Carroll's personal Omni

Don Keefe takes us through a guided tour of the most special '86 GLHS of all - Carroll Shelby's own.  A test mule which resides in his personal collection to this day, #001 got many unofficial upgrades.  Article originally typed in by Marc Young.

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Wikipedia - Shelby GLHS

A new kind of wolf in sheep's clothing from Carroll Shelby.

by Don Keefe 

 Ask any number of people their definition of the ultimate sleeper and you're likely to get a different answer from each.  They might say something like a 426 Hemi squeezed into a plain Jane Valiant four-door, or a 440 Aspen on the bottle.  No matter how varied the responses, though, all cars mentioned would probably have very deceiving looks.      

Front-drivers are not generally thought of as performance vehicles.  Sure, there's the new Dodge Spirit R/T and, of course, the Plymouth Laser R/S Turbo.  They're hot vehicles to be sure, but not really quick enough to bring down the average small-block Nova street racer.      

So what does all this have to do with the black Omni shown here?  The tires are a bit bigger than stock and there's no chrome.  It looks kind of slick, but how fast can it be?  Here are two clues: First, it has well over 300 horsepower stuffed in a 2300-pound package' you figure out the power-to-weight ratio.  Second, it's owned by a guy whose chili is as hot as his cars.  You guessed it.  This is Carroll Shelby's personal car - a 1986 Shelby GLHS, serial No. 001.      

When we first laid eyes on the car, it was parked against a wall inside the Shelby Tech Center warehouse.  It looked quite unassuming.  In fact, you'd hardly give it a second glance, as it has had its decals and badges removed.   One of the great things about the car is its docile nature.  It idled like a stocker while all the time emitting an authoritative, yet refined, exhaust note.  We tooled around in city traffic without a hitch.      

Get this little mauler into boost and it's a completely different story.  The acceleration was nothing less than explosive, and with all that power going through the front wheels, torque steer is indeed present.  It will even try to change lanes in fifth gear, although the car will eventually find the center of the road.  It has been said that Carroll likes cars that push the envelope, ones that are on the verge of being too much.  This little bandit certainly firs the bill, having the ability to bite the driver if he isn't on his toes.  It's a vehicle you must accept on its terms.      

The GLHS truly shows off its Shelby genes.  As far as power goes, it feels as if there's a little Cobra in it as well.  This time, however, it was not done with seven liters of displacement and two 4-barrel carbs.  Shelby is now a big fan of the high-tech approach to making horsepower and the results are nothing short of amazing.      

Kirk Hawkins of the Shelby Automobile facility in Whittier, Calif., gave us the lowdown on this unique mill.  The development and assemble of the engine was handled by chief engineer/builder Neil Elliott at the original Chrysler-Shelby Development Center in Santa Fe Springs, Calif., under the direction of engineer James Broske.  While the engine in question is based on a production block, not much else is shared with its more sedate brethren.  The bottom end is completely custom-made.  The pistons are .035 inch oversize and swing Carillo forged steel rods and a nonproduction forged steel crank.      

With a bottom end that is ready and able to handle immense levels of stress, you know that it will be called on to do just that.  Starting with the cylinder head, Shelby engineers passed on the conventional Mopar pieces in favor of a special Hans Herman-designed 16-valve DOHC cylinder head.  The Herman head's critical specifications, such as intake port volume, valve sizes and camshaft profiles were not released to us by Shelby.  But we do know that this head is not even similar to the cylinder head used on the TC by Maserati of the new Spirit R/T.  It's a very beefy piece with plenty of material for porting as desired.  Since it was designed as a race-only assembly, it doesn't have to sacrifice anything for the sake of performance.  And that's just how Carroll Shelby likes it.      

The induction system is also a one-off design.  Starting with a 2.2 Turbo II throttle body, it's connected to a one-off long-ram cast intake manifold.  Unnatural aspiration is provided by a Garrett turbo, which was originally intended for use on a Buick Grand National.  There's nothing quite so satisfying as using the competition's hardware against them!  Fuel delivery is courtesy of a custom multipoint fuel injection system, and charge cooling is aptly handled by an Indy intercooler.      

At more than 300 hp and with just over 135 cubic inches of displacement, this engine is a convincing testimony to what can be done with smaller engines when given a healthy dose of technology.  You're left with breathtaking performance combined with a very civil composure around town.  The stock GLHS transaxle and rod-type linkage was discarded and an A-555 Getrag 5-speed unit with cable-type linkage was substituted.  The Getrag unit was selected for its superior torque capacity and all-around durability.      

"The gearbox is stock.  Nothing been done to it," says Hawkins.  "The engine is a one-of-a-kind piece.  There's not another one like it.  If something's going to break, we'd rather break the gearbox."  The GLHS also features larger-than-stock custom-fabricated equal-length halfshafts, which were collared and welded for strength.  Similarly, the transaxle does not have a limited slip feature.  This was done as a safety measure and, as Hawkins says, "The car would rip itself apart if it were equipped with one.  The fact that it doesn't gook up actually makes it a little bit safer  to drive.  It's a rocketship and definitely not for the meek soul."      

The rest of the car was upgraded, too.  It feature Koni shocks and the spring rates have been increased on the struts as well.  The wheels are, naturally, Carroll Shelbys, and mount P225/50VR-15 Goodyear Eagle Gatorbacks.  They give the car an aggressive stance and fill the wheelwells very adequately.  Mr. Shelby definitely has one evil little vehicle and we're told he enjoys showing 5-liter Mustangs the short way home.      

Although it hasn't been to the drag strip, the Omni definitely feels as though it will run mid-to-high 12s without traction.  If this car were the recipient of all-wheel-drive , it would most likely run at least seven-tenths of a second quicker.  With his recent heart transplant a success and his recovery progressing rapidly, we figure that Carroll Shelby will be putting it to the late-model Mustang guys more than ever with his Stealth Omni.  Go get 'em!

Trunk-mounted battery (left, above) helps offset the nose-heavy weight bias. Aside from the wheel/tire combo, the car looks very innocent (above). Most people hardly give it a second look - the measure of success for any Q-ship. It makes sense that Carroll Shelby's car would use Carroll Shelby wheels. These attractive 5-spoke rims mount Goodyear Eagle Gatorback P225/50VR-15 tires (left). This little bandit really corners.