The Original Venice Crew

The Original Venice Crew (OVC) is the group of talented the guys and gals who made up the Shelby American Race and production team,1962 to 1965.  First based out of a small shop in Venice, California (1042 Princeton Drive and Carter Road), the small team of about 50, comprised of race car drivers, fabricators, mechanics, designers, and staff toiled to make racing machines that today have become legendary. The Shelby Cobra, the Cobra Daytona Coupe, the Shelby Mustang GT350R (Competition Model), and the Mustang GT350, the Shelby GT500, the Sunbeam Tiger and the Ford GT 40 were all the fruits of their labor. 

They Original Venice Crew won championships: in 1963 United States Road Racing Championship, (USRRC), the Manufacturers Championship, and the A Production Championship.  The Team Won the 1964 and 1965 A Production and B Production Championships and the Manufacturers Championship. In 1965 the Team Won the FIA World GT Manufacturers Championship. The Team helped to redefine Ford’s modern-day heritage of motorsport. The Shelby American Team and Ford won the 1966, 1967, and 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans. It was Ford versus Ferrari, which is the greatest battle in motorsport’s history. Not only did Shelby and Ford topple the racing giant, Ferrari, on their European turf, it cemented the Shelby Team and the Original Venice Crew in automotive history. This story was immortalized in the 2019 movie, Ford vs. Ferrari. 

As Shelby American grew, they changed locations, moving to a bigger facility in mid-1965, which was located at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Although they were no longer at that small Venice shop, the spirit, and comradery that existed there persisted and continued to live on. 

OVC honors that history, and those who made all that the Shelby Team represents—a group of automotive underdogs, comprised of hot rodders, racers, and fabricators who took on the world’s best, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Jaguar, General Motors and won.