Carroll Shelby was an automotive visionary and entrepreneur with a passion for creating cars that redefined the automobile industry in the latter half of the 20th century.  Along with his friend Ken Miles, they were at the heart of a generation of racers whose ideas revolutionized their cars, the sport of racing and beyond.

From Leesburg to Le Mans, Carroll Shelby’s legend left skid marks across the racing world from the day he first drove his father’s Ford at 15.  While his career as a professional race car driver lasted only nine years, Shelby had 41 wins and 67 podiums in 141 starts and was twice named Sports Illustrated Driver of the Year (1956 & 1957).

In addition, he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, set land speed records at the Bonneville Salt Flats and won three US national championships. Off the track, he flew bombers, jumped from planes, ran a chicken farm, built a chili empire and was the driving force behind some of America’s most iconic vehicles with names like Viper, Cobra, and the Shelby Mustang GT350, which ate Corvettes, Jaguars and Ferraris for breakfast.

The Englishman that Shelby recruited to help his Ford team beat Ferrari in 1966 had a long, storied career around engines and had already won the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring that same year. Nicknamed “Teddy Teabag,” by his American team, he helped build, test drive and race the Ford GT40 during their Le Mans victory over Ferrari.  Here are 10 surprising facts about Shelby and five about Ken Miles.

15 Burning Across The Bonneville Flats

Shelby, Jackson-Moore and Healey
via: mossmotoring.com

A decade before Shelby redesigned the Ford Mustang, he helped his Austin-Healey team set eight land endurance racing records at Bonneville Salt Flats. Shelby, Donald Healey, Sir Malcolm Campbell, George Eyston, Mort Morris-Goodall and Roy Jackson Moore averaged 132.29 mph over 24 consecutive hours.

14 Love From Above

Carroll Shelby -Pilot
via: shelby.com

By late 1941, Shelby had joined the Army Air Corps and began training at San Antonio Aviation Cadet Center in Texas where he would eventually graduate as a second Lieutenant in 1942. As a pilot, he flew bombers including B-18’s, B-25’s, B-26’s and B-29’s. Legend has it that during his training missions, Shelby dropped love letters from his plane onto his girlfriend's farm.

13 From Farmer To Ford

Shelby wins in overalls
via: NY Times

After the war ended, Shelby ran several businesses, including a short-lived chicken farm. On one occasion, in August 1953, his life as a farmer crossed over to the track when he didn’t have time to change his striped coveralls, and they became his racing trademark. Years later, Shelby returned to farming and raised Kobe beef cattle on his ranch in East Texas.

12 A Trademark He Dreamed Up And Sold For $1

Classic Shelby Cobra Logo from1962
via: classicmustang.com

At least one automotive company, Crosley, had named an engine “Cobra” years before Shelby claimed to have literally dreamed of a cobra image on the front of his car and began the copyrighting process. The courts ruled all earlier claims on the name were invalid and Shelby took ownership of the name that he later sold Ford for $1 in exchange for the right to build his own cars.

11 Powered By Nitroglycerin

Carroll Shelby on the track
via: Texas Monthly.com

In February 1960, Shelby was in the midst of the racing season when a doctor confirmed he had angina pectoris and his driving days were behind him. Of his legendary nine-year racing career, Shelby said, “I've been so damn lucky to live this long, racing with nitroglycerin pills in my mouth.” He would eventually have a heart transplant in 1990 and a kidney transplant six years later.

10 Created The International Chili Cook-Off

Shelby Chili Kit
via: cravedfw.com

In November 1967, Shelby raised his passion for chili to the next level and helped launch the first World Chili cook off in Terlingua, Texas. Two years later, Shelby created the “Carroll Shelby Chili” mix which he eventually sold to Kraft foods in 1986. Nowadays, over 10,000 “chili-heads” converge each November in Texas to determine the best bowl of red.

