Carroll Shelby - A Life in The Fast Lane - Auto Show & Event Coverage

There isn't much that hasn't been said or written about Carroll Shelby. Strip away all the legend and lore, however, and you'll find a tough Texan who, perhaps more than anything else, loves to build cars.

After a successful career as a race car driver, culminating in an historic win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in an Aston Martin, Shelby hung up his driving overalls and set out to become an automobile manufacturer. That he's certainly done, being the only independent carmaker who has joint-ventured projects with Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler.

Motor Trend's March 2004 cover story reveals the details behind and underneath the new Ford Shelby Cobra concept car, the darling of this year's North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Concurrently, the Petersen Automotive Museum has assembled a compendium of Shelby's previous automotive creations that have lead up to this possible future Cobra. The exhibit, which runs through March 28, includes that very first Cobra of 1962, and many other memorable automobiles which have influenced Shelby's career -- and vice versa.

For more information on the exhibit, Carroll Shelby: A Life in the Fast Lane at the The Petersen Automotive Museum, call 323/930-CARS, or visit www.petersen.org.