Important Shelby News out of SEMA

If you keep increasing your font size, I will be forced to get a bigger monitor.

 

whether or not there was snubbing, no matter. It's a property right issue. If C. Shelby wants to issue, or withdraw, a license to use his name or trademark, that's his right.

come on fellas (and gals), no one is coming to your garage and trying to take your cars away. So let the man take care of his business the way he sees fit to, for his benefit. The same way we handle our own businesses & jobs, for our own benefit.

We, and SAAC, don't own his trademarks. We're lucky to own our little part of the big history

Z. Ray

 

Well said.
David.

 

Vern,
That's an easy question to answer. SAAC has always given Carrol hero status. Pick up any Shelby American magazine and that fact is obvious. It has to be something stupid like Shelby's nose being out of joint for SAAC expanding into the SVT cars, a rescue that saved SVT. Could he feel jealous and think that SAAC's attention be partially diverted away from him? You bet. "I'm taking my ball and going home"
SAAC has devoted themselves to Shelby, the cars, and to maintaining the integrity of the Marque. Without their efforts, a Shelby car would be just another hot rod non stock Mustang.
Dave

 

Yeah, me to...... and I just trashed my big 2 foot by 2 foot square Monitor for this Flat Screen..........

 

WOW......just a few more posts, this will be one of the largest (if not THE largest) Thread on the site.
David.

 

Guys, thank you all.....


I will not be posting much after this as I will try to resolve offline.

On the point of the documents, I will say this. In legal licenses , when a license is cancelled a copy of documents is requested incase there are issues down the road, they are ususally kept by legal. I talk to licensing this weekend and forgot that point because this became so personnal to so many. When you have a license and it end, you have to destroy tools, if there is any or send all works back to the licensor, that is common practice in all companies.

That said, I am talking to CSL and Carroll. my last thought is that there are 2 people that could have stopped this months ago by picking up a phone. The phone is still silent....Amazing


Amy

 

I am very interested in what is happening here. Acting on the old adage, “Tis better to keep one’s mouth shut and seem a fool rather than opening it and removing all doubt” I will remain silent with the following comments;
I have been a SAAC supporter, off and on since 1977. All Shelby owners and wanna-be Shelby owners owe a debt to SAAC for their efforts to promote and protect the marque. That said, there are some things that have happened with SAAC that I have not agreed with. Months ago, I was informed by a well place source that something like this was about to happen. Hopefully, the parties involved can work it out. A big part of Carroll Shelby’s success is his knack for finding the best talent for the job at hand. I for one am willing to sit back and trust his judgment here.

 

To be honest...i dont know if that is a shot at me or all the forum members who have been posting on this thread so in result i will not be posting on this thread anymore. Its just too hard to interperut what people are trying to say and in what manner they are saying it.
Vern

 

Sounds like a face to face meeting would have to take place with all parties to help settle this. Its probably past phone calls. It should be done at a race track with Shelbys all around, Pardee in charge of happy hour and Amy keeping everyone straight. Attorneys place one thing at top priority ..billable hours...

 

As the details continue to unfold, you can read the official Team Shelby club announcement at www.stangsunleashed.com/teamshelby with Carroll's selected endorsement of the Team Shelby club. The press release focuses on the Shelby vehicles of Shelby Automobiles in Las Vegas. SAAC by its name has focused on the Shelby cars out of Shelby American in California. It would appear there would be room for Team Shelby as the club for the new
S197 Mustang and Cobra roadster Shelby cars and the SAAC vintage toys.
The problem may be in the litigation in the return of the Shelby American records that were given to SAAC 15 years ago and maintained, sorted and documented for years by SAAC volunteers and vehicle experts. I would expect if CS Licensing gets them back any inquiries to the validity of a Shelby American vehicle would no longer be free of charge or as accurate as to the long term vehicle history. It looks like an issue of long past loyalties versus legal and business values. Bummers.

