[Steve Cassani]

Carroll Shelby is in his mid-eighties, with a second heart transplant carrying him that far. Any modified Mustangs and other cars marketed using his name after his death face an uncertain future. Will they be accepted as 'Shelby Mustangs' one two or three years later, and does their status continue with the same degree of fidelity to Shelby's contribution to automobile history?

Shelby is trying to construct a basis for continuing not only the cars identified with him but also the legacy his employees and investors depend upon for thier livelihood. The people who participate in the businesses that carry his name accept a greater risk of declining benefit after he dies if the history that supports his image and the market driven by it is entrusted to any but those who are involved in the manufacture and merchandising of Shelby products. Carroll Shelby is doing what he can to honor his employees' committment by giving them every opportunity to control their future.

The companies affiliated under Shelby's name are like those managed by itelligent, skilled people whose talents are nurtured by Warren Buffet. Will Berkshire Hathaway continue to attract decicated, patient investors at the rate it does now after Buffet passes away? Or is there a celebrity to owning shares in B-H, a trinket for dangling at cocktail parties? Our affinity for personalities suggests to any well-publicised manager a need to provide for those who wuill count on his name after he can no longer appear at the parties. How long will it take for us to forget all about Shelby? And there is this: The future in the automobile business rarely last much beyond the introduction of the next model and, apart from his recent work with Ford and an earlier partnership with Dodge, Shelby has not had many new models to kindle interest. There is only his name... Auto aficinados know the name 'Preston Tucker' and today we know Carroll Shelby. In a few years, people will recall his name. There's a difference....