For someone who had a heart valve problem since he was seven, Carroll Shelby not only had an exceptional racing career but also an extremely accomplished automotive visionary. His legacy, which has often been intertwined with that of Ford, is of spectacular cars that sold like hotcakes then and are high-valued classics today.

Shelby started by becoming an aeronautical engineer, but when WWII broke out, he became a test pilot instead, flying for the United States Army Air Corps. Later, successfully discharged, he started a dump truck business, became an oil-well worker and even started a poultry business, before he finally went bankrupt.

Ably portrayed by Matt Damon in Ford v Ferrari, Shelby then started his racing career, before his health finally gave out. Luckily for us, he started making cars soon after, and that’s what we remember him most by. So here go some cool facts about Shelby and the legendary cars he made.

15 Shelby Was A Professional Racer

Shelby Was An Amateur & Pro Racer
via TexasMonthly

Shelby didn’t just dabble in races, he was good enough to move from being an amateur racer into a pro one. While he started racing using a friend’s MG in 1952. His last race was in 1960, with various racing teams sponsoring him through his famed career. He raced Aston Martins, Ferraris, as well as Maseratis.

14 The Legendary GT40

The Legendary GT40
via DetroitNews

The GT40 wasn’t only Shelby’s brainchild, it had big brains like Roy Lunn, Eric Broadley, and John Wyer behind it, and was initially tested by Bruce McLaren. But it shined only when it came back to the US after 1964. The season left it in shambles and Carroll Shelby got full operational control, as well as permission to hire Ken Miles. Nothing beats this iconic three-car photo finish!

13 Even Before The GT40, There Was The Cobra

Even Before The GT40, There Was The Cobra
via Pinterest

Long before the GT40 achieved cult status, Shelby was tinkering around with Ford engines in British car bodies. And thus between 1962 and 1965, the Cobra 260 (Mark I) and the Cobra 289 (Mark II) were born by taking the very British AC Cobra and stuffing a Ford V8 under the hood. The horsepower in the Mark II was only 271, but it was just a 2000-lb car, and flew accordingly.

12 Shelby Was In Two Massive Crashes

Shelby Was In Two Massive Crashes
via FerrousMagazine

The first crash happened during the border-to-border race in Mexico titled Carrera Panamericana where Shelby was driving a Healey. The crash left him with eight months of operations, but he was back for the 1955 racing season. His second crash happened in 1957 in a Maserati at the Riverside International Raceway, and though he required plastic surgery and some 72 stitches, he was back in the saddle in November.

RELATED: 15 Sickest Cars Made By Race Car Drivers (That Are Not A Shelby)

11 The Refined Cobra 427 (Mark III)

The Refined Cobra 427 (Mark III)
via Reddit

When Ken Miles raced the early Mark I & Mark II Cobras, the bad suspension made him nickname the car, “The Turd.” So, in the 1965-1967 Mark III, the suspension became Ford as well, and the car became as smooth as silk, going 0-60 mph in a flat 4.3 seconds, and we are still talking about the '60s here. The Mark III is an iconic car, even though, at the time, it didn’t sell all that well.

The First Of The Street Legal GTs
via Hagerty

By 1965, the GT40 had done it, and the world wanted a GT as well. The GT40 was only track legal, so keeping that in mind, Ford and Shelby created the GT350 for the 1965-1966 model years, that used the Mustang body and the Mustang 4.7-liter V8 only. But coupled with Holley carburetors and other changes under the hood, it gave out 306 horses instead of Mustang’s 271.

9 Shelby Actually Won A Le Mans

Shelby’s Best Was A Le Mans Win
via Pinterest

In 1959, Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori co-drove an Aston Martin DBR1 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and they won it. Not bad for a Texan chicken farmer who could not succeed in his poultry business and suffered from a heart ailment since he was seven years old. Even though he crashed twice, his passion for racing was immense and would have continued if his health permitted it.

