Shelby's P51

[bitzman]

I read somewhere , maybe in an aircraft magazine, that Shelby bought some war surplus P51
Mustangs. I wonder if he was ever photographed with them and if he sporterized them (or whatever you call it when you make a fighter plane into a touring plane?). I gather they are rather high maintenance (celebrities that own P51s now are John Travolta and Tom Cruise).

[rshelby]

Carroll owned dozens of planes throughout his lifetime. I never heard about a P51, or multiple P51s being included in that list. Do you know when he was supposed to own these? If he did, I am guessing that it would have to have been 25+ years ago.

[bitzman]

Roush is crazy about P51's and reportedly owns one built from scratch that cost him $4 million and owns 90% of the engines not now in a plane plus he has paid for the tooling to make new engine parts. I guess this is one of those rumors that needs a photograph at least to substantiate so I'd say it's not likely until I can talk to airplane collectors maybe of Oshkosh where C. Shelby was a frequent attendee and, with Roush, contributor to at least one of their charities .

[rshelby]

There is a very good article on Carroll in the EAA Sport Aviation magazine, November 2012 issue. Being an airplane / flight magazine, the focus is on Carroll's interest in flying and history as a pilot. For what it's worth, the article mentions that Carroll owned P51 Mustangs.
Randall

By the way, Carroll was a regular at Oshkosh. It was one of his favorite events to attend each year. He went to many other air shows as well, such as Reno Air Races, where he was right up front during the devastating crash a few years ago.