Shelby and SAAC at Odds

Here is the link...
http://www.shelbyamericancollection.org/index.html

 

How could you ever get them on the phone with all those distractions... just kidding. Great collection. The sad thing is that attorneys will probably "fine tune" all this.

 

As with any endeavor, you can tell when someone loves what they do. In all of my interactions with SAAC, their true love of the Marque -along with handling the historical records and all the implications that come with that responsibility - comes through. They have and continue to be the keepers of the flame. If they no longer did it, it would have to be done by other true enthusiasts, not pencil pushing corporate flunky's who don't recognize the difference between a VIN # and the corporations multi-digit bottom line
None of us (except perhaps lurking SAAC, Shelby, and their legal reps) knows how this is going to shake out. All WE can do is wait, and stop jumping to conclusions.

Mike

 

Why don't they both Join Forces. SAAC can tend to the Older Cars and Team Shelby can tend to the Newer Cars BUT as One Team.
David.

 

I spoke to SAAC headquarters today. What are they doing? Devoting long hours to the new Registry and putting the final details together for the 2008 SAAC convention. What about the action from Shelby? They view this as an annoyance at a time when they have a lot of other things on their plate. They didn't want this but likewise can’t ignore it. A statement to the membership will go out sometime next week.
SAAC has always been about the members and about the
cars built at Shelby American. That is what it will
continue to be. If Carroll no longer wants the hero
status, then that is his choice.
My take on all of this, personalities aside, is that this is a business decision by Shelby, the Shelby Auto people and the people who have Carroll's ear. Carroll thrives on controversy and has never been hurt (for very long) by bad publicity.
Shelby Autos is riding the wave of an incredible new Mustang design from Ford. It's a good thing the Mustang didn't go 4 cylinder front wheel drive because Carroll would be doing something else, that might not be even car related. I suspect SAAC would not be getting letters from Shelby's lawyers either. It's perceived money and power driving the whole thing. SAAC thinks there is room for more than one enthusiast club for these cars, but Shelby seems to think there is room for only one — his.
SAAC has always operated on a shoe string and gotten
things done through hard work and the passion we all
share for the cars. There are hundreds of members who
participate both on a local and national level. They
do it for free because of the love for their cars. That's a hard thing to compete with. Shelby Autos has started their club to cater mostly to the newest generation of Shelbys. What will finance their club when the revenue stream slows and when the demand for their cars slackens? My belief is Team Shelby could quite possibly go the same route that most car clubs dedicated to brand new models go: when they stop building those cars, the club will be no more.
The members of SAAC and all of the enthusiasts for the
cars built by Shelby American in the 60's need to give
their full support to SAAC, because when all is said
and done, we need a continued driving force "Dedicated
to the preservation, cars, history and enjoyment of
the World Championship cars from Shelby American".
That is what SAAC's focus has been for the past 33 years and will continue to be. It will not be the older stepchild, hardly mentioned by a new club, whose focus is the cars produced today and any additional revenue that can be extracted from their owners.
I wish Shelby Autos good things. There is room for two clubs, each dedicated to different generations of cars. There will be some overlap and that’s not likely to hurt either club. But why create lines of division by trying to trash SAAC?

 

Thankyou. Well spoken. As a 27 year member of SAAC; I hope to realize
another 27 plus years as a member of SAAC. See you at SAAC-33!
shlby66

 

Simple,
Publish all this information on the internet. Do it tomorrow. Let these organizations flourish on the service they provide their members rather than on the power they hold over them.
jimbo

 

All the magic numbers... all the sales information that went with the cars when they were new..It is the only thing of value that they have. Pretending that stuff is as safe and secure as St. Peters crypt, ......and that SAAC is an automobile based "Holy Sea" is just simply nuts. Reality will always (...and only) prevail when everyone knows everything...
I would like to get this hobby away from the "my 1 inch strip of sheet metal is worth more than your 1 inch strip of sheet metal" and focus on the rest of the car... they really are fun things!!
jimbo


edit..
Imagine for a second, ...This scenario. A car is listed on E-bay as a 66 hertz car.. fuzzy photos.. seller is slow to answer questions. Someone posts a link to the sale here at Shelby Forums.. We start picking it apart. ....That bolt is wrong, ....back seatbelts are wrong, ..etc. But the truth is we all don't know anything.. The seller could have an iron clad history of this car. ... You will have no way to know if his story is real or pure KA-KA. Suppose you e-mail SAAC and ask them for information about this car... What will they tell you?? ...Are your dues paid up?? Will your answer come in time.. Will someone from the club office bid against you?? Is someone in the club office actually SELLING the car on E-bay?? A long time ago this hobby was affordable enough that this stuff was all moot.. Now these things are big numbers... some people have millions and millions of dollars at stake. There is no more Mr. Nice Guy... Just look at how these people are behaving and think about it.

