Shelby Cobras, Mustangs and Super Snakes

COLIN COMER, Motorbooks, £35, ISBN 978 0 7603 4654 9

THERE IS NO SHORTAGE of works celebrating cars made by Carroll Shelby, most being little more than hagiographies trotting out well-known – and often fantastical – yarns uttered by motor racing’s most famous Stetson wearer. This 264-page hardback concentrates instead on the many Shelby cars and not just the well-known ones.

Revised and expanded over the 2009 edition, it covers the Cobra period in great depth, with information on how and why it came into being, but what interested us more was the text given over to some of the many spin-offs. Commendably, the author does mention the story behind the ‘Continuation cars’ based on ‘found’ chassis that rather tarnished Shelby’s reputation in the early ’90s. There is also a wealth of text covering the Cobra’s track exploits, and it was particularly intriguing to read about the Dragonsnake drag cars, some of which was hitherto unfamiliar.

If anything, the many pages covering the Shelby Mustangs are even more interesting, especially those given over to the cars converted by the Shelby de Mexico concern. While vaguely aware that Mustangs were modified south of the border, we had no idea they continued to be converted for years after the Shelby American adventure had ended.

It was also a joy to read about the Cooper Monaco-based King Cobra and the ill-starred Lone Star GT car. Comer also delves into Shelby’s short-lived SCCA bid with Toyota 2000GTs and the gas-turbine Champ Car that was withdrawn from the 1968 Indy 500 because of its illegal, drivercontrolled air intake. We’d have liked more about the intrigue behind this attempt at The Brickyard, but this scheme rarely warrants a mention in other works so any text at all can only be a good thing.

However, some readers – we imagine British ones – will probably not agree with the verdict that the Sunbeam Tiger ‘can certainly be considered another Shelby success, no matter how you look at it’. That is a bit of a stretch. The fallout surrounding the late ’90s Shelby revival with the Oldsmobilepowered Series 1 is, by contrast, somewhat underplayed, but overall this is a well-written and comprehensive work that manages to inject life into a narrative that is a little over-familiar.

In addition, there are many wonderful images, both latter-day colour pics and period black-andwhite archive shots. We particularly liked the pics of Jochen Neerspasch finding – and exceeding – the limits of his 350R’s grip en route to victory at Wunstorf in 1967.

Add in an easy-to-navigate design and a not excessive price, and there’s much to like here.