Shelby interview in Road & Track

[SPF2245]

"In my opinion, if these people aren't smart enough to design their own cars, they shouldn't be able to make money reproducing what I did in the 1960s, with help from Ford and great people like Ken Miles and Jerry Titus."

Hey @sshole, how 'bout old geezers who can't DESIGN a new car (that people would buy...aka Series 1) who in turn return to using sacred name plates to make some quick cash, aka the new "Shelby" Mustangs?! AS for reproducing "his" car, I would BET my cobra that in no small part, all these companies reproducing his "car" has been what has kept his name in the media...'cause without them, we'd just watch the few examples of "real Cobras" on Barrett-Jackson and go buy something we could afford.

His attitude over the past two or three years has been the sole reason I WILL NEVER have his signature on my "copy". I can't wait for karma to catch up to him again.

[Steve Cassani]

"His legacy will be that he was more of a snake than his car's namesake."

Well said.

[Jac Mac]

Times like this I ' Allmost ' wish GM had said -'''certainly, we can supply you all the engines you need.'''

[lovehamr]

Originally Posted by Jac Mac

Times like this I ' Allmost ' wish GM had said -'''certainly, we can supply you all the engines you need.'''

I don't see how that would matter, Ford's not the problem.

Steve

[mpanten]

Originally Posted by lovehamr

I don't see how that would matter, Ford's not the problem.

Steve

Ford is just as bad if not worse, they want a piece of everthing and anything that says mustang or has a horse on it. They are going to great lenghts to make sure no one is making money off anything mustang related, including internet boards.

[Jac Mac]

Originally Posted by lovehamr

I don't see how that would matter, Ford's not the problem.

Steve

Correct, but if 'they' had Chevys in them I would not be as interested in the car!

[lovehamr]

Originally Posted by Jac Mac

Correct, but if 'they' had Chevys in them I would not be as interested in the car!

I gotta go with that one!

Steve

[Ant]

Originally Posted by Jac Mac

Times like this I ' Allmost ' wish GM had said -'''certainly, we can supply you all the engines you need.'''

Cut that out Jac Mac, you are starting to sound like me and a lot of the guys in the UK, Aussie and NZ who stick GM engines in anything at all.

Having said that CS did the amalgamation with AC/FORD and I know hindsight is a great thing but someone would have stuck a V8 in that chassis sooner or later, but it probably wouldnt have had the backing of a guy like CS, and the timing was right for the SCCA racing etc in the sixties. I think he should be happy the ol skinflint, he is always trying make money sometimes questionable at that. When someone comes up with a good idea there will always be copiers etc and I say he should get over it and be happy that his creation was endorsed the way it has been.

[sidewaysinthird]

Perhaps Mr $helby will invent something else, the internet (if Al Gore doesn't mind) or to keep in a mechanical vein of thought for him maybe his name will pop up on jet engines, or given some research time and the help of his lawyers he can claim to have ended slavery.

I don't claim to know all there is to know about the C$ vs $AAC, but no matter what Mr $helby says that group of people did more to keep his name and visions of spectacular performing "kit cars" from the 60's alive and well than anyone else could have done, especially him. Interview after interview both in print and on tape show him claiming those "old" cars were done and he didn't want anything to do with them. I'm from Texas also and I certainly can recognize some good ole' TX BS when I see it. For Pete's sake you couldn't miss this BS from outer space its so obvious.

I'm sorry JoeWilly if you think your icon is being wronged, but since it appears you are overly concerned with his repuation and know him so much better than the rest of us ask him for me to re-consider his actions and the cost to the legacy he claims he wants to defend.

I will say one last thing and hopefully someone can explain this to Mr $helby. Having a heart transplant does not mean you have to lose all your heart and soul.

I wonder how many SAAC members named their kids Carol, Carroll, Shelby etc....If that isn't respect for the man I don't know what it takes to show appreciation.

Kirkham or ERA for me...Never a CSX....Maybe I can get David Kirkham to sign my dash....He is a better engineer than CS ever was, oh wait he wasn't.

Mike

[DTurnbull]

The next thing you know, ol'$hel will be wanting compensation from the Sport Compact Market since he and he alone started the FWD craze with them $helby Dodges and such...

[Jac Mac]

Originally Posted by Ant

Cut that out Jac Mac, you are starting to sound like me and a lot of the guys in the UK, Aussie and NZ who stick GM engines in anything at all.