 

There are some very obvious reasons why "all" the data on these individual vintage cars should not be publically viewed.

I agree that generic info and history would be fun to browse online...but warts and birthmarks are another thing.

 

Daltondavid,
Thank you for your concerned and thought out post. With regards to me, don't worry. I am as happy and content a person as you will ever meet. I have been in and around this hobby since the 60's when it wasn't a hobby at all ....it was happening.. I believe this hobby could be a lot more fun than it is. I have stated what I believe is a problem. Nowadays all we talk about is what color paint is underneath the perdis bracket, or some scam about a fake car. I'd rather hear storys about driving halfway across the US in your cobra to get to SAAC 43.. The cars seem to be timeless but the owners are getting tiresome and long in the tooth... SAAC leading the way.
jimbo

 

yes, I can see why some persons would like to see SAAC reveal all of the
information; most notably the Shelby and Ford serial numbers. For personal
gain.

With all of the fakes, clones, tributes or any other moniker you would like to use for phony cars that are in abundance today; it would only be a matter of time until numbers of these cases would show up claiming to be "real",
borrowing numbers from the internet.

What mess that would be to unravel. An automitive lawyes' heaven.

No thanks. Let SAAC carry on as they have for the past 33 years. SAAC has
served Cobra and Shelby owners and their cars well.
shlby66

 

100% agree. Anyone who has a genuine car can see why these numbers arent readily available.

 

shelby66 has it right. I like clones. Many are well done with upgrades. Even Shelby Autos has done the GT350SR clones (they are not continuations...there is no Shelby American factory any longer). But as long as they are represented as clone, no problem.
Put an open book on the web and what a mess will result. To Team Shelby, I say welcome. But with SAAC picking up the SVTOA club, I do not expect a SAAC/Team Shelby/SVTOA get together soon. But then there are plans for some California fun in 2009...hmmmm. Keep your seat belts on.B)

 

It should be about having fun with your old friends and the new ones you make on the way, but to paraphrase Dorthy, you can't go back to the 60's anymore.
Going back to a few previous posts on this thread, the "Magic" #'s should NEVER be posted or published, period. If someone is that SERIOUS about a car all it takes is a call to a registrar. The 3 times I have had to check on a Shelby, every time I got a quick answer. On the last purchase, Howard was on the phone with me 30 seconds after I popped the rivet.

We need to move on from this tit for tat, who said this and who said that
Some us like to see unrestored cars, others want perfect paint under the "Perdis" bracket (wherever that is)
Others consider clones as the way to have fun and not blow the family budget.
We all have some sort of love for the Marque, that's why we are here.
Move on or move over.

Mike

 

Agreed. While I've at times had my differences with SAAC leadership, this is one area in which I back them 110%. It would be a huge mess for the FoMoCo VINs to be made public. There would then be no way to differentiate the genuine article from a reconstruction or rebody. Given enough time and money, there are those who are clever and skilled enough to build a car that is virtually indistinguishable from the real thing.

 

I am happy to read the calls to "keep this all fun". The sun is shining brightly here in Portland this morning. I just got back from a banzai run to Starbucks. Its funny, some people don't notice your car at all.... you are just another 4 wheeled thing on the road ..white one, grey one, brown one, white one, And some people drive off the road looking... Two young girls followed me into my driveway a while back.. (I am an almost 60 Y.O. certified old fart) All they wanted to do was walk around my car and touch it.. Neither of them asked me if it was real. Neither of them would have had a clue whether the carburetor was in the trunk or in the back seat. In their innocence they knew exactly what this hobby is all about.. This shiny blue rumbling "thing" was something very special. Something that too many of us have completely forgotten.

With regards to the serial number thing.. Basing anything on the coincidence of these two numbers being kept together for 40 years is silly. I have watched too many things happen with my own eyes to give it anything more than a passing nod.

Hide your car .. or flog it ...your choice

Snakepit who posts here, could tell you more about your car in 5 minutes than most Shelby owners would want to know. All SAAC can do, is tell you if the numbers match each other.. I could send those numbers in a first class US Mail envelope to any barn in North America for a 41 cent stamp..