Other than his royalty money, wonder what Carroll Shelby would have really thought of that rig.
Back when I was heavy in the cattle business, a friend in TX helped manage Shelby's Pittsburg, TX cattle ranch. He also used it as a proving ground for vehicles. When I was there, his ranch hands had burned the clutch in a new Taco P/U. They were all excited, put it on a trailer to be hauled in for an "autopsy". If you want to screw up a new pickup, just turn it over to ranch hands and tell them it's bullet proof..... Toyota evidently was paying good money for Shelby to test their trucks.
He had a pair of vintage D-8 Cat dozers he had gotten from the Howard Hughes hanger after they moved the Spruce Goose. They had been in that hanger since new, just pulling the big Goose around. For such old tractors, they almost looked new. Shelby had one of them fitted with a blade which they used it to clear brush. Compared to current D-8's, they were surprisingly small. I'd have guessed D-6 size without seeing the D-8 decal. The blade was operated with cables and they were pony motor started. Real vintage stuff...
I went to a cattle sale in the Valley with him. He seemed uninterested in the sale itself, sat behind the bleachers while his manager did all the bidding. He seemed to be a nice enough guy, just not a cattleman...
He's gone to his reward. Lots of years have passed. Good memories.
DF
