..no I don't think Shelby would sell his name for 2 million...of course he has "sold" it for much less in the past but that is a different issue.
Everybody keep in mind that Venture is in re-orginazation and there would be legal restrictions on what and how they can sell. The "Cobra" name would not be sold, they don't own it. SAI is licensed by FoMoCo to use it under a guideline. Most licensing agreements, including the one I held with Ford, restrict the transfer of the license. Therefor FFR may or may not be able to continue use of the trademark. Ford may choose to approve or deny any request to use the mark.
As CS is a minority shareholder in SAI he will have little say in what happens. If the company should sell (and my bet is it will NOT at this time) he may choose to just walk away and not lend his efforts to sales, marketing or any other areas. CS may not be able to stop the company from selling "Shelbys" however he may and probably can restrict the use of the "Carroll Shelby" image, signature and other related marks as I am understand these are in his licensing company and are probably licenswed to SAI. He may or may not have recieving payment for their use but I imagine he would discontinue the allowance of their use if SAI changes hands to an entity he deens unworthty.
As has been mentioned SAI has only "goodwill" and "name" as real value. I would imagine the real "hard asset" balance sheet is not very pretty and that there is a LARGE entry for goodwill on the asset side. The Series 1 would be a loser to any purchaser and even the Cobra line cannot generate gross profits enough to completely offset the high overhead SAI has. While the prison labor may be cheap they have a "big nut" in the facilty, staff and marketing department. Have you seen the transports and other vehicles SAI has? If Series 1s were spitting out to waiting customers these could be justified but at the current rate of sale I understand SAI has about a 15 year supply of Series 1 engines and chassis'. Imagine this: Kirkham buys SAI, they already build the cars, they would only need to add the name and VIN and Voila! new Shelbys. Keep in mind that the "CSX" number is not a trademarked item and that it was assigned by AC Cars, not SAI. There are replicas, kits, whatever you want to call them out there now that are registered with a "made up" CSX number.
I am not privvy to the figures involved but my assesment of SAI is based on public information and industry buzz. I could be wrong....but then I could be right. As Billy Joel sang "I'm either right or or maybe I'm wrong.."
Rick
