[gary osborne]

Geez, I was so good about staying far far away from CC for so long. Being gone was good for my soul. I left due to all the sophmoric debates and have now been drawn back due to the same. Only THIS time it is because SPF has been in the limelight and I just HAD to see what was going on.

As a SPF owner, I must admit that I am embarrassed by some of my bretherans' recent posts that have incited these near riots. Hey, I still believe they are good guys. They just exercised some poor judgement. Certainly something I have done on more than one ocassion and may be doing right now. For the most part, their posts were not all THAT bad but when a few characters on this site take aim and fire at some comment buried in the text --- all hell breaks loose. Of course, if the targeted comment was never made then the firing squad would have nothing to shoot at. It all comes down to knowing your audiance.

Do I think SPF is the best product out there for the money? Duh! I own one. That doesn't make me right. It just makes SPF the right car for me. I am sure that Evan thinks Shelby is best and Jamo thinks Kirkham is best etc. etc. It is truely unfortunate that some (very few I might add) SPF owners have decided to take their personal preferrences to the WWW and stick burrs under other folks' saddles with their choice of words.

Turk,

For the most part, SPF owners have conducted themselves in the same gentlemanly fashion that owners of other manufacturers have here. Maybe the reason SPF owners "seem" to be more vocal latley is nothing more than there are just more of them (for the most part --- and yes I know that FFR has a bunch out here too--- I am NOT trying to start another debate about who has built the most cars). That said, there are three times the number of SPF owners today than there was just 3 years ago. Hey, if I remember correctly Jamo (I love ya brother -- this is not meant to be a shot) has a "Kirkham is best" comment at the bottom of every post he makes --- and that is a LOT. But everyone KNOWS Jamo is a good guy, loves these cars (all of them) and most of the owners. His persona makes it OK.

The other thing that mystifies me is the obsession some seem to have with SCOF. What angers me are the two folks who have said that they visited SCOF and IMPLIED that something evil is discussed there. Want to know what we talk about? Hal tells his stories about his car, his dog, his wife and his kids. I tell jokes - mostly about myself because I have NOTHING of technical value to offer. We mostly talk about our cars and our adventures in them. We just had a lively discussion about where to buy better looking valve covers and we often kid each other about the size of our blocks. Do we talk about other manufacturers? Almost never and if we do it may last about three or four posts. If and when we do is it one sided? Of course it is. How often do you think the Muslim religion is defended in a Christian church or visa versa? You can be sure that an open public debate between Democrats and Republicans is far different than a political discussion in their respective reelection headquarters. For the most part, we don't care about the other manufacturers. No disrespect there --- we just talk about our cars, not others. That is why we restrict membership to SPF owners --- to keep the dialog focused and to avoid sophmoric debates. Its no fun to argue when no one takes the other side. It is pretty much like sitting around the bar, having a few cocktails and chatting with your buddies who happen to share a passion. So, to the two who seem to want to keep bringing SCOF up and suggesting otherwise, you are full of balogna and are showing your ignorance to all that really know the truth. Unfortunatley, only the SPF owners will KNOW what to believe.

Owning a "Real Shelby" or a replica of ANY brand is a rare pleasure shared by a few thousand people --- a pretty small and elite group by comparison to most other hobbies. There are a large number of owners on CC who always have something nice to say and are there to help when "one of their own" is in need. Then there are a few who seem to (repeatedly and consistently) feel the need to thump their chests, take a cheap shot, find a word to twist, play holier than thou and or whine when they get a taste of their own medicine. It takes two sides to make a debate and two to keep it going. No one is without sin when this type of thread occurs.

SPF owners:

Do you want people to think well of your cars? Then play nice, be humble, be helpful, and don't compete with the those who claim their's are better. ALL of the various cars will speak for themselves in both quality and value (both of which are subjective in nature). Your actions will ultimately cast a shadow upon Superformance and THAT is unfair to the company. Superformance has NEVER once said anything on this site, nor does it associate itself with SCOF. I can only SPECULATE that is because they choose NOT to get caught in the crossfire.