http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=4003055&an=0&page=
0&gonew=1#UNREAD

It looks like "Ol' Shel" is back to his ol' tricks again.

Detroit. There's no doubt that Carroll Shelby, the free-wheeling Texan
and ex-race driver behind the famous Ford-powered Cobra from the 60s -
a brilliant blend of California hot-rod know-how and a light but
fragile AC cars-built sports car chassis from England - made history.
The magnificent Cobra, probably the most seductive combination of
visceral all-American V-8 power and brute speed ever unleashed on the
American landscape, is still the iconic sports cars of that once
golden era, or for any era, for that matter.

Shelby and his band of California hot-rodder cohorts - made up of some
of the most naturally-gifted talent ever assembled on a racing team -
stood the racing world on its ear in one of the most glorious chapters
of American racing history. His team's achievements will survive for
all time, and the legend surrounding those cars and the talented
individuals who were part of that fleeting moment in racing history
will live on too.

But there was always another side to Shelby - the one that didn't
endear him to many and ultimately pissed-off quite a few over the
years - and that was his mercenary mentality that seemed to infect
everything he did. This was a man who spent virtually his entire
career never really appreciating the moment because he was so wrapped-
up in wrangling his next buck.

When the insurance industry began to clamp-down on the muscle car
mania in the U.S. in the late 60s, Shelby sensed that the Cobra's time
had passed. Racing had changed too. His Cobra roadsters were replaced
by the beautiful Peter Brock-designed "Daytona" Cobra coupes, which
were eventually replaced by the Ford GT during the mid-engine racing
car revolution, so he cut a deal with Ford and sold his name, so they
could continue building "Shelby" Mustangs, even though the later
models bore no resemblance to the raucous and unruly early versions
that tore-up race tracks all across the country.

But as always Shelby didn't care, it was the deal he was most
interested in.

He looked upon his iconic Cobra as so much dead weight and scrap by
then, and he sold-off most of the remnants of that era without
flinching - because there was no action in busted-up old race cars or
yesterday's street cars. And he was ready to move on to other things.

He would have a falling out with Ford shortly after, a situation that
wouldn't be resolved for nearly 30 years, and not long after he moved
on to his next project - lending his name and reputation to Lee
Iacocca - so that he could help the cigar-chomping ex-Ford sales guru
inject some life into a decidedly moribund product lineup at Chrysler.
The resulting "Shelby"-branded front-wheel-drive "K-car"-based cars
made the Cobra faithful cringe, but it didn't surprise those who knew
Shelby well, because after all, it was always about the deal for
Shelby, and his Chrysler adventure was just another example of that.

Meanwhile, a phenomenon was building all over the country. Even though
Shelby couldn't care less about his Cobra, there were plenty of people
who did, including a hard-core group of Cobra enthusiasts who formed
the Shelby American Automobile Club (SAAC). These folks were dedicated
to the preservation and complete documentation of Shelby's vehicles -
from Cobras to Mustangs - and basically kept the flame going for
Shelby.

But there was something else happening with the whole Cobra "thing"
too, because entrepreneurs were starting to come out of the woodwork
to build "replica" Shelby Cobras. And it became a booming business.
People were making some serious dough building excellent and in some
cases outstanding Cobra replicas.

Slowly, but surely, Shelby began to acknowledge his history and
started to appear at SAAC events, autographing the glove boxes and
trunk lids of his cars - both real and replicas - and enjoying all of
the back-slapping and the boot polishing being directed toward him as
he was treated like a king.

Then, as if right on cue, Shelby, the guy who couldn't have been
bothered about history when he sold the remnants of the Cobra
adventure for scrap, started to get pissed-off that so many people
were making serious money off of his Cobra. And that was absolutely
the last straw. Shelby hated anyone getting between him and making a
buck, and even though he was the one who decided long before that his
"old" sports cars didn't amount to squat in value, all of a sudden the
"legacy" of his car became of paramount concern to him, and he went on
a binge suing everybody in sight in order to "protect" his name and
his Cobra from these interlopers.

