Press release :shelby automobiles sued

[Steve Cassani]

kayakjack,

This history you speak to - deposits for Car D being applied to the cost to produce Car A with Cars B and C waiting on the cash flows of future deposits - ended when Shelby made Amy Boylan the Chief Operating Officer of Shelby Automobiles, Inc. I believe this occurred in early 2004. Up to then, the company was, roughly, a pyramid scheme.

There have not been any public reports as to how Amy solved the problem. My guess is her previous successes in private business afforded Amy contacts who were willing, with her support, to loan Shelby enough cash to assure future solvency. With the investors paid, Shelby Automobiles slowly established a firm financial basis that in turn allowed Shelby to accept deposits in good faith. Any other outcome would have brought Shelby Automobiles into bankruptcy, a condition Amy avoided, but just barely. How Shelby won Amy's willingness to take on his problem may, if told, turn out to be the stuff of legend and every bit the equal of his sales pitch to Lee Iacocca.

Amy has since moved on. To the best of my knowledge, Shelby's contract with Ford to produce modified Mustangs has again made a sustainable business plan possible. If the legacy you speak to is still fact I doubt Ford would have had anything to do with Shelby Automobiles, the name notwithstanding. Then, too, the period of misapplied deposits saw many angry posts on this site, excoriating Shelby as once-hopeful owners described the fraud done them in painful detail. We haven't seen anything like that for several years.

Ol' Shel was a mongrel. He'd bite and lick your hand at the same time and leave you wanting to reach out the next time you saw him. When he wasn't hiring mongrels in his own image-Don Rager comes to mind-he was able to attract the serious, professional support he himself was incapable of providing. Amy Boylan was one of those. Thankfully he also had the uncommon good sense to stay out of the way of people whose work he knew he needed but did not himself understand.

[REAL 1]

Interesting claim by Becker as I recall he touted himself as the largest Shelby Cobra dealer with plenty of cars in stock. Thats what I recall from his ads.

[kayakjack]

There are lots of unanswered questions. The answers may well not be good.

If Becker initiated a lawsuit saying cars are not being delivered to him, what do you think that does to his sales to people who he would like to place a deposit down?

I suspect that Shelby International is doing sigificant business with Ford, that undelivered cars would not be a Ponzi deal. Shelby International should have enough $ to build new cars that have been ordered.

So why would Shelby not deliver to Becker. Hard to figure. Any of the reputable builders (Kirkham, ERA, Superformance, Factory Five, others I am forgetting) would be delighted to take your money and build you great product. So why is this different? Beats me.

My concern over customers being hung out to dry with outstanding deposits wasn't so much over a suspect Ponzi scheme. It was/is if you put two and two together---- First, Becker says cars he ordered from Shelby have not been delivered. Second given the nature of this business, he may have taken deposits from customers for cars in good faith. So IF these two things are true (don't know), there may be customers who placed deposits who are left out to dry.

Anyone have any ideas how this could happen?

Jack