We would have liked to have pushed him about the other projects. Instead, Shelby was quick to move on. He peered at the paper and read, "What about another Shelby Mustang in the future?"
"Carroll, you've kind of answered that."
"Yeah."
"OK. Well, then, do you like the '05 Mustang?"
When Shelby answered this question he had to giggle. He had to grin one of those pie-eating grins like he'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
"If they're going to put my name on it, I better like it, hadn't I? It seems to me that it can be a real winner."
I had to laugh. A modern Shelby Mustang, we would say, appears to be a reality.
Shelby reads: "We recently ran an interview with Lee Iacocca and he said you were offered the Toyota distributorship...."
The question says "for Nevada." Shelby straightened us out. "Not for Nevada-for six southern states. And one of Iacocca's bean counters said don't do it, we're going to push the Japanese back into the ocean. Well, the car turned out not to be a piece of crap. But there's no sense in me having regrets about it because there's nothing I can do about something I didn't do 40 years ago. I'm looking forward to the things I'm building now and the things I'm going to do. I don't use 20/20 eyesight in my behind."
Our next question was whether or not Shelby remembered the first time he met Iacocca.
"I certainly do. I went into Lee's office, taken in by Don Frey. I told him I needed $25,000 so I could build a sports car that would beat the Corvettes. And I'm told he said he would think about it. But as I went outside, he told Frey, 'You better give him the $25,000 before he bites somebody.' "
Now, I'm laughing out loud.
"Lee Iacocca lives close to me now and I stay in constant touch with him. I think the world of Lee."
Shelby reads: "A 1968 GT500KR convertible recently sold for over $95,000 at the Barrett-Jackson auction. Do prices like that for old Shelbys surprise you?"
Shelby replied, "How about saying a 1967 GT500 with a Shelby engine recently sold for $300,000, counting the 8 percent on the top and bottom in Scottsdale. That blew my mind. However, another one, I'm told, sold for $240,000 at Russo and Steele."
Shelby assured us these Shelbys were originals.
"Yep. I guess they've jumped a lot, haven't they? That makes the originals sell for a lot more than we ever imagined."
Shelby was "touch-ing" us.
Our final printed question was about his health. How is it?
"Hour to hour. With a heart transplant 14 years ago and a kidney transplant eight years ago, I'm lucky to be here. Thank God for my son because I wouldn't be here without his kidney."
"Michael, right?"
"Yeah, and I look forward to every day, building cars and doing the things I want to do."
The phone rang. Shelby asked us to hold on for a second. The time for his meeting was fast approaching. He gave us more time.
"Tell us a typical day. You have different places, but you live mostly in L.A., right?"
"Yeah. I usually stay home and do the telephones back East, then I go back to my place in Gardena (California) where Shelby Engineering, the Shelby engine company, my Goodyear distributorship, and my Children's Foundation are located. I try to spend about a week a month in Las Vegas, but I'm going to be spending a lot more time there."
"Why's that?"
"'Cause that's where we build cars."
"The Shelby Mustang, would that be built there?"
"I don't know where it will be built. I hope it will be built in Las Vegas."
Our questions finished, I wanted to give Carroll a forum to send a message to his fans. As a journalist covering Shelby for the last 20 years, I know, as I told him, that people love Carroll Shelby. The name is magic to them.
"What have you got to say to these people? I know you like to give autographs. I'm not sure what I want to put here, just something to tell the people personally I know you really have a lot of love for them."