And what is so wrong that he charges a fee today for his autograph? When he passes away, those that in the last few years paid the fee to Caroll Shelby as a donation to his Childrens Foundation for his autograph may well find they have a piece of automotive memorabilia in their possesion be it hat, book, shirt, dash , glovebox or what have you.
He is part of the automotive legend and history, in my opinion ranked with the greats like Enzo Ferraii, Ferdinand Porsche, Henry Ford and the great race drivers past and present. As a driver won Le Mans, as a manufacturer, builder, team owner/director was and still is the only American to win the FIA World manufactuers title. No small feat.
You may like him or disagree with him and his business practices, but in my opinion he still deserves respect for his accomplishments.
Maybe he should have patented the Cobra body style, maybe he shouldn't have turned the Logo over to Ford. But how was he to know that for some reason it would become an automotive icon in the last 15-30 years, sought after by collectors of the original ones and built as replicas? In the same position what would you have done? The cars were outmoded, out of date, not competitive anymore. Race cars that were in todays world ,given away, for the price asked when they were sold off, yet at the time paid the bills. Could you honestly say you could have forseen the replica industry? And as it started, think it was nothing more than a passing fad amongst autophiles, ala the VW dune buggies? So what if he is going to build low-cost(for SAI) Cobras in 'glas at a price competitive with the others. I wish him success. Again my opinion only.
But do give the 'ol man his due respect. This place could very well be Club Gremlin or something
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