[Kputz]

Having not read the first 100 pages of this thread, if this is repetition, please excuse.
Part of the difficulty of assessing CS is his propensity to...uh...how does one say it....uh....lie. In Texas it's often called stretching the truth and is nearly always used to describe...well...Texas. Hence, to separate the man and the myth takes analysis of untold cubic yards of BS, most of it propagated by the man himself.
Case in point is the current ad for GasEx or whatever the fuel additive is that CS is hyping. It begins with the allocade that "Carroll Shelby is at the top of the food chain of automotive pioneers". So much for for Henry Ford and Harley Earl. Then comes ole Shel with the statement that he has "built over 100 models of cars" in his time, his newest is the Series 1 and in each and every one goes a pint of Gashaul, or whatever.
A typical case of egomaniacal bluster that he's become famous for. While it's true that he may have caused to be built over 100 models of the SAME car, when used in the context "my most recent the Series 1" it would indicate that he had built 100 DIFFERENT models of cars. Doubtful, even if you give him the hotrods he built in his acne years.
I've always said he was a much better driver than car inovator, and wasn't much of a car builder at all, and should recieve credit for his past driving skill. Most of the other stuff of "legend" is pure crap and propaganda, and is much like Bill Clinton's "legacy"