Having said that CS did the amalgamation with AC/FORD and I know hindsight is a great thing but someone would have stuck a V8 in that chassis sooner or later, but it probably wouldnt have had the backing of a guy like CS, and the timing was right for the SCCA racing etc in the sixties. I think he should be happy the ol skinflint, he is always trying make money sometimes questionable at that. When someone comes up with a good idea there will always be copiers etc and I say he should get over it and be happy that his creation was endorsed the way it has been.

As I pointed out to Lovehammer Ant, if it had been a Chevvy I wouldnt have been as interested!. The other thing is that guys like Nethercutt ( Hope I got that right in spelling ) had been transplanting Buicks/Fords/Chevs in Ferrari TR types since the late fifties and as we know there is more than a passing resemblance between the AC shape & Ferrari and a link with the designers/copiers of that decade, so really its hard to say that they were not all copying a design & principle ( Fit a big V8 in a small chassis) that had been done before. Hell there were even Kiwis fitting Morris Minor bodys on Ferrari single seater chassis etc & calling them All Comer saloons back in those days- perhaps that guy should be claiming royalties off everyone thats draped a saloon body over a formula chassis ever since.

[Johnson]

Originally Posted by Jac Mac

Times like this I ' Allmost ' wish GM had said -'''certainly, we can supply you all the engines you need.'''

Didn't Shelby try to get a chevy product off the ground, I think it was an aliminum (or aluminium ) Corvette rebodied by Scaglietti. They only got three out before Chevrolet changed there mind. Comonly called the Scaglietti Corvette.




Heres a link to a small article about it.
http://www.michaelmccafferty.com/mmmvette.htm

[Excaliber]

Should these articles be noted as, "Shelby, in his own words" or "Shelby, in his own world".

[RACERAL]

I may not be a smart mayunnn.... but I do know what a Cobra is.
Seriously... I don't quite under stand how a man that hates replica's so much.. builds them...
I also really think that all the interest in Cobras somehow has been helped along by the replicas..It only flattery. if NO replicas had ever been made... do you think the interest would have been where it has the last 15 years.....

[Joe Wicked]

Originally Posted by RACERAL

I may not be a smart mayunnn.... but I do know what a Cobra is.
Seriously... I don't quite under stand how a man that hates replica's so much.. builds them...
I also really think that all the interest in Cobras somehow has been helped along by the replicas..It only flattery. if NO replicas had ever been made... do you think the interest would have been where it has the last 15 years.....

My thoughts as well. Without the replicas and the enthusiasts, he wouldn't be selling Cobras now. I think his biggest problem is that he wants to be the only game in town and is actually trying to accomplish that. If he truly only wanted just the original few hundred on the roads, then why is he building more? Simple things that someone really needs to ask him.

[fostereast]

With any public figure goes two things. the Icon and the man. The icon is real he won Lemans in the 50's and was a great driver, he hoodwinked everyone into letting him build the Cobra on their money and he (along with his team) WON LOTS OF RACES. It's a pretty amazing story. And his team built a car that as kids we all dreamed about. The problem is their is also a man behind the icon that is not so like-able.

He has a charity that is rumored to keep the money that gets collected and spend it on his behalf. He has picked on everyone and everything that takes any attention away from himself. He even tossed Pete Brock under a bus the other week, which seems like a very silly no-win thing to do. He has also done a lot of other things of questionable integrity. And lets not forget about the 50 or so "lost" cars/frames he found "out back" that were just sitting there for 30 years.

For me its about the car that I loved as a kid and the people from "back in the day" that I hope to get lucky enough to meet. I also want to build my own, so a manufacturer that can provide me that experience is also a must. It's not about CS the man. I'll stick to enjoying the icon and the stories from "back in the day" and stay away from the man and any business he is involved in.

[Joewillie]

Do you put Shelby down because you build replicas and call them Cobras? What do you think of putting a Rolex name plate on a watch that is not a Rolex? Is that okay in your book? Could you justify your actions based on a theory that Rolex outsourced parts from other manufacturers and you can do the same thing? Can you justify these actions on the basis that Rolex doesn't really build a watch, anyway? Why don't you buid your own car and call it something besides a Cobra? Why do you capitalize on the iconic name of Cobra, the cars built by Carroll Shelby? Or, try this. Build a kit car and slap a Ferrari badge on the nose. Do you think Ferrari will stand idly by? Would Enzo, when he was alive, have autographed the glove box door for you? Do you share the same opinion as the thieves who buy a copy of a movie DVD or an artist's CD when no royalties are paid? Is this okay with you, too? People say, I can't afford a Cobra, so I have to buy a replica. Okay, well go out and buy a replica Rolex off the streets of New York. I have a friend that has a replica of a gold Rolex Daytona and the gold is 18 karat. The movement is even Rolex. He got it from a friend at the factory. But, you know what? It wasn't built by Rolex. It's a fake. It keeps great time. It was built by skilled artisans, so it looks great, too. But, it will never be a Rolex. The same goes for Cobras. Your kits will never be a Cobra. They are fakes. But, icredibly, Al Adkins claims the fakes havehelped along the real Cobras through flattery. He evens says Shelby hates replicas but builds them. So, let me ask youi Al, does this justify coying what Shelby has done including his name badge? Those street vendors in New York must be flattering Rolex, then. Of course, they are illegal. There are all manner of knock-off's of real merchandise.

