Shelby does it again...Autoweek

[CSX 4027]

In this weeks Autoweek Shelby has decided to bury the hatchet with none other than AC Cars and ink a deal. Info to follow says autoweek.
I guess this means that eventually we will see the next group of continuation cars coming from the original source as they did in the 60's. Holy Time warp!!! Finally an Original AC Shelby Cobra.
Where do I send my deposit...

[iaspf]

This should get interesting, as SPF and AC cars have common ownership.....

[Fox]

Oh S**t!

I was just getting o.k. with my replica decision back then it was ERA or SPF.

Then it was ERA vs. SAI CSX roller...

Now I have to decide SAI vs. AC...

It's like Pentium chips, just wait 6 mo. the one you have will be outdated.

I am starting to think the ERA wait is nothing compared to the 'real" saga. As a matter of fact, it looks pretty good again!

-John

[sambrozy]

I always thought that SPF would be a good partner for Shelby. I guess we will have to wait and see how the CAV cars come out.

I think I read somewhere that the new AC cars are in the US. It is really getting confusing about one car.

[Dan Stryffeler]

Hey,

I'm missing something here... went to www.autoweek.com but can't find any reference to this story.

Was it on the site or on the TV show?

Thanks,

Dan

[computerworks]

(..knowing full well the risk this brings... I mean for another megathread...)

The actual quote is:

"Carroll Shelby, who in August cemented a new relationship with former nemesis Ford to develop future Shelby-branded products, is burying the hatchet with another adversary, AC Cars of England. Shelby and AC chairman Alan Lubinsky will announce a deal shortly to cooperate on brand and product issues that have divided the two former partners for decades.

Says Shelby, “This is about clearing up all the crap that’s gone on for 25 years—and giving us a leg up on all the counterfeiters” of cars Shelby for years has alleged have illegally commandeered his designs and brand names."


I must point out that Alan Lubinsky is NOT the 'Jim Price-SPF-new AC'- side of the house.

[rdorman]

"Counterfeit" COUNTERFEIT.......... that son of a bi......

Oh never mind!

Been there done that

I would love to see a Shelby Cobra built by AC. That to me would be even more authentic.

Rick

[R U YELLA]

So if Shelby & AC start making the AC/Shelby Cobra 427 (with permission from Ford to use the word Cobra) will he then be able to get his trademark or tradedress on the 427 shape or that still will not matter since it was thrown out of court since he abandoned it years back?

Says Shelby, “This is about clearing up all the crap that’s gone on for 25 years—and giving us a leg up on all the counterfeiters”

So if they do the same as in the 60's where AC suppiles the car less engine to Shelby then Shelby cannot install the engine & sell it to Joe Blow because he will have to meet current safety standards.

What ever the case this will bring history full circle and will be neat to see what happens. It still won't change my mind on who to buy from.

Catch ya later
Ed

[Dan Stryffeler]

Whoa....

Re-read the quote;

"...will announce a deal shortly to cooperate on brand and product issues that have divided the two former partners for decades. "

This could be about agreeing on anything from the history of the cars; i.e. who manufactured what, to copyrights, to letterhead, to apparel, to cars - let's not jump the gun here.

Just because he goes on to rant about "counterfeiters", doesn't necessarily mean it has anything to do with the cars. Remember, he has no legal right to call a Factory Five or a Superformance a "counterfeit", just as the owners of those cars have no legal right to call their cars, (or mine for that matter) a "Cobra"... so it's just kinda meaningless, as usual.

When the deal is done, which with these things often doesn't happen, then we will see what it's all about.

Just my opinion.

- Dan

[Excaliber]

...tick, tick, tick,,,,,,,,,,,,this stuff is da bomb baby!!! Looks like some REAL exciting news shapeing up!

Potential meg-a-thread,,,,,,yeah, or quick sand, LOL

Ernie

[Dan Stryffeler]

Yeah...

I've got that sinking feeling

[REAL 1]

Very neat!

I think it would be really great to see.

However, I doubt we will see any AC rollers coming in for Shelby (at least according to my sources connected to SAI) First Jim Price apparently owns an interest in AC now. This was clearly established right here on CC by our sources "in the know". Lubinsky is apparently close with Price. What are the chances Price will allow Shelby access to AC rollers? Slim to none probably. It would totally defeat Price's move to counter SAI by acquiring AC or a large interest in it. In fact If I remember weren't there those here who not only emphatically stated that Price bought AC but acquired the jigs and tooling also? If thats so forget any AC rollers being buit for Shelby.

Second even assuming Mr. Price/SPF is out of the equation, the cost of producing an AC is very high. Their manufacturing process is no where near as advanced and digitized as Kirkham Bros. Their original process was all by hand with worked aluminum by English wheel. Very nice to be sure but very labor intensive and slow.

Shelby got away from the Kimmons bodied Cobras for the very fact that production was very slow and the price was too high. Their decision to use Kirkham was based on the quality of the product (very high), ability to meet supply demand and cost.

Last I checked with AC (2 1/2 years ago), the price of an exact 427 SC rendition was close to $200K with a nice wait. Then add shipping and duty.

I just don't see it happening. I think Dan is probably right here.

[G.R.]

