Gem in the desert

What's better than free and cool?

Sure, the expanded and complimentary Shelby Museum and Shelby American manufacturing facility tour, located in the industrial park adjacent to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, is pleasantly climate controlled, but it's also that other cool. You know. The kind of "cool" only legendary racer and automotive manufacturer Carroll Shelby brings to anything automotive.

Having turned 89 in January, Shelby shows no signs of slowing down or losing any of his cool, having committed to the museum's expansion and promise to rotate the inventory of cars on display.

"We doubled the size of the museum and expanded the gift shop because we wanted to show off not only our new products, but the historical ones as well," said Steve Mansell, Shelby American's customer relations specialist and one of the facility's two tour guides.

Although Shelby himself wasn't part of the tour, it is as if he is there in spirit as attendees are guided through his life of building and racing cars such as the first Cobra CSX2000 to prototypes of the Series 1, Shelby GT-H, Mustang Terlingua and GT500KR (King of the Road).

Shelby aficionados from across the world ensure their visits to Las Vegas always include a stop at the museum. A tour group can accommodate nearly 50 guests, Mansell said.

The tour, which starts promptly at
10:30 a.m. every day except Sunday, begins with Mansell highlighting current news about Shelby, then segues into a remarkable story that can't be told without mentioning that Shelby is the oldest and longest-living heart and kidney transplant recipient in the world.

It is a treat, then, to see the only automotive manufacturing facility in Nevada. Shelby American isn't just converting Ford Mustangs into Shelby 350s, Shelby GTS and Shelby GT500 Super Snakes, but it is also handcrafting Shelby Cobras.

Official production of the Cobra ended in 1967. In 1996, Shelby Automobiles started building the Cobra again and turns out about six a month. The facility also includes another wing where the Mustangs are being converted and upgraded to Shelby Mustangs.

Before leaving this area, however, attendees, like Mitch Rucker and his 16-year-old son, Tyler, are encouraged to sign the Shelby wall. The Ruckers, who are visiting from Anchorage, Alaska, own a 2008 Shelby GT500. Although they didn't drive it to Nevada from Alaska, Rucker is thinking about a future road trip for an exhaust conversion.

"Nothing major," Rucker said, referring to his Shelby's fairly stock 5.4-liter supercharged configuration. "I've had it since February (of 2011) and only put 1,000 miles on it, mainly because it's in the garage for six months out of the year."

Back in the museum, Mansell directs everyone's attention to a 1964 Shelby AC Cobra. The brushed aluminum body takes 350 man hours to polish. In competition, it was piloted by drivers like Dan Gurney, Phil Hill and Bob Bondurant, just to name a few.

In addition to the Cobras, the Daytona Coupe also is an important part of Shelby's racing history. With it, he won the 1965 World Sportscar Manufacturer's Championship and is the only American to have accomplished this feat.

The stories continue with Shelby's 1965 alliance with Ford's Lee Iacocca to, "make the Mustang sportier," according to Mansell. Together, they came up with the Ford Mustang GT350, a name derived not from the engine size, as most believe, but from the distance -- in feet -- Shelby had to walk between two buildings on Ford's property in Detroit, Mich.

The 25-car tour logically concludes more than 80 minutes after it started with everyone gathered around the new Shelby Mustang GT350 and GT500.

"Carroll considers these cars the finest street cars he's every built," Mansell said.

And, what's not to be proud of? With about 600 horsepower, the GT500 ran the ¼-mile in about 12 seconds and boasts zero to 60 mph in less than four seconds.

Tours at the Shelby Museum are free and require no reservation or registration. They are conducted at 10:30 a.m., Monday through Saturday. Please arrive at Shelby American by 10:15 a.m. if you plan to go on the tour.

Otherwise, the Shelby Museum and gift shop (6755 Speedway Blvd. in the Speedway Commerce Center) is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

For more information, visit www.shelbyautos.com or call 942-7325.