However it was American Henry Ford that put the automobile within reach of the masses. In fact Ford was able to secure the funding for his venture by winning a race against Alexander Winton on October 10th, 1901.The aforementioned view from the continent was basically entrenched until the 1960s when an irreverent group of racers from America known as the "Terlingua Racing Team" knocked them off their respective high horses so to speak and wouldn't you know when the boys fromTerlingua came to call they were doing so in some very fast Fords.Now to put things in their proper perspective, at this point in our story we are going to digress back to the early 1960s when Carroll Shelby and his long time friend Dave Witts purchased a bit of land (200,000 acres) down in the Big bend area of south west Texas.

For those of you not familiar with that portion of the country, we would refer you to the recent film "NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN". It's the kind of place where a lot of things want to bite and sting you as a matter of routine.Now it just so happens that on the land was the ghost town of Terlingua. That had derived its name from the fact in the earlier days the area had been inhabited by three different very mean Indian tribes, (literally translated "Terlingua" means "three languages") There were the Comanche, Kiowa, and Apache, all of whom sent raiding parties out of the area.

The town sprung up when cinnabar ore, from which Mercury is extracted, was discovered in the 1880s. As mining operations grew so did the town to about 5000 people in the 1890s.Carroll Shelby and Dave Whitts reveled in the idea of owning their own ghost town and it wasn't long before "The Ranch" with its ghost town became party central.

For some insight to the entire goings on at the time we went to automotive artist Bill Neale who is a life long time friend and fellow time traveler of Shelby’s as well as a co-conspirator. “ Shelby appointed friends to the Terlingua city council, as well as members to fill other important civic roles”. Neale continues,” I was the director of the Terlingua museum of modern art which was actually a two hole wooden privy located over a mine shaft behind the old Chisos Saloon”.

Needless to say Shelby had a whole cast of characters to fill out his own version of the “Rat Pack”, that included corporate heads, TV personalities, and even a judge that was appointed to the position of office boy. Some of the most notable personalities present for the festivities were the likes of Bill Neale, Dave Witts, Tom Tearney, David E. Davis, Buck Marriott, and Jack Daniels.

On one occasion in particular Bill Neale goes on to say. “ Shelby had ranch foreman Harold Wynn cut a landing strip to include a windsock so as to make a safe landing. So Shelby could fly a group into the ranch aboard his DC-3”. Aboard for the ride were the usual  suspects including Tony Webner from Good Year and a Franciscan monk named Father Duffy. Neale told me. “The first discovery of the weekend was made upon landing when we found that Harold Wynn who before this didn’t really know what a windsock was, had sure enough got a real Windsock and put it right in the middle of the runway on a piece of three inch oil pipe. When we came rolling down the runway one of the DC-3s wings hit that pipe which took out the deicer on the leading edge of the wing and sank into the wing about eighteen inches”. Neale went on to say.”When Shelby got off the plane he went over to Harold Wynn and put his hands on both of Harold’s Shoulders and told him how much he appreciated all the work Harold had done on the air strip and all but that he would like it if Harold would put the windsock off to the side of the runway”.

It isn’t really clear as to the exact time but at some point in all this partying a few other discoveries were made. Shelby called upon artist Bill Neale to design a coat of arms for a proposed Boys school intended for disadvantaged boys. Bill Neale’s design after a few minor alterations would later become the “Prancing Rabbit" crest of the Terlingua Racing Team. The Rabbit named “LUCIFER” holds his paw up as to say “HOLD THE PEPPERS IN THE CHILI”. The crest also has three feathers representing the three Indian tribes that inhabited the area in the early days and the sun which heats the topography of the area up into the 120 degree range during the summer. The 1860 in the upper left hand corner of the crest commemorates what is purported to the first race in Terlingua between two horse drawn eighteen wheeled ore cars. The details are sketchy about this and we do not know who won.

Also during this same period Tom Tierney who handled public relations for Ford Motor Company came up with idea to have a Terlingua chili cook off which eventually spawned an entire international phenomenon.Bill Neale tells us.” Nobody was trying to make any money out of any of this it was all just an excuse to have a good time”. One other discovery was made by the city council of Terlingua along the way. Father Duffy after a few weddings, blessings and a bunch of Jack Daniels was found to actually be one Grant McNiff in a Franciscan habit borrowed from a movie studio. Today Grant McNiff is a tea totaler living a quiet life with those memories of the days of revelry in Terlingua.

In August of 1964 the then President of Ford Motor Company Lee Iacocca approached Carroll Shelby with the idea of turning the new Ford Mustang into a SCCA B Production competitor and the GT 350 was born as was the Terlingua Race Team. On February 14, 1965 in Green valley Texas the GT350 made its debut with Ken Miles at the wheel and “LUCIFER” on board. The result was a first win for the new car and the new team. Later that same month Jerry Titus came on board to drive the first car to be officially designated as a Terlingua Racing Team entry. So that everyone would know who was handing the competition their hats Bill Neale designed a very distinctive paint scheme for the car. Taking the yellow from the Terlingua shield for the cars primary color Neale then painted the hood black he then emblazoned “LUCIFER” crossed the entire hood. When  Shelby saw the car he exclaimed “Gawdawful Yellow” and it’s been that way ever since. The Team with their irreverent attitude, a more than ample race car, outspoken and talented driver became very popular as they set out winning and thumbing their noses at the traditional old guard racing establishment.

Everywhere they went Bill Neal tells us Carroll Shelby was sticking The Terlingua Race team shield on the front fenders of race cars. It might be noted that also in the month of February 1965 the Ferrari beating Cobra Coupe went into production launched by its first win at Daytona with Jo Schlesser and Harold Keck sharing the driving. In 1967 Jerry Titus not only had four victories for the team but won the championship as well thus turning the GT350 into a legend in motor sports. Since that time The Terlingua Racing Team shield has appeared on winners at four Indianapolis 500 races, Riverside, Le Mans, Sebring, and Laguna Seca to mention a few and now with the introduction of the Shelby Terlingua Mustang it is your turn.