He even tried to copyright the body design of the Cobra, even though
its design lineage could be traced back through at least two Italian
sports cars before the AC Bristol, the car the Cobra was based on.
Fortunately, the courts told him to go pound sand on that last point.

Of course, there were other Shelby adventures that occupied his time
too. He tried to resurrect the spirit of the Cobra with the Dodge
Viper, and even though the real car never equaled the concept, it
still survives today, albeit with no real connection to Shelby
whatsoever.

He tried to cash in on his legacy one more time with an ill-fated
sports car project using Oldsmobile Aurora power, with the whole
project running out of juice long before anyone cared. He even
reconciled with Ford, more for the money than for any of the other
noble reasons (tradition, history, etc.) bandied about at the time
when the announcement was made. And Ford now uses the Shelby name
every chance it gets today.

And, as of late, since he's on borrowed time health-wise (he's a heart
transplant recipient) and he's in his 80s, and while in the course of
doing heart-related charity work through his foundation, he's been on
a crusade to consolidate all of his interests and solidify his
reputation and legacy once and for all.

His latest target? The Shelby American Automobile Club.

Shelby is not renewing the licensing agreement with the club, figuring
there has to be money to be made in there somewhere, and he's
demanding - through his lawyers - that the club turn over all of its
research data and other information (its Shelby American World
Registry published every ten years is the "bible" for anything and
everything having to do with the documentation, authentication and
owner history of Shelby cars) accumulated since January 1, 1996, and
anything to do with their business, including their financial
statements (which Shelby has no right to), so he can start his own
Shelby club, which will replace the SAAC. Just like that.

Nice.

The SAAC has been Shelby's champion for 33 years, literally making an
icon out of the guy. Back in the dark days when Shelby was pissing
away his time on his latest money-generating idea of the week, the
SAAC kept the Shelby legacy alive. It could even be argued that
without the SAAC, Shelby's stature in this business would be seriously
diminished from the lofty perch he occupies today.

But that really doesn't matter much at this point because with this
move, Shelby has once again confirmed for everyone what he's been
about since Day One. And it's not about the legacy of the Cobra or
"protecting" his name or anything like that. It's not about the
championships or the men and women who helped him achieve racing
history. No, it's about the money, pure and simple.

Which could be a problem in this case, because it is seriously
doubtful that any of Shelby's new hired hands could ever create or run
a club as well as the SAAC has been run up to this point (a club
that's considered to be one of the finest of its kind in the world).

Not to mention the fact that Shelby probably should have been paying
the SAAC all of these years for the job they've done in protecting and
perpetuating his legacy and the legacy of the Cobra. Ah, but that's
notgonnahappen.com, because as we all know Shelby never pays for
anything if he can possibly avoid doing so.

Needless to say, this move isn't going over well with the Cobra
faithful at the SAAC who long ago figured out that there was more than
a little something to all those tales about the "other" side of
Shelby. Inside sources tell me that Shelby personally called every
SAAC registrar who currently works for the club and requested that
they all come and work for him at his "new" club. Every one of them
said, "No, thanks." Ouch. And other SAAC officials are being steadfast
in their belief that after more than three decades, the information
that the SAAC has worked so hard to accumulate is proprietary, and
that Shelby has no right or claim to it, and to make its point, the
SAAC is gathering proper legal representation.

It is said that all of the maneuvering that Shelby is doing now is
being done in the name of protecting his legacy after he's gone. But
other than the magnificent original cars themselves, that legacy has
been left in tatters by one too many schemes, one too many quick-buck
deals, and turning his back one too many times on the people who
helped create that legacy in the first place.

Yes, a "new" Shelby club will get created somehow, but the damage has
already been done, and the value of this new organization will be
dubious, at best. Meanwhile, a lot of the people who kept the Shelby
flame alive all these years will now be walking away from him - for
good.

Thanks for listening, see you next Wednesday.