Autoblog and Yahoo may earn commission from links in this article.You'd never know the Shelby American Collection was there if you passed it by accident. First of all, it's tucked into the back of an industrial park outside Boulder, Colorado. You can't get there by accident. Second, the near-total absence of signage stands in complete contrast to the insane history housed inside.While most tourists are there for the Flatirons or some CU football, the Shelby American Collection should be on your list if you care about motorsport, especially American motorsport, at all.The Shelby American Collection Houses Some Of America's Most Important Race CarsChase BierenkovenView the 4 images of this gallery on the original articleAdvertisementAdvertisementThe privately funded museum houses some of America's most iconic racing and road cars. From Shelby's British AC predecessors, to the Lola GT, to the very first of Carroll's Le Mans entrants and more, the museum is packed wall-to-wall with items chronicling not only Carroll Shelby's life, but that of his creations.Memorabilia and car parts adorn the walls, ringed by vintage signage and photos of the icons of the brand Shelby built. Shelby himself, Ken Miles, and more all feature in the museum. Team kit hangs behind cars, some of which have been signed by Shelby or other notable figures from motorsports history.The GTsChase BierenkovenView the 5 images of this gallery on the original articleMany of the most important Fords ever built live in a separate building from the rest of the museum. A wing all its own, this houses an extremely complete collection of Ford's GT race cars and production vehicles. You can draw a straight line from the start of the lineage with the pristine Lola GT example, to the early GT prototypes, to Shelby's race-used GT40s, including those from the iconic Le Mans races in the '60s, and on to the modern GT road cars.AdvertisementAdvertisementAll are present, but some are more notable than others. Everyone at the museum is willing to acknowledge the importance of the 1966 Ford GT40 p/1015, driven to second place by Ken Miles that year at Le Mans. Speaking of Miles, the '64 GT/103 prototype is the earliest known GT40 in existence, raced by Miles and Bruce McLaren to an all-important win at Daytona and several other podium finishes the same year at Monza and Sebring.The Most Striking Artifact At The Shelby Museum Isn't A CarThese two doors once held a tragedy – one of them is the last door Ken Miles ever passed through.Chase BierenkovenSat in the display hall that leads to the GT40s, you'll find bits of a car in a display case – a morbid reminder. The museum holds the remains of Miles' last drive, the Ford J-car. The doors of the car are there, and so are other ruined bits scavenged off the car after the fateful crash that ended Miles' life.After a day of testing at Riverside International Raceway, Miles was killed while on the track's back straight. He was ejected from the car when it rolled at over 200 miles per hour, with the surviving pieces housed here, far from where Miles is interred in Hollywood, California.While much of the museum is an awe-inspiring collection of some of the greatest machines in motorsport, this small case is a reminder of the immense toll the sport can exact at any moment.AdvertisementAdvertisementThis story was originally published by Autoblog on Aug 21, 2026, where it first appeared in the Features section. Add Autoblog as a Preferred Source by clicking here.