 

Shelby owners both early & late model lovers unite: As Rodney King said "can't we all just get along?" All Shelby enthusiasts should embrace the heritage and strength of the brand, and not be so skeptical of the changes being instituted to preserve, protect and grow the Shelby brand. Look into the future...and what is current today, will one day be the distant past. These new Shelby cars will one day be vintage too. Trust the direction and leadership that was hand chosen by the original, and only, Carroll Shelby and his associates...to preserve and grow the brand, and preserve/authenticate the future of all of our passion for the man and his cars. It is bigger than any one of us.....so respect each and every true Shelby car, enthusiast, caretaker...and leader! Thanks to all who contribute for the betterment of our Shelby Community!! Mirrorman

 

Vern, I was answering your question about wanting to know the truth with the first sentence of my statement that you could not interpret correctly. I was NOT Taking a Shot at anyone here on the forum for that matter either. It was an attempt to shake up some attention from the two main parties involved. now I can't help myself but I gotta ask, "Know what I mean Vern??"

 

Ok....one more post on this thread....i gotta giv ya credit for that one!
Vern

 

The Best Friend Carroll Shelby Ever Had
by Colin Comer, Sports Car Market magazine

Today Carroll Shelby is sitting on top of the automotive world. At 84, he is an automotive icon. The 1,003 Cobras he created from 1962 through 1967 are among the most-sought-after collectible cars of all time, evidenced by the $5.5M result of CSX3015 at Barrett-Jackson this past January. A Cobra Daytona Coupe was recently reported sold for $13m. Any Shelby American factory team car has two commas in its price. Even garden variety original 289 and 427 street Cobras trade routinely for over half a million dollars. Shelby Mustangs, originally about $4,500, now can bring 100 times that amount. Cobras are the most replicated car ever--currently more than 50 companies all over the world crank out Cobra replicas. And Shelby is back with Ford, again making Shelby Mustangs after 40 years. But it wasn't always like this.

In 1970, Carroll Shelby saw the writing on the wall: performance cars were coming under the microscope. Federal emission and safety requirements and high insurance rates were conspiring to make the performance car an endangered species. Shelby cashed in his chips and left the game, closing down his company. He preferred to spend his time hunting big game in Africa and dabbling in commercial real estate. His Cobras and Shelby Mustangs became just "used cars" and began the predictable downward slide of depreciation. Second and third owners began searching for parts to keep them on the road, and to find people who knew how to work on them. Authenticity was rarely a concern, nor was historical significance. That old race car may have won a lot of races, but was now just a beater to get to work in.

In 1975, there was no company to go to for expertise or advice. Shelby was long gone, and the factory a distant memory. Former Shelby employees had moved on. Your local Ford dealer didn't want to sell you parts--they were hopeful that you'd give up and buy a new Mustang II. So a handful of owners formed the Shelby American Automobile Club. They dedicated SAAC (pronounced "sack") to the preservation, history, care and enjoyment of Shelby automobiles. They formed a network to share parts sources and technical information. They sold and traded parts among themselves by way of classified ads in the club's publication. They held a national convention each summer where a couple of thousand owners and enthusiasts gathered to revel in their unique cars. Days were filled with car shows, swap meets and driving at speed on closed courses. Evenings were taken up with seminars, dinners and guest speakers. Even Carroll Shelby's interest was piqued and he was surprised to find himself the guest of honor and center of attention, receiving standing ovations and long lines of enthusiasts waiting patiently to get their pictures taken with him or to get his autograph. Shelby was back, and ol' Shel was a bona fide celebrity to the SAAC members.

