For many years, Terlingua was only known as a deserted mercury mining town. But for Carroll Shelby enthusiasts, the name, the place and its free spirited reputation have pretty much been the stuff of automotive legend. Terlingua started in the early 1960's as a place for Shelby and a few racing friends to meet, unwind and hold chili cook-offs in the desert isolation of West Texas. But soon it became larger than life, much like the man himself. The locale might never have gained such notoriety had Carroll's friend and automotive artist, Bill Neale, not drawn the official Terlingua "coat of arms" that ultimately began mysteriously showing up on race cars and other conspicuous places around the world. The infamous black-stylized-rabbit with raised paw became the symbol of the newly formed Terlingua Racing Team.
Carroll had an unreasonably deep love for chili
Urban legend has it that Shelby once almost hit a chef for putting beans in his chili, but his chili passion ran far deeper than that. All those Cobras and Mustangs that say Terlingua on the side? He owned 220,000 acres in West Texas near the town of Terlingua, where he co-founded the world's first chili cook-off. It still runs to this day, alongside his eponymous chili brand, available nation wide.
Chili's the restaurant exists because of Carroll
Larry Levine, the founder of Chili's, was Carrol's son-in-law in the early seventies, and had gone to Terlingua's cook-offs a few times before opening the first of the now-ubiquitous restaurants in Dallas.3 Think about that the next time you're rolling up fajitas and slurping down a frozen strawberry margarita.
cool stuff !
