Carroll Shelby honored with Keith Crain/Automotive News Lifetime Achievement Award
The iconic American car designer and International Motorsport Hall of Famer, Carroll Shelby, became the third winner of the Keith Crain/Automotive News Lifetime Achievement Award at a special reception and dinner in his honor on Thursday, Jan. 27, 2011, at The Washington Auto Show (WAS).
The event, held during the course of the WAS Sneak Peek Preview, drew a lively crowd of admirers and featured a special video tribute to the 88 year old Shelby created by the Ford Motor Company, with whom Shelby has had a relationship since the production of his first AC Cobra and the special Mustangs that followed.
The evenings activities were commenced by WANADA chairman George Doetsch (Apple Ford) and WAS chairman Charles Stringfellow (Brown Automotive), who set the tone of the evening with remarks from Congressman Ralph Hall (R-TX), a life-long friend of Shelby, who regaled the audience with a number of west Texas stories about the humble chicken farmer who became synonymous with the American power sports cars of the 1950s and 1960s.
Rep. Hall was followed to the podium by Jim Farley, group vice president for global marketing at Ford, who credited Shelby as one of the reasons he got into the car business. Carroll Shelby was an inspiration to a great many of us at Ford, Farley said and from the senior staff at Ford and its 200,000 employees, we want to thank you tonight! Farley then showed a video Ford prepared for the WAS occasion on Shelbys extraordinary career.
Its worth noting that on this day (January 27) in 1966, Shelby and Ford introduced us to the Mustang GT 350 and the muscle car era many of us still yearn for, Keith Crain said in his tribute to Shelby. Im sure he is thinking about another car even now, because that is what Carroll is always doing, Crain added.
To a standing ovation, Shelby responded, noting that the only thing Ive ever tried to do was build cars Id like to drive myself and, fortunately, Ive been right a few times. Indeed you have been, sir! My favorite part of the entire evening was when Carroll autographed my Shelby Cobra, said Charlie Stringfellow, whose classic Shelby vehicle was one of a number on display at the WANADA
member reception sponsored by Comcast Spotlight.
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