The current iteration is a wholly owned subsidiary of Carroll Shelby International, Inc. (Expert Market: CSBI), a holding company formed in 2003.

In 1957 racing driver Carroll Shelby opened a sports car dealership in Dallas, with Dick Hall, selling Maseratis across the American Southwest.

They returned to Dallas with six cars, five of which they sold and the sixth they transplanted the Chevrolet engine into, which Hall raced in the SCCA National Championship.

[3] With funding from oil driller and amateur racer Gary Laughlin, in 1959 Hall and Shelby approached General Motors with the idea of creating a new sports car using the Chevrolet Corvette chassis and engine, but with an aluminum body much lighter than the factory-built Corvette, in order to make a competitive sports car for SCCA racing.

[3] Shelby continued sports cars racing in the late 1950s, competed in Formula 1 for Aston Martin in 1958 and 1959, won the 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 1960 USAC Road Racing Championship, but was forced into retirement following the 1960 season due to his persistent angina caused by a congenital heart defect.

[3] Shelby contacted several European automakers with the purpose of striking a deal to import their chassis and install an American V8, but he was rebuffed until September 1961, when AC Cars of Britain replied in the affirmative.

Shelby returned to GM, asking for a supply of Chevrolet V8s, but was refused again for fear a Chevrolet-powered European sports car would compete with the Corvette.

In November 1961 Ford delivered a pair of "Windsor" V8 engines to Moon's shop, and AC's first body arrived in February 1962.

Coincidentally Lance Reventlow's lease at his shop in Venice, Los Angeles, where his company built Scarab racing cars, was expiring.

Krause ultimately did not finish, having broken an axle shaft, but the car was very competitive with the then-new Corvette Sting Ray Z06, which was also making its racing debut.

The Cobra's open-top body simply wasn't aerodynamic enough to allow the car to reach the higher top speeds its hardtop coupe competitors were capable of, particularly the Ferrari 250 GTO.

For the 1964 season Shelby had Pete Brock design a new aerodynamic body for the Cobra chassis, which would make the car capable of speeds over 190 mph.

[7] Driven by Dan Gurney and Bob Bondurant, the Shelby American Daytona finished first in the GT classes and fourth overall at the 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans,[8] bested only by the prototype Ferrari 275 P and 330 P. The Ford Motor Company's new prototype, the GT40, fared poorly; none of the three cars entered into the race finished.

[10] The Mk II GT40 achieved great success, with Shelby American's wins at Daytona, Sebring and Le Mans earning Ford the International Manufacturer's Championship in 1966.

On August 17, 1966, only a couple months after the race at Le Mans, Ken Miles died at the wheel of a J-car while conducting high-speed testing at Riverside.

JWA GT40s won the 1968 and 1969 races at Le Mans, giving the GT40 program an unprecedented four consecutive wins (matched only by the Porsche 956 in the 1980s).

While Shelby American was building and racing Cobras and Daytonas, Ford introduced the new Mustang at the New York World's Fair in April, 1964.

With work on the GT40 program and production of the GT350 beginning to ramp up Shelby American ran out of space at their shop in Venice, moving instead to an aircraft hangar at Los Angeles International Airport in 1965.

With new suspension components to improve the car's handling its performance equalled or bettered its V8-powered, rear-wheel drive contemporaries from Ford and General Motors, and even surpassed the 1965 Shelby GT350.

His business associate and president of the company, Don Landy, floated the idea of creating an entirely new Shelby branded sports car in the mid-1990s.

Instead a select number of Oldsmobile dealers were sold the exclusive rights to sell the Series 1 cars for a $50,000-per-car deposit.

This financial arrangement became untenable by 1998 and a 75% share of Shelby American was sold to Venture Corporation, supplier of the car's exterior body panels and many interior trim pieces.

On November 1, 2007, Unique Performance was raided by the Farmers Branch Police Department due to VIN irregularities and subsequently declared bankruptcy, which effectively ended the Shelby continuation "Eleanor" production and the relationship.

These partnerships enable customers in other countries to purchase Shelby products locally rather than have to import cars from the United States.

[29][30] New Zealanders Denny Hulme, Bruce McLaren, and Chris Amon drove for Shelby in the 1966, 34th Grand Prix of Endurance in Le Mans, France.

Shelby South Africa was formed in Malmesbury, Western Cape in 2017 and offers high-end performance packages for the GT and Super Snake platforms.