Automotive legend Carroll Shelby, perhaps best known for creating the Shelby Cobra during an expansive and successful career as a race-car driver, automaker, team owner and entrepreneur, died Thursday night at Baylor Hospital, in Dallas. He was 89.

As a race-car driver, the high-performance legend won the 24 Hours of Le Mans for Aston Martin in 1959 with co-driver Roy Salvadori. Shelby also won U.S. sports-car championship titles with Ferrari and Maserati and raced in Formula 1 for two seasons.

In the 1960s, Shelby created the iconic Shelby Cobra, which dominated the racetracks of the era and defeated Ferrari for the world manufacturer's title. Shelby went on to lend his name and tuning expertise to existing models, most notably the Ford Mustang with the Shelby GT350 Mustang -- a modern version of which, the 650-horsepower V8-powered Shelby GT500 Mustang, exists in the Ford stables to this day. During his longstanding association with the Blue Oval, Shelby also presided over the Ford team's incredible Le Mans wins in 1966 and '67. According to Autoweek, "Shelby is believed to be the only person to win Le Mans as a driver (with Aston Martin), a manufacturer (class victory with the Cobra Daytona coupe) and team owner (Ford's GTs)."

The man's accomplishments and technical achievements with companies such as Shelby American and Shelby Automobiles, as well as with educational and charitable foundations such as the Carroll Shelby School of Automotive Technology at the Northeast Texas Community College and the Carroll Shelby Heart Fund (now Carroll Shelby Foundation), tell the story of a charismatic risk-taker and envelope-pusher -- a man for whom "faster" was a challenge, a directive and a lifelong mission.

Carroll Hall Shelby was born Jan. 11, 1923, in Leesburg, Texas. He is survived by Cleo Shelby, his wife; sister Anne Shelby Ellison; daughter Sharon Levine and sons Michael and Patrick Shelby. You can find out more about the Carroll Shelby foundation here.