9 Rent-A-Shelby?

(1966) 306 hp Mustang Fastback
via: journal.classiccars.com

It was the deal of a century. Couldn’t afford to buy a Shelby Mustang in 1966? Why not rent one? Members of the Hertz Sports Car Club could get their hands on a 306 hp Mustang fastback for $17 a day. To commemorate the occasion forty years later, Hertz and Shelby teamed up to offer the 2006 GT-H, whose popularity led to the production of the Shelby GT and a new generation of very happy Hertz renters.

Related: Watch This Shelby GT350-H Rise From 40 Years Of Decay

8 Creating Chryslers That “Go Like Hell”

Shelby Omni GLH-S at work
via: forza.fandom.com

In 1983, Shelby was convinced by Chrysler President Lee Iacocca to work as a “performance consultant” to spice up their lineup. The process eventually produced 22 Shelby Dodges and by 1986, Shelby had turned an affordable Omni into a Shelby Omni GLH-S (Goes Like Hell Some more) which did zero-to-60 in 6.7 seconds.

7 "… And We Ended Up With The Viper"

Carroll Shelby and the Viper
via: Histoire de Carroll Shelby

Considered by most petrol heads as the spiritual successor to the Cobra, Shelby’s involvement in developing the Viper was the result of his Chrysler partnership. What began in 1988 as a dream project to build a “reborn Cobra,” was realized 5 years later. It wasn’t a tough sell to get Shelby involved. He claimed, “In 30 minutes we had the concept..." and we ended up with the Viper.

6 A "Pleasing Masculine Fragrance"

Shelby advertises deodorant (1967)
via: justacarguy.blogspot.com

Always the entrepreneur, Shelby’s “Pit-Stop” deodorant made its debut in 1967. Advertised as a “real man’s deodorant,” the ad promised “no feminine frills, but a pleasing masculine fragrance” for non-race drivers, too.

5 Ken Miles Was Crashing Motorcycles And Building “Nellie”

Ken Miles preparing for a race
via: Time.com

A lover of motorcycles from an early age, Miles began riding a 350cc Trials Special Triumph bike at the age of 11. By the age of 15, he had suffered a crash that broke his nose and three teeth. In spite of the accident, he began to focus his efforts on building an Austin 7 Special he named “Nellie” and didn't sell the successful build until World War II.

4 He Helped Liberate A Concentration Camp

Ken Miles prepares to drive
via: telegraph.co.uk

Before WWII, Miles was an apprentice at Wolseley Motors in Birmingham but during the war, he served as a tank commander in the British military as part of a unit that recovered and repaired tanks. During his military career, Miles took part in the D-Day landings and was one of the first British soldiers at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

3 He Raced James Dean

Ken Miles Races the "Flying Shingle"
via: carinmylife.com

By 1955, Miles designed, built and raced his modified MG, “The Flying Shingle.” In late March, he won at Palm Springs where the competition included actor/driver James Dean in his Porsche 356 Speedster. Unfortunately for Miles, he was later disqualified on a technicality - his fenders were too wide.

Related: Porsche To Unveil Next-Gen 911 Turbo At Geneva Motor Show

2 He Drove “The Pooper”

Ken Miles drives his Porsche-Cooper
via: silodrome.com

By 1957, Miles had gotten behind the wheel of a Porsche-Cooper combination called the "Pooper” and dominated the track. After fitting a Porsche 550S engine into a Cooper chassis, Miles was the class of the field for 1957 and 1958 and on one occasion won both an under 1,500 cc event and an over 1,500 cc event in one day.

1 His Fatal Crash Saved Lives

Race Driver Ken Miles
via: sportscars.tv

The fatal crash that killed the 47-year-old Ken Miles took place at Riverside International Raceway in California on August 17, 1966. In the midst of testing Ford’s successor to the GT40, Miles hit 200 mph and the J-car flipped and crashed. As a result of his death, and the earlier death of driver Walt Hansgen in a J-car, safety measures including steel rollover cages were included in future designs.

Next: The Evolution Of The Sports Car... And How They Became So Fast