[STG]

Originally Posted by Joewillie

Do you put Shelby down because you build replicas and call them Cobras? What do you think of putting a Rolex name plate on a watch that is not a Rolex? Is that okay in your book?

I put $helby down because: He badged Cobras equipped with 428s as 427s.

I put $helby down because he has a "charity" that evidently keeps 95% of the money contributed to it.

I put $helby down because he told an interviewer that Pete Brock's design of the Daytona Coupe was the biggest mistake he's ever made.

I put $helby down because he told magazine editors that he didn't mind people making copies of his old race car only years later sue FFR (and lose) over rights he doesn't hold.

I put $helby down because he put his name on the car used in the second Gone In 60 Seconds movie even though he had nothing whatsoever to do with the Chip Foose design of "Eleanor" version 2.0.

I put $helby down because the old coot tried to convince everybody that he had a stash of original CSX3000 chassis in his Gardena, California warehouse. Yessirie, he jess found um one day and sure enough they were the rest of the uncompleted/unsold run of competition 427s. $helby applied for replacement titles to the California DMV. He figured that because the chassis were originals, he could complete them as 1965 Cobras and bypass 1990 safety and smog standards. He figured he could sell these "original" Cobras for $500,000 each. Too bad he didn't figure of AC cars owner Brian Angliss filing a lawsuit claiming that AC cars had NEVER delivered bare 427 chassis to $helby American and the chassis $helby claimed to have found were not built by AC Cars. Too bad the Los Angeles Times wrote a story about this mess with an admission by cobra restorer Mike McCluskey that $helby commissioned him to build the "original" chassis. Too bad the California DMV found out about this little charade and stopped it.

It certainly looks like $helby tried to counterfeit his very own cars. Why does he hate replicas? Is that O.K. in your book?

[Ronbo]

He doesn't seem to mind selling SPF's and Kirkhams with his name on them.

Perhaps AC should shut down this horrible wrong of Shelby replicating their car...

Funny how he mentions "now that the baby boomers have all this money, I decided to start building Cobra's again".

The man's trying to claim ownership of inventing hot-rodding basically. Guess he had to move to Vegas so he could be lulled to sleep to the sound of money jingeling...

[mrmustang]

Originally Posted by Joewillie

Do you put Shelby down because you build replicas and call them Cobras? What do you think of putting a Rolex name plate on a watch that is not a Rolex? Is that okay in your book? Could you justify your actions based on a theory that Rolex outsourced parts from other manufacturers and you can do the same thing? Can you justify these actions on the basis that Rolex doesn't really build a watch, anyway? Why don't you buid your own car and call it something besides a Cobra? Why do you capitalize on the iconic name of Cobra, the cars built by Carroll Shelby? Or, try this. Build a kit car and slap a Ferrari badge on the nose. Do you think Ferrari will stand idly by? Would Enzo, when he was alive, have autographed the glove box door for you? Do you share the same opinion as the thieves who buy a copy of a movie DVD or an artist's CD when no royalties are paid? Is this okay with you, too? People say, I can't afford a Cobra, so I have to buy a replica. Okay, well go out and buy a replica Rolex off the streets of New York. I have a friend that has a replica of a gold Rolex Daytona and the gold is 18 karat. The movement is even Rolex. He got it from a friend at the factory. But, you know what? It wasn't built by Rolex. It's a fake. It keeps great time. It was built by skilled artisans, so it looks great, too. But, it will never be a Rolex. The same goes for Cobras. Your kits will never be a Cobra. They are fakes. But, icredibly, Al Adkins claims the fakes havehelped along the real Cobras through flattery. He evens says Shelby hates replicas but builds them. So, let me ask youi Al, does this justify coying what Shelby has done including his name badge? Those street vendors in New York must be flattering Rolex, then. Of course, they are illegal. There are all manner of knock-off's of real merchandise.

As you sit in your Texas homestead and write these interesting viewpoints, can I inquire as to what "Shelby product" your currently own?

Bill S.