The Shelby American Disaster: How Carroll Shelby's LA Factory Made Cobras, Then Closed

Shelby American operated in Venice, California from 1962 to 1967. Total Cobra production across all series: 1,011 units. Peak workforce: fewer than 100 employees. Current auction value of an original 427 Cobra: $1,100,000 to $2,400,000. Carroll Shelby: born January 11, 1923, Leesburg, Texas. Died May 10, 2012, Dallas, Texas. Age 89. Le Mans winner, 1959. First American to win the FIA GT Manufacturers' Championship, 1965. The man who built the fastest road car in the world in a building that smelled of oil and salt air, with thirty-five people, on a handshake.