Why doesn't Shelby American???

[RaceDeck]

Wow: I am surprised that anyone who has spent anytime on this site or know the Kirkhams are not sure of one thing..."They abolutely stand behind their product 110% and even stand behind thier product when a customer does something wrong on the installation and messes things up...they still make it right ( I am proof of that ) I was down at Kirkhams last night with David while he was trying to fix something on my car that was not even a Kirkham item or issue...for hours and hours....definetly above and beyond what I could have ever expected....

I think it is unrealistic to think mistakes, errors or oversights will "never" happen in a business where you have mechanical parts, "employees", and vendors who produce various parts....It is what you do after a problem arises that makes the difference

Now, what was this thread about again

[Tom Kirkham]

Dear Tony,

1. The FIA "suitcase bumps" (the very item which makes an
FIA an FIA ) MISSING FROM THE TRUNK LID!!!

Please refer to page 114 and 158 in Michael Shoen’s Cobra-Ferrari Wars. You will note that the pictures of the car do NOT have the bumps. CSX2259 the first FIA car did not have bumps until much much later in its life… Lynn Park told me that he was tired of explaining why his car did not have the bumps so he had them put in. Also note that none of the USRRC (the other cut back door car) cars had bumps. More importantly, the FIA bumps are nothing more than big ugly zits on back of a beautiful body to comply with a capricious rule.

2. The hood scoop on the Kirkham FIA was incorrectly shaped.

The original cars varied by quite a bit. If you look on page 138 and 139 of the Cobra Ferrari Wars, you will see that the opening on car number 3 is a bit shallower than the other cars. Our first FIA bodies were more like this car than the other cars. I went and measured the hood scoop on CSX2494 (granted not an FIA car but an original USRRC car) and updated our hood scoops to the bigger opening.

3. The oil cooler opening below the D shaped grill opening on the front of the car was missing.

The oil cooler opening is very different today on the FIA cars than when they were racing in the 1960's. Only CSX2345 has its original oil cooler opening still intact. See page 122, 138 and 139 of the Cobra-Ferrari Wars of what the original oil cooler scoops looked like. AC Cars has updated the opening to a 427ish style opening. As an aside the original front brake ducts will not fit on a car with the updated AC Cars oil cooler opening. Because of the confusion in oil cooler openings, SAI asked us to leave off the oil cooler opening and they would put it in for their customers. It only seams appropriate since FIA oil cooler opening was a mod by SAI in the first place.

[David Kirkham]

Allan,

I would add:

We did not even sell the car to the customer of whom you refer. We sold it to another customer who in turn sold it to the present customer. Our earliest records show the sale to have take place well over 5 years ago.

Even so, 5 years later--and to a customer who was not our own--we immediately took steps to replace the part. In my opinion, this is one sign of a quality company.

Tony,

I am pleased you are now happy with your car. I hope you have a million miles of smiles in your car.

David

[mrmustang]

Guys,

I have to agree with Evan here...I've had the oppertunity to view and inspect (hell even drive) several all original Cobras over the past 20+ some odd years I've been afflicted with ""Cobraitis". Not one of them is identical to the other....Not even those that were built in numerical series with one another......That was, and still is the beauty of the original "60's built" Cobras...........

As for the Kirkhams, I wish that every other large business in the USA would strive to have the same values and work ethic that Kirkham Motorsports shows.....At least based on what I have seen on this forum, and heard from the current and past owners of their products.....On this, nothing else needs to be said as far as I'm concerned..............


My only two cents worth on this thread.....


Sincerely,

Bill S. & Family

Originally posted by REAL 1


I am amazed at the squabbling here. Like a bunch of school girls.

Did you guys ever closely examine an original? Whats produced today by Shelby directly or by Kirkham as a source supplier for Shelby is heads and tails above original stuff.

Stop b i t c h 'n and enjoy your cars.

I agree 100% with Deacon and Serendip.

Original Shelby's will always be worth more IMHO than Continuation Shelby's. Continuation Shelby's will always be worth more than replica Cobras. Period. The Kirkham will benefit as to resale based on its connection with and by virtue of the fact it is Shelby's main source for alloy cars. It has that added "status" of its Shelby connection.

[Specialk]

Tom, I don't believe a word you're saying!! Send me your copy of Cobra Ferrari Wars so I can double check!



cross my fingers for the book!

[Excaliber]

Hey Kris when your done with the book, send it over my way. I think I need to "verify" all this too. Yeah, thats the ticket!

[Jamo]

David, Tom...good on ya both.

[Allan A]

David,

What’s the point regarding 5 years, the car has not seen mile one. Great you are fixing it for him, hopefully he will be happy. In our business the warranty does not expire for a latent defect, so it is critical that things are done correctly the first time. Selecting and overseeing subcontractors is still your responsibility, things happen but there appears to be a trend. Hopefully you can get a handle on it. Good luck!

