Carroll Shelby sinks to new lows - "retroactive" Shelbys

Seems to me you are letting your emotions get the better of you.

SAI stopped selling cars in 1970... the quantity of "real" (original) cars will never change....nothing done with modern hardware will impact that number.
That is a fact.

Shelby has a powerful brand and has shown his ability to make a market success time after time over the years, when he has applied his name or reputation to an automotive configuration. Good for him and his team.

The newgen cars have been very successful and SAI continues to provide a "Shelby experience" to a new generation of people...many who weren't even born the first time around. I can't find anything wrong with that..

..in fact, that contemporary market presence of the brand, in my mind, simply enhances the cachet of the originals...and that enhances their value.

So, why get upset? Check back in 40 years and we'll see how these newgens are making out. B)

 

I agree with computerworks,also,,,except for one item. I think 20 to 25 years might do it this time around.

 

I don't see anything wrong with Shelby providing this service. These cars are no different than the ones that Shelby modified when the cars were new.

If your plan in buying a 2007 or later new Shelby was to have an instant money making collectible, then you have been working with a false premise. ALL news cars are built with one goal in mind: make money for the manufacturer & dealers.

The consumer should concentrate on consuming, not trying to be part of the distribution chain.

The original poster sounds like sour grapes that he isn't the cultural icon & marketing genius that Carroll Shelby is. Everyone wants to make a bundle, but loves to hate the other guy who is making one.

Z. Ray

 

What shelby did in the 60's vs today is apples and oranges. The harder one trys to duplicate the past, the further away you end up. The idea of todays cars being investments on the same level as what had been accomplished in the 60's has more to do with some owners trying to look into that crystal ball. The market is chuck full of performance cars and newer and better ones every year. I don't feel that Shelbys marketing plans have any dirrect refection on the values of the Shelby cars of the 60's. If Shelby wants to put his name on wheel chairs or gulf clubs or what ever come along, good for him. If JOE public thinks it has value because of that, then good luck to him,[time will tell]. I bought a '84 gt350 with the same idea, good thing I sold it when I did.

 

Well, all I know is that I have driven those new Shelbys. Test drived one in 2007. It was fast and good looking. However, it did not have the same handling or feel like my '67. With that said, I think most of you are right; time will tell...

 

I agree with the general message of these threads. It's just free capitalism at work; nobody would think that this is trying to pawn off something new as something "original"; everybody knows that there are various types of "Shelby" vehicles out there and we all know how to distinguish and value them. I say the more he spreads his trademark the better for all of us; now I'm gonna go open that bottle of Shelby Wine.

 

So what? Just drive it for the fun of it. Don't worry about future values. I wouldn't personally buy a new Shelby just for the "investment", I would buy one to have fun with. I believe that people in the 60's bought a Shelby for fun, and were not concerned about future values at the time.

It's my understanding, Shelby wants to build a legacy for future generations and he wants people to enjoy what they could have bought back then, but now with today's performance improvements. Power to him. IMHO nothing wrong with that.

 

Speaking as a new forum member and very likely purchaser of the Supercharged package for my '08 GT convertible, I gotta say that if you bought your "real" Shelby GT anticipating a return on your investment, you bought it for the wrong reasons. Sports cars of any marque should be an emotional purchase. Buy it because you love the car, not to flip it for a profit. That's what ruined the real estate market, too.

The upgrade on my car won't have any impact on the value of your car, any more than Carrol's "defection" to Chrysler did, or the newfound return to Ford.

 

The main thing that makes the 1965 - 1970 Shelby Mustangs (& the 1960's Cobras) a "collectible" that has a good chance of appriciating is knowing how many of them were made.

Last I looked the current crop of Cobras & GT-500's are being cranked out as fast as the market will allow, with no end in sight. A great thing for the driving enthusist, not, however, a sure bet for the investor.


Z.

p.s. it never ceases to amaze me when a thread long dead suddenly springs to life.

 

I am 65 years old and I have never seen any new car model advertise as "buy me for an investment". That sort of thing just happens but not to very many cars.

 

The exception to the late model collectable car would be the 05-06 Ford GT. These are holding steady and will rise in value (low production number).

 

I agree. If Carroll Shelby wants to put a "Shelby" nameplate on a Toyota pickup truck, that's his perogative. The man's name is S-H-E-L-B-Y.

I know a fellow who collected NOS and excellent used 66 Shelby parts for years, then had an imitation 66 GT350 convertible built. This car has more genuine Shelby parts than a lot of real restored Shelbys I've seen, he even has stuff real ones rarely had, such as the aluminum T10, steel hood, genuine wood wheel, and dual-quad Holley high-rise. The only thing it lacks to be a spot-on original is a Shelby VIN. If Shelby ever saw the car, there is no doubt he'd issue a VIN. And rightly so. There would be no question it was VIN'd now, not 1966, since the number series' are well established, and so what.

