Carroll Hall Shelby, American race-car driver and builder (born Jan. 11, 1923, Leesburg, Texas—died May 10, 2012, Dallas, Texas), was the visionary designer of innovative high-performance racing cars, notably the Shelby Cobra and the Ford GT40 (which captured two Le Mans Grand Prix d’Endurance races [1966 and 1967]), and he was responsible in the commercial sector for the reintroduction of several Mustang-based Shelby cars—the GT-H, GT500, GT500 Super Snake, GT, and GT500KR (KR stood for King of the Road)—following a successful racing career of his own. Shelby, a part-time chicken farmer, often appeared at practice (and later at races) in striped bib overalls, which became his trademark. He earned accolades as Sports Illustrated’s Sports Car Driver of the Year in 1956 and Driver of the Year in 1957, and he was the winning co-driver for Aston Martin in the 1959 Le Mans race. In 1960 he was sidelined by a heart ailment that ended his career behind the wheel. He launched a driving school that bore his name, and in 1961 he persuaded England-based AC Cars (which had lost its engine supplier) to continue building its Ace chassis for a special Shelby sports car that would be outfitted with a Ford V-8 engine. The result was the Cobra Roadster, which was produced from 1962 to 1967; the racing version won the United States Road Racing Championship series of the Sports Car Club of America in 1963 and two years later took the Grand Touring world championship in the large-engine class. The innovative hot-rodder and head of Carroll Shelby International was recruited by Lee Iacocca to put some pizzazz into Chrysler’s production cars, notably the Dodge Omnis, Chargers, Lancers, and Shadows. Shelby also contributed to the development of the Dodge Viper and was consulted by Ford for his ideas on the 2005 Ford GT. Having been a recipient of heart and kidney transplants, Shelby established an eponymous foundation that provided financial support for children and medical professionals faced with life-threatening health issues.