I'm Dying...and I want to drive my car...All Read Please
 

This is very strange. I just received this e-mail and I have no idea who this person is or why this was sent to me as I don't have a clue. Can anyone shed any light on this or did any of you get this also?????????

Here it is:
Subj: I am dying and want to drive my car - Please help
Date: 12/8/04 3:18:46 PM Central Standard Time
From: dkmiller@harborside.com
To: GEM427@aol.com
Sent from the Internet (Details)



I am dying and would like to get my car finished so that I can drive it
before I pass from this life. My name is Dwayne Gregory; I have been
battling Bladder Cancer for the past 5 years. I have under gone many
surgeries and much pain in the process, but I have always managed to have a
good attitude about it all. After returning from a recent the Finals for
the Viper Days, Viper racing League in Hallett, OK, I went in for a checkup.
The next morning they operated on me and have discovered that my cancer has
spread to my liver. The Doctors say I have about 60 - 90 days left. On
Monday 12/13/04 I fly to Rochester and the Mayo Clinic for some last ditch
chemo.

My Dream car has always been the 65' Shelby Cobra. In late October of 2002 I
traveled to Las Vegas to see Shelby Automobiles, Inc. and order my dream
car. The dream of this car has kept me going through the many bad times. Mr.
Marsh recommended that I use Roy Hunt, Owner of Finish Line Motorsports
(Recognized Dealer for Shelby Automobiles) build my car from the rolling
chassis purchased from Shelby. On November 1st 2002 gave a $50,000 deposit
to Roy Hunt from Finish Line Motorsports, Inc. At this time I was told that
my car would be done in 9 months.

Four months later (February 2003) I got a call from Shelby's Dealer (Finish
Line Motorsports, Inc.) and was told that the car was ready for paint and
that, per the contract, I would need to send another $50,000 (total to this
point $100,000).

In March 2003 I traveled to Las Vegas, with a friend, to attend a meeting
for Harley Owners Group (HOG) officers and Dealers. We got into town early
and went out to the Las Vegas Speedway Industrial Park were both Carroll
Shelby Automobiles, Inc. and Finish Line Motorsports, Inc. assemble the
cars. Upon arrival at Roy Hunt's business (Finish Line) he waltzed us around
and showed us some cars, then took us to Kroyer to see the engine block. He
pointed out this one engine and said that was mine. Thereafter, Hunt took us
over to Shelby Automobiles were the car was SUPPOSE to be getting painted.
We walked in the back door through a graveyard full of Series 1 cars up to
the paint area. Hunt pointed to a car that was being prepped for paint and
told my friend & I that "This is your car." Everything looked good we
chatted with the painter (a real nice guy) got back in our car and started
to leave. Then my friend remembered that he wanted to leave his glove
compartment door from his Viper to have Carroll Shelby sign it. As we were
leaving Bob Marsh (one of Shelby's Managers) invited us into his office we
chatted about Vipers and Cobras. Then I asked Marsh about the Shelby
Registry and told him that my car was CSX4311. Marsh replied, no that car
has been assigned to someone else. I then told Mr. Marsh that Roy Hunt had
just showed us the car in the paint booth. Mr. Marsh said that car is not
yours; you don't even have a chassis yet. On further inquiry we found out
that Dwayne's car had NOT EVEN BEEN STARTED. Roy Hunt was summoned to Bob
Marsh's office and admitted that he had lied. We also pointed out the fact
that we have video taped the whole events of the morning and had him on tape
telling us that the engine and car was mine when in fact is was not. So
after some tense moments I told him that I still wanted the car and he said
that he had a chassis at his shop that he would use to build the car. Hunt
further said that since he already had $100,000 deposit that he would not
need any more money till the car was done.

In January 2004 (14 months after the initial deposit) I took a Harley ride
to Las Vegas after attending a Viper Race with some friends. After we got
into Vegas the four of us went to see how the car was coming. We stopped at
Roy Hunts place (Finish Line) we got the old song & dance, then went to
Shelby's and actually saw the painted aluminum body. The color is
Harley-Davidson 100th silver with two black stripes. It was awesome. We then
went to Kroyer and saw the 600 H.P. engine they were building, it was still
in pieces. I sat down in Roy Hunt's office and was told that he was having
cash flow problems and that he would work on the car as he got deposit money
from other customers. We were told that the car would be done in a just few
months.

In February 2004 Roy Hunt told me he was having financial problems and did
not have the money to get the car out of Shelby's paint department. In March
2004 (16 months later) Brent Fenimore from Shelby told Dwayne that they
would personally see that the car got finished. Thereafter, Dwayne sent them
another $20,000 (Total to this point $120,000).

In July (20 months now) I met with my attorney from Texas, and Roy Hunt and
Brent Fenimore from Shelby. More song and dance and the engine was not
done. Hunt told me that he did not have the money to get the engine from
Kroyer's across the street, that they would not finish and dyno the engine
unless they were paid. Dwayne gave Hunt another $20,000 (Total to this point
$140,000). It was agreed that Hunt would now finish the car within 90 days.

In October after attending the Viper Racing League's, Finals in Hallett, I
drove back through Las Vegas so I could check on the car and arrange for
pick-up. Upon arrival he was shown a car far from complete with no engine or
tranny. I went next door to Kroyer and was shown my engine, which still
needed to be dyno-ed. Kevin Kroyer told me the engine was paid for and
showed him that his serial number had been stamped into the block.