 

Um, if it wasnt built by Shelby (in a shelby facility, or through one of the many companies that hold some sort of license, it is no way deserves a Shelby Number, not that it would matter as SAAC has documented the real cars. Im not saying anything to the quality of the car, as i am sure by your description it is killer, however, its not a "real" Authentic shelby and therefore does not need a Shelby vin, nor does it deserve one. i dont see why one would want a shelby vin for the car anyway, contrary to popular belief, a shelby vin doesnt automaticly establish something as worth X$s more...it still wouldnt be a real shelby. Alls im saying is there is not reason to give a car a shelby vin unless it already has one as a car built by shelby or a car build under license.

Best Regards,
Vern

 

I enjoy my original '66 GT350 and have enjoyed, though not yet owned, the newer Ford rides with the CS name on them. It is his name and he can do what he wants. That said, keep in mind these newer conversions will have a Shelby series number on a modified Mustang (or Ford truck like the SS F150) much like Saleen and others have done. The original VIN is still a Ford number as SAI or any of its contract installers no longer has an MSO (manufacturing license) like the original cars of the '60s.

So enjoy them all with the CS pedigree stamp be it cars, trucks, wine, golf carts, posters, whatever. Your money, your enjoyment. Besides, this later name branding can enhance the value of the early very limited objects of desire as evidenced in the marketplace of auctions, eBay, Craigslist and these various web site classifieds.

B)

 

Perxactly correct. Buy the shelby and enjoy it however you want, Either looking at it sitting in your garage, driving it, racing it or showing it. And if someday 15 to 30 years from now it becomes a much sought after and valued car,,,great,,, and if it doesn't,,,well,,,you were gonna die anyways.

 

And Carroll Shelby has the absolute right to put "SHELBY" on anything he wants. Really, this is not a matter of religious purity. There is nothing "holy" about the facility being owned, operated, authorized, or licensed by Carroll Shelby.

Unique Performance was authorized by SA, and it turned out their product was substandard crap, and borderline criminal, and SA has severed all connection. Nevertheless, you would, by your "authorized" standard, consider the complete crap and overpriced GT500E to be "legitimate", while excellent cars tagged by SA after construction to be "illegitimate". Amazing.

Carroll Shelby has never tried to make his cars a religion. He has always driven the stuffing out of them, eschewing "trailer queens" as faintly stupid. They are cars. If he looks at Bob's 66, and says "dang, that's a nice job, I'll put an SA VIN on it fer a few bucks", that's his perogative. I doubt he's doing this to enhance the value of such cars. Maybe to enhance his own wallet, but there's no evidence he has ever cared about the collectible investment value of his cars.

In a related move, Michigan will issue a Title to owners of Dynacorn replicas describing them as "1967 Mustang", etc, So I guess Michigan doesn't subscribe to a "religion of originality", either.

 

hold on now. I never said your friends car was "illegitimate" you should step back and take a deep breath here. Your right, there is certainly nothing "holy" about a vehicle being built in a shelby facility or under a shelby license, Carroll Shelby is not god. he most certainly has the right to put his name on whatever he wants and it really doesnt matter what he does slap his name on considering that he has the right to do so, and it, as you have stated, doesnt make said vehilcle "holy" in any sense.

As for the GT500E, yes it is a "legitimate" licensed Shelby product, dont see where that arguement is going considering that the car in question is a licensed shelby product...?

Under your assumed arguement that a shelby number not making a car "holy" i dont see why you would want your friends excellently built car to have a shelby number...? afterall, it doesnt change the car according to you, so i really dont know where your going with this. Perhaps we are on the same page as all i am saying is that your friends car does not need, nor deserves, a shelby serial number, its not a shelby, its a clone, reproduction, replica, whatever...none of those words should be taken as a negative, its just what the car is, enjoy it, it sounds like a great car.

Finally, you are correct, shelby licenses cars for the money, hes a capitalist. however, im not understanding why the owner of the car you are describing would want a shelby serial number, seeing as under your arguement, its doesnt enhance the car or its value.

To be honest, your arguement isnt really contributing to anything positive, its realtively moot. If you friend, convinces CS to give him a number good for your friend and CS! Im saying, as it seems you are, that it doesnt really matter so why got on the forum and start ranting about senseless bull? Stirring the pot just to stir it doesnt accomplish anything.

Next topic, this whole arguement is constantly debated, its up to personal opinion and really doesnt matter a whole lot in the scheme of things.

Best,
Vern

 

Sorry, but this post makes me comment.
I don’t know how “correct” your friends ‘impression’ is of one of the four original ’66 GT350 convertibles built. I’m sure it is beautiful. I only wish that he had used reproduction pieces rather than any unique original or NOS Shelby/Ford pieces used on 1966 GT350’s.

It’s his money and his car but an original GT350 gas cap does not make a Shelby.

I’ll bet there are original car owners that would love to have some of the scarce original parts that are being used to build look-a-like Shelby’s and Kobras.

(No, I did not misspell Cobra, it’s like the word Krab. Only real crab can be spelled Crab)

Carry on...