It’s hard to imagine a more audacious automotive figure than Carroll Shelby. Part con man, part huckster, but all-time great car builder and successful racer, the retired chicken farmer from Texas gave us the Cobra, the GT40, the Ford GT350s and 500s, and various other Shelby concoctions that are as much a part of American sports car and racing lore as the rival Corvette.
Of all of Shelby’s creations, the 1967 Ford GT40 MKIV he co-developed with Ken Miles is among my all-time favorite cars…of any era. If the story of its development weren’t enough, its Le Mans victory with Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt aboard is the stuff of legend. As an illustrator who believes a great story helps make for great art, the story doesn’t get much better or bigger than the GT40 MKIV at Le Mans. Well that and it just looks so darn cool that I had to draw it!