THE COBRA STORY

by Carroll Shelby ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

Shelby is a three-time national sports car driving champion. In 1959 he also won the Le Mans, France's 24-hour race. Later, he retired because of poor health and a weak bank account and went in with Ford Motor Company to build his dream racer: the Cobra. This July his Cobra became the first American-manufactured sports car to win the World Manufacturers Championship in competition at Rheims, France. The lanky Texan's autobiography is short on grammar but long on building motors, racing frames and surviving hairbreadth escapes (one wreck with a Maserati cost him 72 stitches). He was early bit by the racing bug and even turned to airplanes for a while. He tells of the uncomfortable effect of racing on his marriage; his Air Corps service during WWII; and of the final big event when his Cobra beat the Ferrari, which had won for three years running. Shelby has none of the insight into racing which distinguishes Stirling Moss's books. And though he discusses motors far more intimately than the average reader will care about, his races often work up a real head of steam.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Trident

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1965

Categories: NONFICTION