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Shelby's lawsuit against Cobra replicas
against Factory Five a Massachusetts builder of replica Cobras and kit cars. The court ruled that Factory Five could not use any Shelby or Cobra logos on their cars or in their advertising.
Factory Five claimed it had not done so for some time and that Shelby had failed to convince the court that he owned the actual shape of the Cobra.
You can find more information in Peter DeLorenzo's rant in the Feb. 27th issue of www.autoextremeist.com
Do you think Shelby is being greedy here or does he have a legitimate ownership to protect?
Factory Five claimed it had not done so for some time and that Shelby had failed to convince the court that he owned the actual shape of the Cobra.
You can find more information in Peter DeLorenzo's rant in the Feb. 27th issue of www.autoextremeist.com
Do you think Shelby is being greedy here or does he have a legitimate ownership to protect?
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
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Shelby wanted to have Factory Five destroy their molds for the Roadster (Cobra). Along with not using the name Cobra (which is owned by Ford, NOT Shelby) on their cars or in their advertising. FF has not done this for several years. He also wanted to have every owner of a Cobra replica pay him $10,000.
Basically, the court said, "you cannot use the name Cobra". So, it is business as usually for FF. Shelby went home with nothing. Hardly a win.
Shelby also has the exact same suit filed against Superformance. FF is the largest maker of kits and Superformance is the largest maker of "turn key minus" cars. (Complete car without engine and tranny) He was trying to cover his bases here. Interesting thing here is the same judge will be hearing the Superformance case.
Here is MHO - Shelby did NOT design the Cobra. The body and chassis are from AC cars. He simply modified them. Mainly by putting in a different engine. That hardly makes it "his" design. (Steve Saleen does not claim to own the Mustang)
Some 30 years later Shelby is producing his own kit cars. He tries to pass them off as originals and charge accordingly. They cant be originals, they are NOT made by AC. Information I have seen, says that he molded his new body from a replica body. He was also caught saying that he found original frames in a wherehouse and trying to sell those cars for BIG $$$. It was a scam. He built them and left them outside to rust to look old. AC published an official statement that there were NO unaccounted for frames. His history is that of shady deals and scams, always has been. When he was trying to promote the Cobra idea, he only had one car. He painted it different colors several times to make it appear that they were in production.
Bottom line. He is building Cobra replicas (using Nevada state prison labor at that) and is simply trying to wipe out the competition. He has also slapped the people that idolized him right in the face. Pure greed.
AC was done supplying frames after the 289.The 427 chassis was a tube frame, coil over(replacing the leaf spring) built in house. I've heard the stories of the "rusted frames"
Could be true but I believe there were only 5 of them(and that they had 1960's VIN's) and the asking price was a cool 500,000.
There are currently 2 Shelby replicas. One is fiberglass and one is hand formed aluminum(like the original)
My original understanding of the 10K surcharge was that it was to go to heart disease research and that Shelby would pocket nothing.
My buddy was building the Series 1 out at the race track, I was able to hang out quite a bit during mid-shift.....had a great time!!
AC cars built ALL of the original frames, 289 and 427.
The "lost" frames deal was a sham. There were 60s VIN numbers left over (Cobras did not really sell all that well), but there were no frames. Clifornia issued a series of VINs to be used. AC cars issued an official statement citing this fact. Shelby claimed that this warehouse had all of the parts to build Cobras. This included the side oiler 427. If it was a fact that these 427s were sitting around since the 60s, then why did he put 428s is some of the "427 Cobras"? The buyers were not told either! The reason was, there was a shortage of 427 side oilers.
Yes, Shelby is producing replicas (Fglass & Al bodies) but is calling them a "genuine Cobra". Yes, he is licensed by Ford to do so. And there are quite a few replica makers out there. Kirkham also does Aluminum.
As far as the 10K surcharge, on somebody elses product, PUHLEESE. And his charity has been investigated for shady dealings before. I believe the $500,000 "original" frame cars were part of this.
