Tony Shelly

2/2/1937 - 4/10/1998

Record updated 03-Oct-06

A popular Kiwi driver to came to Europe in 1962. Did well in non-championship races but retired after 6 laps in his only World Championship appearance. Moved to Hawaii where he ran a number of successful car dealerships.

A popular New Zealander was the son of Wellington's main Jaguar dealer, Jack Shelly. Jack opened a car dealership in Honolulu in the late 1950s.

Tony made a promising start to his career by winning the first big race he contested at Teretonga with a Cooper in 1958. He went on to become a leading driver down-under before coming to Europe in 1962 to race, mainly in non-championship events, for John Dalton.

Tony drove very well, taking his aging four-cylinder Lotus 18 into fifth place in the Lombank Trophy, and following that with a third in the Lavant Cup. He entered the Lotus in the British GP but retired after six laps with engine trouble. Then in August he failed to qualify for the German Grand Prix held at Nürburgring and followed this with a DNQ at the Italian Grand Prix in September.

He went back to New Zealand at the end of the season and never returned, racing down-under in the Tasman Series in 1963 and 1964 before retiring to concentrate on his thriving car dealerships, though he did have occasional outings in later years.

Shelly ended up following his father to Hawaii, became an American citizen in 1975. He built a significant dealership in the islands, acquiring a Mazda dealership in 1980 and with his partner, Neville Crichton, a fellow Kiwi, he bought other dealerships, culminating in the purchase of Oahu's BMW dealership in 1988.

He divided his time between homes in Honolulu and Taupo, New Zealand, later bought back what had been his father's business.