December 2004 (25 months later and he still has no car) the people at Shelby
will not return my phone calls Roy Hunt will not speak to me and has no
money to finish the car and I am dying. I have but one final request that I
get to drive my finished car. Can someone please help me get my car
finished? Can Carroll Shelby himself see that Roy Hunt finishes the car? My
time on the earth is small. Please help me.

Dwayne Gregory
541-297-6522

Not sure of the validity of the email, but "Danny" the poster is listed on the Viper owners of America web site. Where his profile also lists him as owner of a Harley Dealership , as well as being a lawyer.

If it is indeed a valid and truthful email, then I think something should be done. Perhaps a call to CNN, and the local ABC, CBS, and NBC local affiliates


Bill S.

This is a horrible situation!!!!
 

Let me say that as I read this I become more upset with each line. If this is all true, surely we as a group can impose some fiancial "sanctions" on Finishline and Shelby. I would still be upset if the man was healthy. This is no way to do business. A lot of times one man gets pushed around by big companies and they feel helpless. Lets get to the bottom of this and get some satifaction for this poor guy! He has made some strong statements and I for one want to know what is going on! I would like to hear from finishline and Carroll Shelby! Defend yourself!

Listen...shouting out on this site for either party to answer is fruitless.

If you want to find out if this is true... call the guy that e-mailed Gary..

Or, contact either of these...

Finish Line Motorsports, Inc.
6975 Speedway Blvd. Ste. D101
Las Vegas, NV 89115

voice: (702)643-7994
fax: (702)643-7972

sales@finishlinecobraslv.com

Shelby Automobiles, Inc.
6755 Speedway Blvd.
Las Vegas, NV 89115
voice: (702) 942-7325
Fax (702)-932-6272

sales@shelbyautos.com

Strang indeed
 

I got the same email it must be going to Shelby forum members?
To the untrained eye there must be more to this story, so far it's a real tear jerker & very very sad if is at all true!! I HOPE IT'S A SAD JOKE!
:(

If true: Time for his lawyer to earn his keep. Federal court has a nice ring to it.

If false: May the writer go to hell.

I hope that I am wrong about this but I get a bad feeling when the writer of this refers to himself as "I", "he",and "Dwayne". Strange, isn't it?

If it is a real story, I sure hope that he gets his Cobra before it is too late.

Wayne

Somebody get a rope!!

Before everybody gets their shorts up their cracks, one of you depositers should call one of the bussinesses 'Works posted the phone numbers of. Get the fact straight. If true, call your local Fox news affiliate, they'll investigate the deal for free. If false then the other guys can contact the proper authorities.

The sender of the e-mail ( dkmiller@harborside.com
) is apparently the "friend". The syntax may be a result of some cut&paste to get the text of the message together.

The same text (more or less) is heavily posted on the Viper Club of America forum.

Interesting story. I called Dwayne's cell number and left a message for him to return my call. We'll see if this is a true or bogus story.

Stay tuned.

Gentlemen, sadly, this seems to be a true story.
I have been a Viper owner and Viper Club Of America Member and previous VCA officer for years.
I do not know Dwayne, but I can vouch for the people he is associated with and have no reason to doubt their integrity.
Danny Miller has posted this story for his friend on the Viper message forum.
I have posted a link to the thread here so anyone who can help or is interested to see how the story unfolds.
This breaks my heart. I have no words to express my sympathy for Dwayne and his family.


http://vca2.viperclub.org/forums/sho...t=1#Post478773

He just posted his letter to the Shelby forum using his CSX number. He is serious

I just got it too. Now I'm glad I cancelled my CSX.

If this is true, does that mean the raffle for the csx might be bogus?

Is this the way business is heading over there??

IF this is true, and it sure sounds legit, I'm sure you guys can pull something out of the bag, get some people power together and move mountains to help this guy!

I'm just a little surprised such high calibre companies would do something like this and risk destroying our faith in them and ultimately go down in flames!

as the saying goes...."the loudest hinge gets oiled!"

I'm sure I speak for all of us Downunder.

IF on the other hand this turns out to be a joke...............I'm speachless!

time will tell!

Stef

To the extent that the letter is legitimate, I'm afraid that very little can be done to solve the immediate problem without the direct and immediate cooperation of the entity that contracted with the customer (Shelby has so many sub entities that it's difficult to tell who that would be).

Litigation on behalf of the customer would be a dubious exercise, primarily because of the time element. If the customer has a short life expectancy, he would be lucky to get his day in court before he passed away. Worse, the Defendant here may very well be judgement proof -- the ill Plaintiff may win a judgement, but then he has to collect on it, which may involve further litigation. If the Defendant seeks bankruptcy protection during the process (which may happen immediatley after the complaint if filed) the customer will then get nothing more than a place in line with all of the other unsecured creditors.

Let's hope that someone, somewhere in the corporate web has the common decency to put this unfortunate situation right. There is no other solution.

.

Before the lynch mob gets out of hand maybe a few things should be investigated. The Finish Line is selling tickets for a legitimate cobra raffle. I know because I called for a ticket, talked with the cancer society and The Finish Line and received it promptly from the organizer last week.

We need to hear from Dwayne, the person at the center of this controversy. I placed a personal call to him and await his return call.

Let's NOT add fuel to the Shelby inferno before the facts are known. There are a few issues that don't quite add up with Dwayne's story, specifically how he'd invest $140k on a CSX that most CSX owners KNOW costs significantly less...unless the engine is gold plated and comes with Cleo Shelby (Shelby's much younger and attractive wife) as an accessory.

i hope this turns out to be a sick sick joke..if it does turn out a true story, ive no words for my anger...ill happily be the first in line to put the sons of *****es responsible for this to an early and painful grave......:( :(