DETROIT, Jan. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Legendary race driver and auto designer Carroll Shelby will be honored with the first AutoWeek Lifetime Achievement Award at the 13th annual AutoWeek Design Forum Wednesday, Jan. 11. Shelby will accept the award from AutoWeek Editor and Associate Publisher Dutch Mandel during the Design Forum's 7:30 p.m. dinner program at Cobo Conference/Exhibition Center in Detroit.
"Carroll Shelby is, simply, the enthusiast's enthusiast," Mandel said of the automotive icon. "He has done more stuff with and to cars to make them go fast and grow in our hearts than any 10 other individuals in the business, with a flair and tenacity that make us all hope he lives for another 83 years."
Coincidentally, on January 11 Carroll Shelby will celebrate his birthday with the assembled Design Forum crowd.
Shelby's accomplishments as a race car driver include breaking land speed records at Bonneville in 1954 for Austin Healey and winning the 24-hour Le Mans in 1959. As a team manager, Shelby was a part of the FIA World Grand Touring Championship, as well as Ford GT victories at Le Mans.
When his health caused him to give up racing in 1960, Shelby turned his attention to automotive design, creating perhaps the greatest sports car and one of the fastest road cars ever constructed -- the Shelby Cobra. The aluminum-bodied 289 and 427 Cobra models and the subsequent Shelby Mustangs he developed for Ford, made Carroll Shelby a household name in the 1960s. In recent years, Shelby has broadened his professional reach into ranching and horse breeding, a safari company, real estate and hotels, food production, aviation, research and development and charity.
Following successful heart transplant surgery in 1991, Shelby created the Carroll Shelby Children's Foundation, dedicated to providing assistance for acute coronary and kidney care for children in need.
He was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 1992.
Other highlights of the 2006 AutoWeek Design Forum agenda are:
Morning presentations by:- Peter Horbury, executive director of design, North America, Ford Motor Company;
- Steve Murkett, design manager, Porsche AG;
- Joel Piaskowski, chief designer, Hyundai Motor America, Kia Design and Technical Center;
- Dicky Riegel, group president, Thor Industries; and
- Bob Wheeler, president and CEO, Airstream Inc.
- Giorgetto Giugiaro, president and chairman, ItalDesign. Celebrating 50 years in automotive design, Giugiaro has styled and produced more than 200 cars; and
- Academy Award(R)-winning John Lasseter, executive vice president, creative, Pixar Animation Studios. Lasseter will preview Cars, which opens in June 2006.
