Carroll Shelby

tons of reading and history in this book

Great - I would read it again

I'm not a racing cars enthusiast, but I became interested in learning more about Carroll Shelby after seeing the movie Ford v Ferrari. I'm also not an avid reader, so I was a bit put off when I saw this thick book with pages full-up with printing, top-to-bottom, side-to-side, but as I started reading, I found the writing style very easy to read, entertaining and interesting, and my initial visual impression of the book turned out to be symbolic of the lifetime described within. What a full life this man lived, much of it made possible by the transitional and transformative times in which he lived, and I loved reading every page of it.

To begin this review I'll rate this book @ 5 STARS ! True the print is small but I'm having no problem reading it , to me the print is no smaller than most pocket books. Should note I do wear reading glasses & I'm no " Spring Chicken ". Maybe the small print permits more knowledge to be stored on less pages ? For a lover of Cobras & anything else Shelby especially the " MAN " himself it's already opened up a few unheard of stories I find new to me. Sure , there is a few omissions of really no importance but things like Ted Sutton getting recognized as the man that dropped the 427 in a 289 rolling chassis thus being responsible for building the first 427 Cobra ( CSX2196 ), the stories from Joan Sherman being there at Carroll's side promoting the Cobra from the very beginning while book-keeping , etc, etc & all the others ( & there's many ) that gave their 2 cent's worth to Rinsey. I find this book a very interesting read jam-packed with lots of antidotes from many people who were around Carroll from the very early part of his life to the present. Just check out the Author's Acknowledgements on page 536 & the Forward to the book on page 7 by Edsel B. Ford. The book for me is a long read & of course being a Cobra fanatic you can well imagine my first chapter of choice. But Carroll's story from start to the present is very interesting indeed & if you have followed motor racing you will read of a lot of race drivers & car owners , builders , etc, that intertwined with Carroll's interesting life that you will recognize. It's all here, his childhood, growing up, service life as a pilot, his business's, race car driver, innovator, his ventures, his wives, Africa, the ups, the downs, an incredible story of success, failure & adventure. THANK YOU RINSEY, CARROLL, & ALL THE CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS BOOK - 5 STARS , an excellent addition to your Cobra Library. !

I gave this 4 stars because it is extremely well written and thorough. Being a motorsports fan of all kinds this is the first book I ever got about a legendary racer. Rinsey Mills did a great job, I just learned reading about racing isn't near as exciting as watching it.

Great information on this legend in the racing/auto world. Sweet old photos just add to the overall goodness.

Good reading so far everything you wanted to know about Carol Shelby and then some

I must admit up front that Carroll Shelby was a hero of mine, as I am of an age that allowed me to closely follow the exploits of Shelby and his cars during that magical time in the 1960's.This is a very thorough and detailed book, in parts, overly so, IMHO, but, in the end, I did not really gain a sense of who Shelby really was. The author notes numerous times that Shelby was not one to reflect much upon the past, and was constantly looking forward, part of the secret of his success. Perhaps that mindset leads to little self analysis, and an ability to shrug off failures and difficulties.It certainly worked so very well for Shelby and his skilled and dedicated team; problems were there to deal with and overcome, and they usually did, in convincing and winning fashion. I just hoped for more personal insight into what made this automotive legend "tick". There were a number of snippets in the book, but I still wanted more. I may be emphasizing this too much, but since I was very familiar with the Cobra " story" , and the trials and tribulations of the racing teams, I hoped for more on Shelby the individual. Perhaps this is the inevitable outcome of " authorized" biographies.Also, I believe that a more extensive, and better choice of illustrations should have been expected.I believe a shorter, and better biography of Carroll Shelby may still be written.

It is a very detailed, extensive and lengthy book about Mr. Shelby. It is a fun read that I feel you can do non stop or periodically taking in a chapter at a time through the week. No matter where you left off or how long it's been since you last picked up this book, you'll find it easy to continue from where you stopped.

Bought for husband's birthday as he watched ford vs Ferrari. Loves it and pictures in book

Clean book, easy to read, nice pictures

A classic book recording the achievements of an engineering genius. If you know of him buy this book and you will know a lot more.Excellent purchase arrived on time and well packaged.

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