Carroll Shelby was involved in the production of numerous performance machines in his lifetime, but only one was designed and built entirely in his hands. That car was the Shelby Series 1, developed in the late 1990s as a modern successor to his infamous Cobra. Developed using the best of modern engineering and construction techniques, it sported a high-strength all-aluminum chassis, modern carbon fiber bodywork, and a Shelby-modified Oldsmobile 320-horsepower twin-cam L47 V-8 engine. Yet with all these high-performance features, the Series 1 was still a comfortable car, with a folding soft-top and power side windows, power steering, power disc brakes, factory air conditioning, and a Monsoon sound system.

Performance of the Series 1 was breathtaking. The car could rocket from 0–60 mph in 4.4 seconds, cover the quarter-mile in only 12.8 seconds at 112 mph, and reach a top speed of 170 mph. For a man who claimed that his favorite automobile was “the next one,” it was undoubtedly satisfying to come up with such performance numbers. A total of 249 production Series 1s were built, making the model extraordinarily rare and collectible from the moment that it was created.

The car offered here, offered to benefit the Carroll Hall Shelby Trust, was originally delivered to Don Molen, subsequently passing to a Mr. Jewel, from whom it was bought back by Carroll Shelby in 2005. It has covered only 2,637 actual miles at the time of cataloguing and remains in good original condition, as would be expected of a three-owner automobile with such low mileage from its creator’s collection. The interior is in very good shape, and the soft-top fits very well. With the beautiful Centennial Silver and Bright Blue Metallic exterior and three-piece forged aluminum Carroll Shelby wheels, it remains a stunning automobile, and its performance figures are still in line with some of the hottest American cars of today.

A significant automobile in Shelby history, this particular Series 1 is made even more so by its ownership by the man whose name it wears. It would be an outstanding partner to a Cobra or GT 350 in the collection of its next owner, and one with a story that quite simply cannot be beat.