby “represents a rolling history of what Ford and Shelby American, the auto-design firm owned by Carroll Shelby, were producing in the heyday of the American muscle-car era and is considered one of the most innovative and unique vehicles of its time,” said Craig Jackson, chief executive  of Barrett-Jackson and the current owner of the car. It is expected to sell for about $2 million.

Interested in upgrading the performance of your 662-horsepower Cobra with Shelby American Inc.'s stamp of approval? Now there's a place here on the West Coast to take care of that. Galpin Auto Sports in Van Nuys announced Wednesday that it has entered into an agreement with Shelby American to become an authorized Shelby modification shop. The only other certified mod shop is in Rhode Island. Now that Galpin is an authorized Shelby Mod Shop, it can take any Shelby car, upgrade its performance or styling and the work will be endorsed by Shelby American.

Not far from the eye-catching vintage sports cars and immense luxury rides making up the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance car show, the auto company that bears the name of industry icon Carroll Shelby unleashed a monster. Well, unleashed a Cobra, to be precise. Shelby American Inc. and Ford Motor Co. unveiled a one-of-a-kind 2013 Ford Shelby GT500 Cobra that kicks out a staggering 850-horsepower at Monterey Motorsports Reunion at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Decked out in the guardsman blue paint with Wimbledon white racing stripes that graced so many of the Cobra roadsters built in the 1960s, the new car is a tribute to Carroll Shelby, who died in May at the age of 89. “Carroll Shelby changed the performance world forever,” Shelby American President John Luft said in a statement . “And while he was proud of Shelby American's achievements, Carroll was far more interested in the next car we build.

The car: 1963 Shelby 289 Cobra Mk II The power: 271 horsepower and 312 pound-feet of torque from a 289-cubic-inch V-8 (about 4.7 liters). Power is routed to the rear wheels via four-speed manual transmission. The photos: Shelby 289 Cobra Mk II The speed: Motor Trend tested a 289 Cobra in 1963 and hit 60 mph in 5.8 seconds, but claimed that time would probably drop with the addition of better tires in the rear to combat wheel spin. The price: Estimated at $600,000 to $700,000.

A settlement was reached in a bizarre custody battle between the children of automotive legend Carroll Shelby and the last of his seven wives that has left his body stuck in a Dallas County morgue for months. Shelby, a famed auto designer, has been in the morgue since his death May 10. His children wanted to cremate him, and his surviving wife Cleo Shelby, 64, said she wanted to decide what happens to his remains. Both filed petitions in a Texas court for control of the body and a hearing was scheduled for later this month.

A bizarre custody battle between the children of automotive legend Carroll Shelby and the last of his seven wives has left his body stuck in a Dallas County morgue while a Texas court decides who gets to dispose of his remains. Shelby, a famed auto designer, has been in the morgue since his death May 10. His children want to cremate him, and his surviving wife has said she wants to decide what happens to his remains. Adding to the imbroglio is a cryptic comment by Dallas County Medical Examiner Dr. Jeffrey Barnard, who said he was in control of the body "because an allegation was made which falls within" Texas laws pertaining to criminal procedure.