Carroll Shelby International (OTC Pink: ) was formed in 2003 from custom performance vehicle manufacturer Shelby American, when founder and owner Carroll Shelby took the company public, and additionally forming Shelby Automobiles as a subsidiary from which to continue manufacturing vehicles and parts. In 2009, "Shelby Automobiles" was officially renamed to "Shelby American", bringing back the original company name to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the 427 Cobra and GT350.Carroll Shelby Licensing is the second wholly owned subsidiary that forms Carroll Shelby International, which is based in Nevada. Shelby American manufactures component automobiles, including replicas of the small-block and large-block AC Cobras, the Shelby GT350 and the GT500 Super Snake. Since 2005, Shelby American has released new models each year.
Carroll Shelby International was previously working with Texas-based Unique Performance to create new Mustang-based Shelby cars such as the GT350SR and "Eleanor". On November 1, 2007, Unique Performance was raided by the Farmers Branch Police Department due to VIN irregularities and subsequently declared bankruptcy, which effectively ended the Shelby continuation "Eleanor" production and the relationship.
Shelby American was founded by Carroll Shelby in 1962 to build and market high performance parts and modified cars for individuals. The company was based at Santa Fe Springs, California (1962), Venice, California (1962–1967), Ionia, Michigan (1967–1968), Whittier, California (1986–1998) and Las Vegas, Nevada (since 1998). Some of the automobiles produced by Shelby American were the Ford Mustang-based Shelby GT350, Shelby GT500 and Shelby GLHS. Shelby American also installed the engines of US-market examples of the AC Cobra which was an AC Ace with a Ford V8.