Carroll Shelby's "The Cobra Story"

Description

Carroll Shelby's "The Cobra Story"
1st Edition 1965, Signed Autographed inscribed!
Up for auction here is Carroll Shelby’s
The Cobra Story first edition
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ublished by Trident Press in 1965. Hardcover with original dust jacket, this is a 5.75 x 8.5-inch book with 272 pages including period black and white photographs showing Carroll’s racing career through the years.  Inscribed and signed by Carroll Shelby on November 19, 1965 with the following inscription:
"Your Racing Friend, Carol Shelby 11/19/65"
.  Book is clean and in overall very nice condition with some tears in dust jacket. Please see the photos.
It's my understanding that back in late 1965 when the book came out Mr. Shelby went on a promotion tour having many copies of the first edition book in mid to late November into December of 1965. Certain people were invited to attend these at various locations and these books were signed to specific individuals by Mr. Shelby.  Having a date attached to his autograph is generally rare as is this first edition book. He signed many things over the years but adding a date and inscription was uncommon. Also, you may notice that there is a
lack
of an underscore line and hash marks through it as many newer autographs will have. That's because the underscore line and marks were a nod to surviving his medical challenges over the years, which obviously he hadn't gone through in 1965.
The books inscription is more valuable due to "no personal name" inscribed after, "your racing friend."
The Cobra is the one of the most powerful sports cars ever created. In this autobiography, Shelby discusses his life changing win at Le Mans in 1966 with driver Ken Miles against rival car manufacturer, Ferrari. He also describes his days as a race car driver, the challenges, the victories, and the crashes. He talks about his philosophies on racing such as, “If you’re going to go around worrying about getting killed, you might as well give up racing.” He writes two chapters about how he won the race at Le Mans in 1959, saying, “It knocks the hell out of a driver and it knocks the hell out of a car.” The memoir also discusses the genesis for the revolutionary car he created, the Shelby Cobra
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Thanks for looking