FEBRUARY 2024
CENTRAL HAWKE’S BAY BRANCH of the VINTAGE CAR CLUB of NZ (Inc) Lamb Country Branch Email: centralhawkesbay@vcc.org.nz
Branch Editor joycecalder@gmail.com
Club Night 7.30pm
3rd Wednesday of every Month
Carroll Shelby's first race car—1949 MG TC—by Kurt Ernst Before Texan Carroll Shelby built the Shelby Cobra or helped Ford to defeat Ferrari at Le Mans (and Sebring and Daytona, for those keeping score), he was a racer who competed at the highest levels of motorsport. A heart condition ended his driving career in 1960, after just nine amazing seasons behind the wheel. the car that began the legend of Carroll Shelby was a borrowed 1949 MG TC. In May of 1952, Shelby joined a friend from Dallas, Ed Wilkins, at the Grand Prairie Naval Air Station drag meetsports car race in Norman, Oklahoma. Though Shelby had no formal road racing experience, Wilkins let him drive his 1949 MG TC in a race for small-displacement sports cars. I had no idea of what to do but just drive fast and I won it.
Beating similar cars piloted by experienced drivers is one thing, but Shelby's victory also qualified him for a second race, where he'd be pitted against faster and more powerful cars from manufacturers like Jaguar. Despite the handicap of inexperience, Shelby took victory in the afternoon event as well, and the seeds of a driving career were planted. Because it was early his my career, he still had a lot to learn but knew how to go fast. This 1949 MG TC changed my life, because from that point forward, I knew that I wanted to be involved with racing and sport cars. In 1953, Shelby raced Brown's Cad-Allard, followed by Roy Cherryhomes' Cad-Allard, winning 8 or 9 races. Then in 1954, he drove in the Mil Kilometros de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, sponsored by the Automobile Club of Argentina and the Sports Car Club of America. This is where he met John Wyer, Aston Martin's team manager, who asked Shelby to drive their DBR3 at Sebring. The DBR3 did not finish Sebring in 1954 due to a broken rear axle. Shelby travelled to Europe in April 1954, where he raced a DBR3 for John Wyer at Aintree, followed by Le Mans. Teaming up with Graham Whitehead, their Aston Martin took fifth at the thousand kilometres at Monza on 27 June.