Honoring cars, body and soul

[rshelby]

Honoring cars, body and soul
Tonight, Spike TV pays tribute to the steely stars of the automotive world
BY STEPHEN WILLIAMS
STAFF WRITER
January 25, 2005

Traditionally in awards shows, presenting an Oscar, Emmy or Grammy involves handing an inanimate object - a petite statuette - to an animate object, such as a person.

The AutoRox awards are different. In the first place, there will be no red carpet parade for the nominees, but rather a "red driveway." The nominees will be dressed not by Dior but by Detroit. And there will be no boring acceptance speeches, because the winners will all be cars.

For example, in the "Chick Magnet" category - one of 13 - the 1974 Jaguar XK-E type, if it gets the nod, will be piloted from its parking spot in an airplane hangar in Los Angeles to the podium. Perhaps the Jag will have its throttle blipped - a short snort through the exhaust. But no "thank yous."

SpikeTV is the driving force behind the AutoRox ceremonies, which are to be televised tonight at 9 and in part reflect the public's growing appetite for TV shows about autos. The network is no stranger to car-guy programming: it has "Ride With Funkmaster Flex" and "Car and Driver Television," among others.

Actually, there will be an exception to the sheet-metal honorees - a human named Carroll Shelby, who will be toasted as the first AutoRox Automotive Icon.

Shelby is the legendary designer and builder of the Cobra, one of the fastest production cars ever made. A driver of some repute, he was part of the team that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1959. A heart ailment later sidelined him to the pits.

"I confess, I don't know what the hell an icon is," the 82-year-old Shelby said last week from Los Angeles. "When you do something you want to do, you get up every morning and spend 14 or 16 hours doing it."

Perhaps the ultimate American car guy, Shelby was one of the few in the industry to meld his competitive acumen with commercial savvy. His modified Mustangs of the late '60s were hugely successful. Later, he followed his old boss Lee Iacocca from Ford to Chrysler Corp.

"I've been a consultant back with Ford for three years now," he said, "where we're working on a Shelby version of the new Mustang." Not only that, the Texan, who once owned a chili company, is developing a new recipe and also is involved in a foundation to help indigent children with heart or kidney problems.

At AutoRox, the Car of the Year '05 award pits American muscle against German thrust, with a small bouquet to the British. From Detroit comes the Chevy Corvette and new Mustang GT; from Stuttgart, the monster Mercedes-Benz SLK AMG and Porsche 911 Carrera S. Rounding out the class is the nimble Lotus Elise from the United Kingdom.

Spike commissioned a panel of writers, designers and enthusiasts to nominate the vehicles, and the list was posted on a Web site in late November for public voting. Among the nominators were race car driver Danica Patrick, Mark Gillies of Automobile magazine, Rolls-Royce chief stylist Marek Djordjevic and Will Castro, who designs and builds custom jobs for celebs at Unique Autosports of Long Island in Bohemia.

The awards, which were taped on Saturday night, will feature a performance by Kid Rock. And in case you thought the weird factor of AutoRox wasn't weird enough, Carmen Electra will be the host.
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