R.I.P. Carroll Smith - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

smciner1 · 05-23-2003, 01:00

Last Friday, Carroll Smith, the American Racing Car Driver / Designer passed away. Carroll is most remembered by Australians as the man who designed / built Allan Moffatts famous Brut 33 XB Falcon GT Hardtop for his 1974 Bathurst assault.

After hanging up his hat, Carroll showed great interest in helping young engineers develop skills through Formula SAE. Carroll was a passionate supporter of Formula SAE, a Formula for Engineering students across the world to design and Manufacture a race car from a clean sheet of paper and race it amongst peers from other Universities.

I have had the pleasure of meeting Carroll and learn from his vast knowledge at Formula SAE events. He always took the time to listen and help students develop their ideas and offer constructive criticism. He will be sadly missed.

R.I.P. Carroll Smith.

jemmex · 05-23-2003, 01:39

I may be wrong, but I believe Moffat also brought CS out as Team manager on 77, the year they creamed Holden, winning all but one or two races, many of them 1-2. Of course this lead up to the famous Bathirst 1-2 whic Carroll was instrumental in masterminding.

Sad loss.

jemmex · 05-23-2003, 01:40

PErhaps this should be moved to "the Pits"

66_mustang · 05-23-2003, 01:54

smciner1 ,

Yes a great loss, we also cant forget his work with the great Carroll Shelby with the GT40.

John McMaster · 05-23-2003, 04:05

Quote:

Originally posted by jemmex
PErhaps this should be moved to "the Pits"

No, i think it should be left here in the PUB. Where we can all have a beer in his memory. RIP, Carroll smith a great loss but at least there are students who will carry his theme into the future and hopefully keep the muscle car alive in whatever its form.

TopGhia · 05-23-2003, 11:43

He was first an foremost an engineer, not a theorist, not a draftsman, but a man who actually built what he designed.

I am reading one of his books right now, and maybe I will quote a bit, to show you what a good man he really was.

From "Nuts, Bolts,Fasteners and Plumbing Handbook" (Autos).

"There are only two ways for the human being to learn anything. We can learn from our own experience and mistakes, or we can learn from the experience and mistakes of others.

The experience gained from our own mistakes is likely to be painful and slow. It also limits the amount of knowledge that we can accumulate, simply because there is a limited amount of time available for learning the hard way - and we may not survive.

The second method, learning from other peoples mistakes, is what the teaching process is all about. While the experience is not liable to be so vivid, the knowlege gained will be a lot less expensive , not to mention painful, and you will be able to absorb a great deal more in a given time."

God rest his soul.

Blurter · 05-25-2003, 16:26

I'm sorry to hear this, RIP Carroll, thanks for the memories.