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Carroll Shelby a Ford ICON is dead


gafry

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  • 4 months later...

While I am responding to add to the "Icons" true and actual heritige, it must also be remembered.................

 

 

IMHO...CS = Madoff..........just as corrupt but with a much better public relations/marketing plan!!! Sued many times for fraud (including but not limited to the Series I Shelby's), came within a "inch" of having Shelby Car Company shut down by the State of NV, Oklahoma & Texas for fraud & falsification of VINS (back when they claimed to have found unfinished Mustangs and were going to sell them as new- ooops, they were all previously owned cars with existing vins), hired people (mgt) with less than ethical reputations to run his company's, took people’s money for his "foundation" only to be audited by the IRS in 2007 (IIRR) and found that less than 1% was ever spent outside of the foundation. Yeah, and there are people who today champion Carol Shelby and Bernie Madoff who were both “Leaders, Entrepreneurs & Champions” who “just made few mistakes- something we can learn & grow from”….look at their accomplishments, please!!!!!! Their staff, friends and select family members are today, finding ways to take someone’s money and put in their pockets too using the same successful public relations/marketing scheme!!!!!!!!

 

Carroll Shelby’s Children’s Foundation Pays Out Bupkis

 

By Robert Farago on July 23, 2007

 

Automotive News writes that Carroll Shelby's Children's Foundation– set-up in 2002 after The Man's heart switch– has doled-out less than one percent of its $2.9m stash. (The money is supposed to help children who need organ transplants.) The revelation is bound to embarrass FoMoCo, as The Glass House Gang have provided four new Shelby vehicles for Carrol's charity to raffle and auction. It could also reduce the Foundation's ability to raise funds, as donors learn that their money's destined for a charitable parking lot. Although there are no implications of financial impropriety, and the Foundation now promises to "professionalize," it is worth mentioning that the Texas legend hasn't donated a single dime to his own cause.

 

LA Times: A review of the foundation's tax documents shows that from 2002 through 2005, its net assets grew from $1.6 million to $2.9 million. Yet in each of those years less than 1 percent of assets was given out as grants - a level that charity professionals say is embarrassingly low.

 

Read more: http://www.autonews.com/article/20070723/SUB/70720066#ixzz20GFjXRGq

July 8, 2010 Matt Hardigree: Oklahoma-based Classic Recreations — the company behind the Shelby GT500CR and other continuation series Mustangs — was raided today by the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigations over suspected VIN-plate swapping. It sure feels like Unique Performance all over again

 

Nov 5, 2007 Matt Hardigree: The walls are coming down around Dallas-based Unique Performance, maker of the Shelby-sort-of-endorsed Mustang GT500E Super Snake replicas and other specialty vehicles. Apparently, people have been fronting extensive chunks of change for their pricey Eleanors and not getting them for years. But that isn't why the cops raided the place. It gets worse (unless you're out $250K) after the jump.

 

When Farmers Branch, Texas police raided the place they found 61 vintage cars (the video report from the local CBS affiliate shows mostly Mustangs) in various levels of construction. After lifting the hoods, cops found VIN plates to be fake. And underneath? You guessed it. They found signs of significant scratching where the old ones were.

 

Shelby Sued, $20K GT500KR Hoods Really Only Cost $4K

 

 

January 5, 2012 Matt Hardigree

 

Shelby's latest lawsuit, involving the supplier of $20,000 GT500KR carbon fiber hoods, makes us wonder if expected legal fees are included in their prices. The original cost of those carbon fiber hoods? $4,000. Now that's one serious up-charge.

 

Win on Sunday, sell on Monday, get sued on Tuesday — is that the Shelby way? You can check out the legal papers here, but it breaks down to a few key points.

 

1. According to the lawsuit, Shelby was so anxious to get the new carbon fiber hood for the GT500KR they offered Plasan Carbon Components (the supplier) a bonus of $50 per set if they were delivered early. It wasn't possible so they, the suit claims, agreed to half the amount when the products were delivered a week after the deadline. The hoods arrived but they were never paid.

 

2. Plasan created five Knight Rider hoods, of cheaper quality for stunt work, and were never paid for these.

 

The most interesting fact? Those $20K replacement hoods cost only about $4K to make according to details in the suit. Shelby will explain this away by saying they had to develop and test the new hoods, which is true, but they're still amortizing the developments with their customer's checkbooks.

