Shelby clone vs Original Shelby attitude.

Must be your imagination as most (say 90%) original Shelby owners are true enthusiasts and just appreciate the cars as a whole. Of course there will always be that 10% elitist group that only like what they own (right down to the color, or whether it is a stick or automatic. They are the exception, not the norm.

Bill S.

 

Hey, its your car. You can do what you like.

I draw the line when someone adds an identification tag to the vehicle. That is misrepresentation in my opinion. You will respond you dont intend to misrepresent your clone. I cant tell you how many times I have spoken to people looking for original cars and are considering clones/tributes etc. It might not be your intention to misrepresent the car, but thats often what it turns into. Leave the original style tag off, just my opinion. If it wasnt made by Shelby, it shouldnt say "made by Shelby" on an identification tag.

Part of the value of real Shelbys is their limited production. If everyone had one, they would be like Corvettes. That could explain why owners want to keep them exclusive. Clones and tributes passed off as originals devalue the originals in many enthusiasts opinion.

If there is another explanation for using the tag, I am open to hear it? One really good example of this is the historically significant example of the Green Hornet. It was restored with a Shelby tag, even though it never had one originally. Now there is a big mess of confusion surrounding the car and its pedigree.

 

I agree with Coralsnake 100 percent. I like the work that enthusiasts put into the replicars/clones. Many do a fantastic job. The parts suppliers have kept hese "tribute" projects going for a long time. But I also draw the line on misrepresentation, whether it be a Shelby Mustang, Shelby Cobra, Corvette, Impala, Charger, Ferrari, etc. The original DNA and legendary history is not changed by a logo, set of stripes, or parts on an engine. I say take pride in the mod, not the lie. Data plates and false VIn tags do not belong on the clone. If it was built by the owner, not Shelby American, that is the wrong thing to put on the car. Otherwise clones are great and should be enjoyed for the ride and shown often!

 

Unlike an emblem or stripe, a VIN tag is a legal representation. I hope it was " Carroll " Shelby that signed your dash.


There is yet another example of what we are discussing. He signed so many items his signature is virtually worthless.

 

Its not a big deal. You asked for opinions. You opened the can of worms. Sounds to me like you are the one defending your choices. Hopefully, it wont ever come down to you defending your choices in court. I have seen that happen too.

If the words have no legal meaning, then I guess all Shelbys are just Mustangs and should be valued the same? Your arguement has no credibility.

 

its not personal, we just disagree....

Let me try one more time. You probably have a twenty dollar bill. It's legally your twenty dollars. It has "your" serial numbers. Can you choose to make photocopies of it? Sure, you can. Is it your "artistic choice" ? Maybe. The words printed on the paper have no real meaning, right?... they are just words that represent an ideal.

Does that make it right? Ethically or legally?

 

I gotta real one and to me frankly the old adage applies:"imitation is the most sincere form of flattery".That being said misrepresentation is always bad(and potentially illegal)...Not everyone can afford one (luckily I got mine cheap"back in the day")so I have no problem with someone building their own ...and I have seen some SUPER cool ones...The great thing about a clone is you dont have to be a slave to originality....As Sinatra said (paraphrase)you can do it your way.....my 2 cents...Trent

 

You can get a fake vin for a made up car? Would it not show up as fake when you run it?
I understand the concern over drawing down the price of the real ones if there was no way of telling the difference between real and counterfeit.
Second, why are you on a Shelby forum? Should you not be on the wannabe forum?

 

I dont think we should make this personal. As I said before, its your car and you can make your own choices.

Do a search for John Ondish and/or Demon on Wheels. This guy and his surrogates came online trying to pass off a 390 Mustang as a GT500 KR. He convinced several people that had very little knowledge about such things his car was "real". They invested time and money in his project to make a movie about his car and his experiences. It was pure fabrication. He had a fake Shelby tag with a number he randomly picked out of the Shelby Registry. He also had fake paperwork. He fooled many popular publications. Tell me that doesn't hurt the hobby? It's well documented on the forums. As time progressed, his story changed dramatically. So if you wonder why some people have soured on clones, its people like this that give them a bad reputation....embarassing the less knowledgeable and literally taking money from them for personal gain. Someday, you may need someone that can tell the difference between the clones, tributes and authentic cars.

http://saacforum.com/index.php?topic=13810.0


http://saacforum.com/index.php?topic=17368.0

 

"Shelby owners members are not very excited about the clone cars on the Shelby forums" Think that the focus on Shelby forums is typically Shelby's rather than copies, that may be why some see it as "not very excited". Discussions in the General discussion areas are typically good natured and normally focus on what did an original Shelby have here or how did they do this. Biggest push back I've seen was when owners of copies were focused on getting and using allot of hard to find original pieces fro their car or when they attemtped to pass them off as original Shelby's.

Just what I've seen

Coming in late to the discussion - if you car was not a Shelby why did you need a VIN tag when there was not one there to begin with or originally come with one???

 

Well rotoshawn, You asked for opinions and your getting them. Obviously, your not thrilled with the responses. I can take a guess or two, as to why you brought this question to this Forum. Your looking for some sort of validation, for your fake/look alike, "Shelby". Simple answer:
There Is None.

What you fail to realize, is, that it takes more than a fake VIN tag, to make your fake Shelby, "real". What imparts value to a Shelby, is it's history. It's there under the heading: "intangibles". Being a real Shelby, means it was built by Shelby American, during a specific
time frame to set criteria. No matter how good your car looks, it is lacking "something". And that something is history, which gives a car it's
pedigree, hence the value of said car.

Legitimacy or history, is more than just a metal tag with numbers stamped on it. Each Shelby, has a unique history, and that is what imparts the value. A hard lesson to learn and your not the first to go down this road.