[cbgolz]

[font="Impact"]To Amy Boylan: Please respond to the request below: This seems to be an very innocent request to preserve the integrity of the "original" Shelby cars, and to prevent "fakes" which will surely abound if there is no watchdog for the Ford VIN/Shelby VIN link. Having these numbers in the public domain, you must admit is dangerous, and can seriously damage the value and integrity of these "original" and "preserved" cars. The links between the Ford Vins and Shelby #s have been carefully preserved, precisely to prevent this type of dilution and destruction of value. Please respond. We Shelby Owners (of the original cars) need to know that you are on our side, and will not publish all the link numbers and encourage fraud, which will surely unsue. There is too much money in the game now, and access to all original numbers will create chaos. We must be assured that these "linked numbers" will not be published, period. Please respond. This is a crucial issue to vintage Shelby owners. We have tremendous sums of money invested in preserving the few "original cars that remain, and we need to know that all of our investment of time and money is not in vain. If the "linked numbers " are published, there will be no way to distinguish between an original car and a clone with repro data plates, etc. This issue is paramount in importance to the maintenance of the original Marque. Please give your assurance that if you do get the SAAC records, that you will protect them as SAAC did. This is our only refuge against the scam artists. We need your help, and your assurance that the records will be protected and monitored as SAAC did. The registrars did a marvelous job of security.
My major concern, as the owner of a '65 GT350 and a '70 GT500 is that, if the records from SAAC are ever "turned over" to any other entity (CAI or anyone else), will the integrity of those records, including the original Ford VINs linked to the original Shelby cars, be maintained? If access to those linked VINs is made available to the general public, my fear is that it would unleash a torrent of fakes and clones with numbers to match the "real" original Shelbys. Whatever you all may say about SAAC, the one thing they have always held sacred is the protection of those original Ford VINs, to prove the authenticity of the original cars. Without that protection, I am confident that the value of the original Shelby production cars from '65 to '70 will plummet. Obviously, as the owner of two of these cars, my comments are self serving, but I know there are many other "original car" owners who share my feelings. We have all invested a ton of time and money restoring and preserving these vehicles, and have finally seen the values increase in recent years. I shudder to think what would happen to that valuation, if all of the Ford/Shelby VIN links were available in the public domain. I would like to hear Amy's comments about that possibility, which has been mentioned in several Shelby chat rooms between enthusiasts. We (as owners of the original Shelby cars) need to hear that our valuations will not be diluted due to widespread distribution of this Ford/Shelby link of VIN/car numbers. That would truly be a disaster for all of us who have preserved these cars in their original form. There is no room for fakes, and distribution of these numbers would destroy the integrity of the originals. Any comments, Amy?[/quote]