[gary osborne]

Evan,

I never thought I would hear myself say this but I think I MAY have to agree with you ---- at least in part. Building a competitive product (and I am NOT saying that the old SAI product is not good --- only talking about meeting yet another niche in the market) is a good move on Shelby's part and a delay when launching a new product is NOT unusual. I also agree that it is a little early to say that SAI will somehow fail in their attempt to compete in this market niche. We all hope that they build a great product and have successful sales and happy customers. SAI has pleased cusotmers for years and proclaiming any failure on their part is premature.

That said, I have to challenge a couple of your remarks (mostly because it is fun --- LOL). You said that :

"Some companies currently take a year to a year and a half just to deliver a car in roller form."

I was unaware of that long time frame but I certainly won't challenge you on that. I think the more important question is not how long does it take but what does the company promise?

You also said:
" I think its a little too soon to start crowing "I told you so" by the anti Shelby crowd. I'm sure there are many how would love to see SAI fail at this South African effort so they can fan the flames of anti CS vitriol."

Just because someone doesn't hold SAI in the same high regards as you do, does NOT make them "the anti-shelby crowd" anymore than your defense of SAI makes you a part of the "if it ain't real it sucks" crowd. Branding people or calling anyone with a different opinion than yours some "disparaging name" just fans the flames.

I would also say that most do NOT want SAI to fail in their new efforts. Actually, the competition helps everyone. It keeps manufacturers on their toes, quality high and prices down.

Furthermore, this thread was started by a CSX buyer and followed up with a second post by another CSX buyer - not the "anti-shelby crowd". If ANYONE said anything negative, (and I did NOT read it that way) it would be those who are asking about "where is my car and what is the news" which (in my opinion) is a fair question and not a complaint. The one person who said "I told you so" only said that he predicted (at the recent news of the CAV SAI split) that customers would somehow suffer (and that is a relative term). If you consider having to wait longer for a car you are about to bust over as suffering, then you would have to agree with the author of the comment. If you don't think a few more months of waiting is a big deal (hey, some have waited a lifetime) then you would disagree. In either case, turning this into a "anti-shelby" thing is unfair and inaccurate. It has far more to do with a person's definition of "suffering"

No one (in this thread anyway) said that SAI customers were taking a unreasonable "risk" or ANY risk for that matter. Those are YOUR words. The fact is that the SA CSX is being delayed and not delivered as originally promised. Doesn't make SAI a bad company. It is unfortunate but unavoidable. Hopefully, quality will remain high and schedules resumed soon - and there does not seem to be a reason to assume anything more than a few months delay is imminent.

So congrats Evan for calming the waters for CSX buyers who are apparently nervous or anxious or eager or whatever about the delivery of their Cobras. They need to take a deep breath and chill. The cars will surely come eventually. However, shame on ya for trying to shift the discussion from Cobra deliveries to non-shelby owner bashing. LOL