Las Vegas, NV. October 31, 2007 –The legendary Carroll Shelby is creating a new community for enthusiasts of the cars built by his companies. Based in Dearborn, Michigan, “Team Shelby,” is the only club officially recognized by the factory for all vehicles built by Shelby, including 2006 and newer Shelby based Mustangs. The club will officially launch on January 11, 2008, which is Mr. Shelby’s 85th birthday. “People have asked me for years to form a club that will help them really enjoy their Shelby car,” said Carroll Shelby, Founder and CEO of Shelby Automobiles. “There’s a new generation of cars, […]
Las Vegas, NV. October 31, 2007 –The legendary Carroll Shelby is creating a new community for enthusiasts of the cars built by his companies. Based in Dearborn, Michigan, “Team Shelby,” is the only club officially recognized by the factory for all vehicles built by Shelby, including 2006 and newer Shelby based Mustangs. The club will officially launch on January 11, 2008, which is Mr. Shelby’s 85th birthday.
“People have asked me for years to form a club that will help them really enjoy their Shelby car,” said Carroll Shelby, Founder and CEO of Shelby Automobiles. “There’s a new generation of cars, new faces at Shelby and people who want to enjoy their vehicle in new ways. The world has changed over the past 42 years, so we need a club to meet the needs of this new generation. We want to knit together those people with owners of early Shelbys and give everyone new ways to have fun with their high performance vehicle.”
Mr. Shelby imagined a place where owners could talk about their latest conquests at the track, swap E.T’s and learn new ways to hot rod their cars. He wanted to link all of those enthusiasts into one “dream garage” populated with Super Snakes, Hertz cars, Cobra’s, supercharged Shelby GT’s, Mustang GT’s with Shelby performance parts, Series 1’s, GLH’s, Vipers and GT500’s. Thus, Team Shelby was born.
“We’re experts at creating winning teams by combining our strengths with those of others who have unique talents and skills,” said Amy Boylan, president of Shelby Automobiles. “So we took the same approach to create Team Shelby. It didn’t make sense for us to form and operate a club on our own, so we looked for a partner who was a true enthusiast and capable of creating an organization that would give all its members real value. That led us to the S197 Shelby Owners Association.”
Robert Lane and Sharon Elliot founded the S197 Shelby Owners Association in early 2007. After meeting with Boylan, they evolved their organization into Team Shelby (www.TeamShelby.com). It is designed and engineered by real enthusiasts inside and out of Shelby. And just as the Shelby team relies on the latest technology to build their cars and products, Team Shelby will be at the forefront of the latest innovations.
“We’re developing a Web site with member only areas that have videos, forums, podcasts, exclusive news and insights straight from the factory,” added Robert Lane. “And we’re planning simulcasts briefings with Carroll and other key Shelby execs through the site. Plus, we’ll invite Ford and other Shelby partners to communicate with our club members through it. This will enhance the sense of community and give team members the first crack at Shelby news, products and events.”
Team Shelby is not a “virtual club” the group will design and distribute a quarterly e-newsletter and is planning a full compliment of events such as tours of the Ford and Shelby facilities, a 40th anniversary GT500KR reunion, track days, Hertz reunion and other events. Membership includes official Shelby gear and an opportunity to learn more about the development of cars. Anyone can join Team Shelby on line for only $49.95 and receive benefits including:
• First news on all of the products and vehicles coming out of Shelby
• Exclusive access to members only areas of the Club web site
• Quarterly club publication
• Official Team Shelby T-shirt
• Two official club decals
• Shelby Commemorative magazine
• Shelby Key chain
• Two official membership cards
• Shelby Performance Parts catalog and discount on all parts
While interest in current generation Shelbys cars was the foundation for the club, ownership of a Shelby is not required to be a member. The club is dedicated to serving all Shelby enthusiasts past and present including those that own cars built in the 1960’s and non-Ford powered vehicles.
“We built Team Shelby for anyone who is passionate about Shelby cars,” added Carroll Shelby. “I’m member #001 and anyone who wants to have fun should join, whether or not they own a Shelby car. I’d love to see GT500’s on the track with the high strung GLH’s and limited edition Series 1 cars. We’ll have a blast and we’ll do it the Shelby way.”