I love the cars. I just don't love what CS has been doing lately. (And come to think of it, he's been doing it all along)
I honestly think a major reason the suit was filed is that Shelby discovered that there is more of a market for Cobra replicas than for the Series One.
It goes on to say CSX3001 was built in England. So I assumed that the rest were built by Shelby, even though it doesn't say one way or the other.
I see your point on the old chicken farmer. Whether it's greed or his advisors misleading him, I don't know.
I'm just glad he came up with the original concept.
I was riding in an FFR Roadster (Cobra replica - no association with Carrol Shelby, Shelby American Inc, Ford Motor Company, blah blah blah) on Saturday. I don't think the smile is off of my face yet. What a truly awsome and exceedingly FUN car, especially with the modern technology included.
Thanks Carrol for starting this.
with tan upholstery, in-dash air-con and stereo
that you could tell were fakes a mile away. As you might guess the number of replicas so far outnumbers the original that it's better to assume you're looking at a replica.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
Oh yeah -- how does everybody feel about his selling the Cobra name to Ford so they could slap it on Mustang IIs? The man has no class and no ethics. A real, honest-to-God jerk.
He's one of an almost mythical group of Americans who went to Europe in the fifties and went toe to toe with the best in sports cars and F1. You can't get a Yanks to do that anymore. They're all Indy Cars and (ugh) NASCAR. I think Shelby was the first American to drive a LeMans winner (co-drove Aston-Martin DB?, 1959 w. Ray Salvadori).
It's true that putting a V8 in a European sports car was nothing new but putting one into the lightweight AC was brilliant and created an exceptionally fast, competitive car.
Let's not forget that Shelby (and his team) was instrumental in the success of the Ford GT-40.
For sure he's a bit of a huckster and grandstander but he's also got some real achievements under his belt and we shouldn't forget that.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
What I meant by all that is that the first Cobras needed LOTS of sorting out. It wasn't like Shelby put his first V8 in an AC Ace and suddenly had a great car that won races. It didn't.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
I hope all this isn't too obscure, sorry if it is.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
Saw another 260 the next spring, Sebring weekend IIRC, at the Meadowdale, IL regionals. Street car, the owner drove it over from Milwaukee. Much much slower than the Nickey Chevrolet Sting Ray coupes.
Later on, of course, with bigger radiators, wider tires, and, yes, a bigger motor, Cobras were much more successful. But not always that much faster than 250 GTOs. Again, I remember a USRRC event at MidOhio, where M. Gammino in a GTO set up to oversteer pressed K. Miles in a 289 very hard until Miles spun artfully, put a front bumper prong into a Ferrari wheel, and ended Mike's race. Miles recovered and won.
Cheers,
Dan
It is a full tube chassis (stronger and stiffer than the original), aluminum floor, footboxes, etc. Coil over shocks, Ford 8.8 rear (some have IRS). The big thing is that you have to build it yourself (there are professional builders out there).
So, over all, with a modern engine, brakes, suspension, a better handling, faster, and more dependable car than the original.
IMHO - a great looking car with tons of power, great handling, and an unlimited supply of FUN.
A car you can really drive, or get into trouble with if you don't know how to drive.
Also, what are the specs and numbers?
Thanks!
You can do a budget build under 20K (some guys have).
I think that Badtoy above is a little high for a turnkey FFR, but on the mark for Superformance and others.
Go to www.cobraforum.com it is a forum (not by FFR, so you get the good and the bad) for FFR owners and wannabes (like me). The guys there are very nice and helpful. I have met with several of them, helped unload two kits, and been to a BBQ with 4 FFRs there and a two hour ride. All just by making contact on the forum. These guys love their cars. If you are going to build, you couldn't possibly get more help. (security in my book)
With the research I have done, FFR is by far the most bang for the buck. There are others that are more accurate replicas (ERA and Kirkham 50-90K$), but I feel FFR has made changes to enhance reliability and safety and also take some pressure off the wallet.
HEY CARROL - "FFR has no association with Cobra, Shelby, Shelby American Inc, or the Ford Motor Company." There - happy now.
Maybe when the kids are in college (only 13 more years).
What's that other toy?