Shelby American looks to do more UK business

How do you balance tradition with appealing to younger buyers?

“I still have the first car I bought, a ’69 Mustang Mach 1 with a Big Block [V8]. But that’s not what my kids want. The important thing is to educate people about Shelby – to tell the story and have them embrace it, both the old and the new. Ten years ago, our customers often already had a vintage Shelby when they bought a new car to go with the old one. But as time has progressed, a younger generation is starting with the new one. Then they find out about the Shelby story, feel the tradition and buy the older car as well. It’s flipped around.”

How does Carroll Shelby’s legacy still influence what you do?

“I worked with him for 16 years, so I got a good feel for how his mind worked. His thought process was not to be satisfied with what you’re doing today. He was always about looking forward. That’s great, and this company had better think that way, otherwise we’re going to be out of business. When asked, Carroll’s favourite car was always the next one, which is the right answer, else you’re forever living in the past.”

What does the future hold for Shelby?

“Carroll used to say, ‘I’m Carroll Shelby and performance is my business.’ Smart man – he said performance, not cars. He started producing performance pickups before anybody else, in 1989 with the Dodge Dakota. He had that vision and 75-80% of what we do today in the US is trucks, because that’s what the customer wants. We’ve no plans to do an SUV or an electric Shelby at the moment, but you never know, it could all change. Performance will always be our business – how that’s defined in the future, who knows? We’ll see where things go. We’ll listen to people, find out what they want, and that’s what we’ll build.”