8 The Shelby GT350R, Ford Racing

The 1965 Shelby GT 350 R
via Sothebys

The reason behind creating the GT350 wasn’t to give the general public a thrill but to make the GT350R, which was a race version of the same, and one of the rawest Mustangs ever built. It even featured a built-in roll cage as per race specifications. While the front was the Mustang only, Shelby fitted parts from a Ford Galaxie on these and made just 36 of the GT350R in ’65-’66.

RELATED: 15 All-American Cars That Proved To Be Game Changers

7 The $5.5-Million Cobra SuperSnake

The $5.5 Million Cobra SuperSnake
via ClassicCarJournal

If the name sounds a bit too puffed up, let us tell you what this car was capable of. To entertain his curiosity, Shelby took two Mark III Cobra 427s and fixed in two Paxton superchargers in each, with huge hood scoops and a three-speed AT.

He kept one for himself and sold the other to Bill Cosby, who later returned the 800+ horsepower-car. The second owner, Tony Maxey drove off with it into the sea, so the only surviving car sold at a Barrett-Jackson auction for a whopping $5.5 million. No American car has sold higher, ever.

6 Shelby Was Also A Hopeless Romantic

Shelby Was Also A Hopeless Romantic
via Hemmings

In that he married some seven times... He was divorced four times, got an annulment once, lost one wife to a car accident, and was in the process of divorcing his last wife (25 years his junior) when he passed away. He is known for making great and grand romantic gestures, like throwing love letter-filled boots out of his plane while flying over his fiancé’s farm! He fathered three children, all from his first wife, and they and his last wife fought over rights to his body.

5 The GT500 And GT500KR

The 1968 Shelby GT500KR
via Hemmings

In 1967-68, the GT350 gave way to the GT500, far more refined than before. The GT500 carried the Ford V8 under the hood, with lights and trimmings taken from the Thunderbird, along with air scoops for design advantage. The GT500KR is where Shelby worked his magic and put in a 335-horsepower Cobra Jet V8, to let a breeze turn into a storm.

4 Loyalties To Iacocca Made Shelby Go To Dodge

Loyalties To Iacocca Made Shelby Go To Dodge
via TheDetroitBureau

From the very start, it was Shelby’s bond with Ford executive Lee Iacocca that made his relationship with Ford last this long. So when Iacocca shifted to Dodge, Shelby followed, and thus was born the Dodge Omni GLHS aka Goes Like Hell Shelby, which may not have sold as much as the Mustangs, but laid grounds for the hot hatches of today. A small and light car, the 110 horses (later 146) made it fly at the push of the gas pedal.

RELATED: 15 Extremely Boring Muscle Cars People Still Collect Today, But Shouldn't

3 Shelby Loved His Chili

As Fond As Shelby Was Of Fast Cars, He Loved His Chilli
via Amazon

Carroll Shelby managed to live life like a king, despite popping nitroglycerin pills every time he felt an ache on his left side. He got a heart transplant in 1990 and then a kidney transplant in 1996, and finally died in 2012, aged 89. His love for cars was only matched by his love for chili, probably the reason why Carroll Shelby's Chili is a best-selling brand to date. Tinkering was his specialty, be it with chili, or cars.

2 The GT40 Sibling: Shelby Daytona Coupe

Shelby Daytona Coupe
via Motor1

While the GT40 was being developed to take on Ferrari and beat it for the Le Mans, the Shelby Daytona Coupe was also another Ford racer than managed to do well at Sebring and Le Mans, winning the GT class. Based on the Shelby Cobras, the 1964 Shelby Daytona Coupe was so close to winning, that for 1965, Ferrari withdrew from the GT class, fearing a sound beating.

1 The Ford GT40 Mark IV

The Ford GT40 Mark IV
via Hemmings

What is captured in Ford v Ferrari’s last few moments is the heartbreak Carroll Shelby feels after losing ally and friend Ken Miles in a test drive for the Ford J-Car. But life and racing go on, and Shelby paid homage to Miles by completing the GT40 Mk IV, a car that participated in only two events in 1967 - the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 24 Hours of Le Mans - and managed to win both. Like his cars, Shelby's legacy is also unstoppable.

NEXT: 15 Of The Sickest Cars Chip Foose And The Overhaulin' Crew Restored