The history of Cobras and Shelby Mustangs became very important to SAAC. The club tirelessly gathered information on every car and every owner they could locate. They researched serial numbers, technical details and running production changes. They tracked competition cars, noting the races, drivers, finishing positions and car numbers. Boxes of paperwork left behind at Shelby American and headed for the dumpster were secured, every page being scrutinized, filed, and recorded. Hundreds of members spent thousands of hours building databases of information which led to publishing a registry. Every serial number was listed and every scrap of information was included. And overnight, Shelby's cars--which had been orphans--became valuable. There was now an official publication to validate the genuine cars and expose the fakes. Make no mistake--as values climbed the number of counterfeit Cobras and Shelby Mustangs increased. Fortunately, the club's registrars were able to keep track of the originals. Their dedication served to protect the marque and is responsible, now some 30 years later, for the current confidence in Shelby cars due to the accuracy and accessibility of the club's documentation. In fact, those looking to "correct" history or exhibit selective amnesia about certain details of their cars past refer to SAAC's registrars as "The Untouchables." Privileged information and private notes kept by the Registrars are just that--it is protected fiercely by SAAC for the good of the cars.

The Shelby American Automobile Club kept the brand name "Shelby" alive during Carroll Shelby's absence from the automotive world. When Shelby signed a contract with Chrysler to build 4-cylinder "performance cars," SAAC continued to stoke the fires of Ford enthusiasm. In the 1990s, when Carroll Shelby decided to capitalize on the renewed enthusiasm for his cars and the power of his name, he began building Cobras again. SAAC had kept his fans like a good getaway driver keeps your car--"close and running". Of course, these fans also had their checkbooks in hand.

SAAC continues to collect information, expanding its databases to include the new Shelby cars. Every ten years the club publishes an updated version of its registry, the last edition is a staggering 1,333 pages! The club holds a national convention every summer, each one bigger and better than the last. In fact, they have become so large that the only facilities capable of accommodating them are major race circuits. Amazingly, the club has remained under the same stable volunteer leadership for 32 years. And members? Almost 5,000 worldwide, and for the last 15 years SAAC has enjoyed an 85% membership renewal rate. This is serious dedication.

Throughout the years Carroll Shelby has recognized the value of SAAC and has supported the club and its goals. The result speaks for itself--compare Shelby values and club support to similar manufacturers such as Cunningham or Allard. Shelby correctly realized that manufacturers never run good owner organizations--enthusiasts do because they secure a large number of dedicated volunteers, enabling their club to provide exactly the kind of organization its members desire. This leaves manufacturers like Shelby free to concentrate building cars. It is a perfect symbiotic relationship.

Colin Comer, Sports Car Market magazine
__________________

 

David, I got all 52 episodes of Speed Racer for my 5 year old on 3 DVD's, I love football but Speed Racer is way better!!!

I'm not one of those over protective parents but like 30 guys die each episode and body parts and flames shoot out of the cars and half the guys are smoking cigarettes. One guy is named "Klepto" because he did time in the joint for stealing cars. Speed's girlfriend is named "Trixie". Also, his chimp and little brother eat an entire bag of candy each episode.

It's AWESOME!!!!!

Trying to make light of this back and forth

Mike

 

The posts on this thread are reminiscent of a "good old fashioned family squabble", back in the days when larger sized (5 or more family members) families cleared the air, and got all the things that had been building and bothering them that had been stuck in their craw out in the open. Eventually after everyone had their honest say, hurt feelings were gotten past, wounds healed, they reunited, became closer and more healthy than they ever were before.

I guess what I am trying to say, is that though I am a relative newcomer to this Forum, though having been a muscle car enthusiast going back 40+ years (only recently have I been blessed to acquire a Shelby GT500), it is obvious to me that what you have on this forum, and in SAAC, is family.

Such distinction in itself is pretty special and sets the above mentioned organizations apart from their counterparts. Many car clubs cannot make that claim, and are cold, stagnet, uncaring, are mostly concerned with numbers and perpetuating their own existance.

That being said, I predict once cooler heads prevail, minds of a like mentality and goal come together, well informed decisions/conclusions are reached, this Forum and SAAC will emerge stronger and healthier than ever before.

Doc

 

I think that a copy of Colin Comer's article should be sent to everyone concerned in the matter of Shelby Licensing vs. SAAC.
It sheds more light than all of the previous threads combined.
Hopefully, this will help resolve this conflict. for in this situation NOBODY wins!

 

Great idea!!