Anthony Lionel Shelly (2 February 1937 – 4 October 1998) was a racing driver from

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. He competed in

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

in , participating in 3 World Championship Grands Prix, and several non-Championship races. He scored no World Championship points. He also owned a BMW dealership called Shelly Motors in

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

. The business had previously belonged to Shelly's father and had been sold on his death. Shelly subsequently re-acquired the business and became an American citizen in 1975. He divided his time between a home in Honolulu and one in New Zealand, where he died.

Career

Shelly made his motor racing debut in January 1955, entering a Morgan in the Sports Car class for the New Zealand Grand Prix. Shelly qualified but did not start the race. Shelly won "the first big race he contested" at Teretonga in 1958 driving a

Cooper Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to: * Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels Arts and entertainment * Cooper (producers), an alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads * "Cooper", a song by Roxette from ...

and went on to become a leading driver in Australia and New Zealand before moving to race in Europe in 1962. He drove mainly for John Dalton, usually in non-championship events with moderate success, a fifth in the

Lombank Trophy The Lombank Trophy was a non-championship Formula One race held during the early 1960s at Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit in Norfolk, England. The event took place early in the season and was sometimes the first Formula One race of the year. The 1 ...

and a third in the

Lavant Cup The Lavant Cup was a motor race held in the spring at Goodwood, England from 1949 to 1966. Over the years it was variously run for Formula 2, Formula 1 and, finally, Sports car racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing t ...

being the highlights of his season. He was entered to 1962 Le Mans in June by

Colin Chapman Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman (19 May 1928 – 16 December 1982) was an English design engineer, inventor, and builder in the automotive industry, and founder of the sports car company Lotus Cars. Chapman founded Lotus in 1952 and initia ...

to co-drive with

Les Leston Alfred Lazarus Fingleston (16 December 1920 – 13 May 2012), better known as Les Leston, or in full Leslie Leston, was a British racing driver, born in Bulwell, Nottinghamshire. Early life Leston was the second son of Harry Fingleston, a coal ...

with a

Lotus 23 The Lotus 23 was designed by Colin Chapman as a small-displacement sports racing car. Nominally a two-seater, it was purpose-built for FIA Group 4 racing in 1962–1963. Unlike its predecessors Lotus 15 and 17, the engine was mounted amidsh ...

, but the race organizer, ACO, denied the entry in the famous Lotus Le Mans debacle. He also entered three Formula One World championship events, at

Aintree Aintree is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England. Historically in Lancashire, it lies between Walton and Maghull on the A59 road, northeast of Liverpool city centre. In 2011 the parish had a p ...

, where he retired with a failed cylinder head gasket, and at the

Nürburgring The () is a 150,000-person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long configuration, built in the 1920s ...

and

Monza Monza (, ; ; , locally ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the Lambro, River Lambro, a tributary of the Po (river), River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Mo ...

, where he failed to qualify on each occasion. At the end of the season he returned to New Zealand where he continued to race in 1963 and 1964 following which he retired, although he did compete occasionally thereafter.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

( key)

Complete Formula One Non-Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

References

New Zealand Formula One drivers New Zealand racing drivers Tasman Series drivers 1937 births 1998 deaths {{NewZealand-autoracing-bio-stub Sportspeople from Wellington City