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

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. He competed in

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

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 capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

. 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), alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads * Cooper (video game character), in ...

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 classes, with the latter counting towards the British Sports C ...

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 Lotus Cars. In 1952 he founded the sports car company Lotus Cars. Chapman ...

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 In his early life Leston was a successful drummer for ...

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 amidshi ...

, 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, north-east of Liverpool city centre, in North West England. It i ...

, 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 Formula One, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around t ...

and

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...

, 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 Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

)

Complete Formula One Non-Championship results

(

) (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