Allan

[csx700?]

Allan A
i'm still waiting to get parts that i paid for from "sai" so that i can complete my car, it's been 2 years now!! not to mention the parts that thier dealer lost and wanted to coble together instead of paying someone to correctly make the parts. needless to say that i have divorced myself from that dealer (newport shelby cobras) and i am having to pay (out of MY pocket) for the fabrication of the replacement parts myself because "sai" has no leverage over thier dealers or thier actions (as per a phone conversation with bob marsh). i'm sure if this were a kirkham issue it would have been handled without haste and more than likely at no expence to me!! i have dealt many times with the kirkhams and know first hand that the way they conduct business and help customers (even someone elses) it is first rate!

[David Kirkham]

CSX700?,

Many thanks for the kind words. I sincerely hope you get the problems solved as soon as possible. I can't wait to see that baby on the road. Please let us know if there are any more parts we can help you with.

Allan,

I believe we are still here 5 years later because we do help our customers, (and anyone that can remotely be considered a customer as evidenced by the numerous Shelby and other manufacturer's customers we have helped over the years), as best as we can.

We did oversee our sub-contractor...we got rid of him and figured out how to do it ourselves. Much the same as if you were to receive a bad piece of steel for one of your cool cranes. (My kids would go crazy if they ever saw one. Allan's cranes give a whole new meaning to HUGE. Makes me wonder if Allan has a complex.)

(Hey, I have Big Blocks in all my cars...)

You are correct, whether the car has 1 mile or 1 million shouldn't make any difference. If there is a problem, we do our best to help our customers out.

You can purchase a car from Kirkham and trust we will do our best to help you...even 5 years later.

Similarly, I have no doubt your cranes have outstanding quality. Who else could make a crane you would trust to pick up the Space Shuttle?

David

[Jamo]

OK, Allan...anything else you'd like to throw out there for some self-satisfaction?

Anyone want to get back to speculating about Brucie's speculation?

If not...this thread's about run it's course.

[Allan A]

David,

I will trade a box crane for a box car. That way we get two things done at the same time while we are on the phone.


Jamo,

Don't you have some poor farm worker to harass?

[Jamo]

Actually, I was thinking how cool it would be to have one of your really long-armed cranes on the side of the field with a hook on the end. Worker screws up...just pluck him out with the hook, couple of swings for windup and throw him back south.

[rdorman]

Proof that you can't please all the people all the time and that not all business is good business.

Perfection is not obtainable and to expect it is unrealistic at best, crazy at worse.

My vote, the Kirkhams!

Rick

[The Deacon]

David..

No slight intended. It is just that everyone out there is saying how great this make is over this make, and we both that they are not one over the other. That is all I was getting at.

The Deacon

[David Kirkham]

Guy,

Hey, no slight intended here either. Just wondering if there was a problem I needed to know about.

Rick,

Many thanks for the kind words.

David

[Bruce Robles]

SL, Your correct, The CAV deal is dead. As a matter of fact CAV has had halt all production of GT40's until they can get up and running in a new facility. I guess the glass car will come back to LV.
I don't where this tread started but FYI Shelby does buy his Aluminum cars from the Kirkhams and sells them for 23K more than KMS sell thier rollers. If you want the Wilwood Brakes that are standard on the KMS, Shelby will add another $2500.00 on the tab for you. Tried getting a Shelby block lately? We'll be out of Iraq before there are any available.

[Specialk]

Bruce, Shelby doesn't sell Wilwood brakes. How much of the rest of your post is BS?

Originally posted by Bruce Robles


SL, Your correct, The CAV deal is dead. As a matter of fact CAV has had halt all production of GT40's until they can get up and running in a new facility. I guess the glass car will come back to LV.
I don't where this tread started but FYI Shelby does buy his Aluminum cars from the Kirkhams and sells them for 23K more than KMS sell thier rollers. If you want the Wilwood Brakes that are standard on the KMS, Shelby will add another $2500.00 on the tab for you. Tried getting a Shelby block lately? We'll be out of Iraq before there are any available.

[Allan A]

Kris,

99.9%

[Excaliber]

Sometimes I wonder what it would feel like to have that CSX number,,,,,,,,,,

I can say this, it feels REALLY GOOD to have a genuine "iron" side oiler 427 under the hood. A no excuses, end of story, done deal "feel good". Even though a 428 is "correct" for me it would still miss the mark a little bit.

Man it would be nice in a Kirham.

It would feel even better in an alloy Shelby Cobra.

Dang, it would be over the top with an original mid 60's Cobra.

Oh well, the ERA may be as close as I'll ever get, I'm happy!