 

Lawsuits are an old tradition between manufacturers and suppliers and this one, like most, will probably be settled out of court.

 

Upfront: Upheaval at Shelby

Parts supplier takes over, customers riled over Series 1 price hikes.

 

Carroll Shelby's long-running struggle to fill orders for his highly publicized Series 1 supercar got a shot in the arm in March when a major parts supplier took over the job of manufacturing them and set in place a new management team. But while this booster shot has energized the fragile operation and seems to guarantee that the first batch of 500 Series 1 sports cars will be produced, upwards of 225 buyers may view it as a slap in the face. They are being informed that the price they must pay has gone up as much as $29,975 -- take it or leave it -- and a bunch of them are threatening to take Shelby's company to court, further entangling the project.

 

The parts supplier, Larry Winget, owner of an array of automotive manufacturing and engineering companies under the Venture Holdings Company umbrella, propped up the company with a $10 million injection and brought in a former GM plant manager, who has worked for Venture for 11 years, to run the Las Vegas assembly line. In return, Winget's company got an undisclosed equity share of Shelby American.

In response to questions from Car and Driver in late March, Venture explained that it has been the supplier of the plastic interior and exterior of the Series 1 and that when "Shelby got into operational and financial difficulties," Venture, "rather than allowing a terrific program to disintegrate . . . arranged for Shelby to have sufficient capital to complete 500 Series 1 vehicles."

 

The problem is that there are buyers who are still awaiting delivery of their Series 1 cars -- most have put up deposits of $25,000 or more and signed contracts they believe are binding -- for prices that are well below what Shelby and Winget's people, stuck with rising costs, can reportedly sell them for without losing money. Sources say 27 cars have been delivered at the original asking price in 1997 of $99,975, but as many as 225 customers with contracts will be asked to pay premiums of up to $29,975.

 

Venture told C/D that "buyers who do not want to pay the increase are being offered a full refund." That is being interpreted as take it or leave it. So far, about 285 buyers have signed on for the sports car at varying sticker prices. In January 1997, the car was offered for $99,975, which increased in March 1998 to $106,975, then to $113,975 in December of that year, and finally to $134,975 in September 1999.

 

Some observers feel Shelby American is now trying to get out of those contracts, and that position is supported by Venture's declaration that "Shelby American anticipates being able to resell these canceled vehicles for considerably more than $129,750." Others view Venture's take-it-or-leave-it stance as simply business as usual and necessary to keep the project afloat. Venture said the costs of producing the car have increased "significantly" as a result of "the changes related to final certification" and the costs of production startup. Venture apparently has deep pockets -- Forbes magazine listed it in December 1999 as the 50th largest privately held company in the United States, a $2.3 billion enterprise based in Fraser, Michigan, a tier-one supplier doing business with almost all major global automakers.

 

But the experiences of one buyer, Graham Dorland of the Seattle area, demonstrate the potential for a legal imbroglio. Dorland signed a contract to buy a Series 1 car in August 1999, a contract he says Shelby American also signed, for $113,975. On March 17, the company informed Dorland that "we believe that we will be able to deliver a vehicle to you for a price of $129,975," blaming the increase on certification and startup costs that were "unexpected." Dorland threatened legal action and still has not been given a delivery date for the car.

- Steve Mayer and Steve Spence

 

You also have to remember, back when Shelby "took Credit" for the Cobra/Mustang concept, it was actually done 5+ years earlier by Chrysler using a Ace type car from europe......Shelby had just completed a racing contract with GM.....they were soooo happy with the way he worked with them they (GM Senior Execs) would not allow CS past the lobby of the corp offices...he went to Chrysler who knew him well, same response.....he went to Ford as a last resort......Ford was in major financial trouble & that was the only reason CS & Ford went together...and the relationship was in trouble from the beginning......by year 3, CS wasn't even building the remaining end of the mustnags...100% of production was shipped to an aftermarket speciaility car builder in Detriot.

 

think about every one of those critically ill/dying children we saw in ad's PR materials, etc whose families were promised support & recieved NOTHING......

 

Honest, ethical...you decide, a man with no conscious.....yes....

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