Everytime Caroll Shelby is quoted--some believe it is the voice of the Cobra god--and people take a lot of the bs out of context or fill it in with their own interpretation--and proclaim it true--others can't stand him and will deride everything said, then things get butt ugly -- and it goes on and on and on

Read the article--I agree with Dan and Ron --unless you have 100% certifiable evidence that AC and Shelby will once again build cars, don't state it here--read the article--DUH!--read Ron's note at the end of the article--

We definitely do not need another long thread based on speculation, innuendo, and bs that goes nowhere--

[Mark IV]

...Mr. Alan Lubinsky. Some of his history follows. I will admit to having had a very unsatisfactory business relationship with him in the past so some of this may be written off to "sour grapes" but the man has a history of stock manipulation and has announced many new schemes for AC that have not come to fruition. He was moving the factory to Malta, had financing from Australia, etc. etc. etc.

One of his partners (Christopher Kinsley)has been indited in New York for stock manipulation involving Lubinsky's former operation, Pride Automotive Group. Pride was in trouble in the UK and the auditers questioned its ability to "continue as a going concern"...UK speak for upside down. The wall street company Mason Hill & Co. handled the "reverse merger" of Pride into Digital Mafia Emtertainment (symbol DGMF) now called DME in which Lubinsky took hundreds of thousands of shares. Look at what it trades for now, was at $13.00 back in 2001.

http://www.oag.state.ny.us/press/200...sep19b_02.html

and more:
Take DME Interactive. Last year, Darien Dash, CEO of 5-year-old Digital Mafia Entertainment, transformed his privately held Internet services firm into a company publicly traded on the Nasdaq exchange. (DME was listed after it acquired the assets of Pride Automotive Group, a publicly traded automotive leasing company, in a transaction known as a reverse merger.) Shortly after going public, the company, which received much fanfare, and enough credibility to ink a multimillion-dollar deal with AOL Inc. and CompuServe Interactive Services Inc. to launch Places of Color, an urban Internet access community. Yet just a few months later, rumors began to circulate that the company was in trouble. The rumors were confirmed by the third quarter of this year. SEC filings revealed that as of June 30, DME had only $27,222 in cash. During the summer, the cash-strapped enterprise laid off 60 employees--and halted plans to launch Places of Color and Fan4Life.com.

DME and other dotcoms are operating in a far more discriminating environment. Cooper believes the current shakeout will bring more instability to what was an increasingly segmented space and "force companies that don't have a sustainable business model out of the marketplace."

If you do research on Pride and Lubinsky you will find a trail of press releases that never come to fruition.

That he has "made nice" with CS is just more smoke. And it does not even begin to address some other legal issues that I am not at liberty to disclose.

All in all, someone to watch very carfully if you do business with him.

Rick

[REAL 1]

MkIV: Thanks for the info.

Add what MkIV posted as my "third" reason why I don't think an AC roller will be built for SAI.

[427 S/O]

Old shel' will probably buy enough tickers to out live us all.............

[CSX 4027]

I think Carroll will get it done just because he can. He will depart this planet knowing that he and his Cobra business came full circle. AC to Kit car battles to Shelby glass to Shelby Kirkham Aluminum to AC.
As for the Jim Price thing...Think of it as if you were Price. You own a kit car company that is the target of legal battles from Carroll Shelby. Carrol decides to make cars at about the same price as SPF in SA and get CSX numbers and registry participation for the buyers. Now Price buys AC, a cash poor company that sell few expensive aluminum cars as per the 60's. Now his investment leads to an agreement between AC and Shelby which will give AC the ability to potentially sell more cars because of the CSX number and the relationship. So, who benefits? Price. Seems like a no brainer.

[REAL 1]

Steve: Possibly. But I think there is so much bad blood between the two its unlikely. I think or would guess actually that Price wants the AC badge and fixtures for SPF and to link the two together to compete with Shelby on equal footing. It certainly gives panache' to SPF. Giving AC rollers to Shelby would defeat his original goal and possibly even be counter productive to SPF since SAI would now have all the cards so to speak and this would add even more panache' to the lower priced CSXs from SA resulting in a smaller market share for SPF.

Even if Price were to agree to sell AC rollers to ol' Shel the cost would be prohibitive and the wait too long especially if they are gonna build them like they used to.

If I were a betting man (and I'm not) my money would'nt be on seeing an AC roller program for SAI.

Time will tell.

[wtcobra]

I heard that Superformance has acquired an interest in Crosley and Shelby is wooing Nash so that they can go head to head in that segment of the market, and of course FFR is negotiating to buy a huge chunk of Hudson. The rumor is all three will field teams in the new FASCAR series that is engaged in major talks with the BBC as we speak for television rights to that new racing concept. I understand Numbnuts is under consideration for Director of Operations, but can't decide whether to leave his post at gasholes.com for fear that Turk & Cranky may seek joint revenge on the gentle and kind Hogtied.

Just wondering if anyone else has heard anything about any of this, maybe G.R. or Ron, the c-man? Wayne

[CSX 4027]

I think there would be no other reason for an agreement other than AC manufactured CSX rollers.
Why else would they talk? They aren't going to market Studebakers!!