Shelby interview in Road & Track

[Juggernaut]

Has anybody read the interview in this months issue of Road & Track with Carrol Shelby?

I haven't had a chance to read it, but I understand he made a comment about guys who build their own Cobra kit cars & from what I hear, it isn't very flattering.

[CobraEd]

http://www.roadandtrack.com/article....rticle_id=6802

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[Juggernaut]

Thanks CobraEd, now I can read it before I make anymore judgements.

[Mark IV]

"I'd really like to have all that stuff from the old days for the Shelby Museum we're building at the factory in Las Vegas. I want my legacy to be mine and Ford's, not part of some for-profit operation."

So Ford and SAI are not "for profit" operations?

"In my opinion, if these people aren't smart enough to design their own cars, they shouldn't be able to make money reproducing what I did in the 1960s, with help from Ford and great people like Ken Miles and Jerry Titus."

Remind me again what cars CS "designed"? The only vehicle Shelby (any iteration of the company) ever designed for the street was the Series 1. (I am not counting the Shelby Can-Am race car and there may be some question about who really designed the car I am told)

Revisionist history at its best!

[A-Snake]

Originally Posted by Mark IV

"In my opinion, if these people aren't smart enough to design their own cars, they shouldn't be able to make money reproducing what I did in the 1960s, with help from Ford and great people like Ken Miles and Jerry Titus."

I don't know, maybe he meant to say what John Tojeiro did in the 1950s

[Maurice Johnson]

Back in the 50's my history teacher always reminded us that the history books are always written by the battle winners. "Methinks yon Shel is about reversing the rule"
William Snakespeare

[Joe Wicked]

I am not an expert by any means, and I am not just trying to stir the pot, but I thought that Ford and Shelby had nothing to do with starting SAAC? Now he is claiming it was Edsel Fords idea and he was a part from the beginning?

[Wayne Maybury]

"Later we gave a license agreement to a group to run it, and it turned from a non-profit to a multimillion-dollar for-profit organization. Under the agreement, they were supposed to get approvals and provide financial and other reports but they constantly refused to do so and went on selling millions of dollars' worth of merchandise."

Wow, that makes it sounds like SAAC will be a Fortune 500 organization soon.

Wayne

[Mark IV]

Originally Posted by Joe Wicked

I am not an expert by any means, and I am not just trying to stir the pot, but I thought that Ford and Shelby had nothing to do with starting SAAC? Now he is claiming it was Edsel Fords idea and he was a part from the beginning?

Edsel Ford was invited to become an "advisory board" member as were many other ford "celebrities", i.e Gurney, Bondurant, etc. EF was/is an enthusiast, but was not involved in starting SAAC.

[Joe Wicked]

Originally Posted by Mark IV

Edsel Ford was invited to become an "advisory board" member as were many other ford "celebrities", i.e Gurney, Bondurant, etc. EF was/is an enthusiast, but was not involved in starting SAAC.

So it is yet another attempted re-write of history. The bad thing is many people, myself included had I not found this site last year, will read that and take it for the truth. Shelby is the man after all. His accomplishments speak for themselves, so why would he need to make it up? Sooner or later all these magazines will have to print the other side of the story. I would bet that he will claim failing memory/getting things confused if/when it ever comes to light that what he is spewing is false. I find it sad that in the end, his legacy will be that he was more of a snake than his car's namesake.

[A-Snake]

Originally Posted by Mark IV

Edsel Ford was invited to become an "advisory board" member as were many other ford "celebrities", i.e Gurney, Bondurant, etc. EF was/is an enthusiast, but was not involved in starting SAAC.

Actually Edsel Ford's name does not appear on the Advisory board until the October/November 1977 issue of The Marque, about 1 1/2 years after SAAC was formed.
The rest of the names at that time on the advisory board included:
CS, Bondurant, Don Roberts, Allen Grant, Dick Smith, Al Dowd, Hal Keck, Ed Leslie, Dan Gurney, Pete Brock, Chuck Cantwell, Lew Spencer, Phil Remington, Tom Payne. Payne was also added at the same time as Edsel Ford.

[DMXF]

Originally Posted by Mark IV

Edsel Ford was invited to become an "advisory board" member as were many other ford "celebrities", i.e Gurney, Bondurant, etc. EF was/is an enthusiast, but was not involved in starting SAAC.

Shelby may have been referring to Edsel Ford having perhaps been involved with one of the primary precursor clubs to SAAC (remember, SAAC really started as a "roll up" of several pre-existing clubs). Someone may know the exact dates off the top of their head, but it seems like SAAC didn't exist as SAAC until about '75 or '76 (?)

[Juggernaut]

I'm learning more & more about CS as time goes by. I know my opinion of him has changed over the last five years or so.

Like Joe Wicked mentioned, in the end, he'll be leaving behind a somewhat negative legacy. To me, he seems to a very bitter person.

Just my 2 cents.

[Joe Wicked]

As an uneducated enthusiast, I saw the continuation Cobras as a rank above all the rest out there. I was in awe of CS, I thought of him as a genius car builder. Now, knowing more about the man behind the legend, I don't really have a desire to get a CSX, just because it is a CSX. I think I can find the same or better quality and enjoyment elsewhere for less money. Having the CS name tied to it no longer makes it worth more to me. I know I am just one, but I believe this will be the trend. I don't think it will be right away though. He still has enough PR to keep the magazines bent to his side.

[Mark IV]

Originally Posted by Dcmgt

Shelby may have been referring to Edsel Ford having perhaps been involved with one of the primary precursor clubs to SAAC (remember, SAAC really started as a "roll up" of several pre-existing clubs). Someone may know the exact dates off the top of their head, but it seems like SAAC didn't exist as SAAC until about '75 or '76 (?)

Edsel was NOT involved in the Shelby Owners Association nor the Shelby Owners of America or the Cobra Club.

[otomix]

Response to Joe Wicked; I think your comments are "spot on". The trend will continue.. You are really an Educated enthusiast. Yes, the PR may carry for awhile, but just like consumers who re-search beyond the headlines or labels, the truth will begin to spread via enthusiasts knowledge. Mr. S would be wise to just relax, focus on new Mustangs, stay away from folks trying to capitilize on his name, be quite and try to stay healthly as possible. As I mentioned in the past, 90% of CSX hype is simply pure BS. Once you look close at the whole picture, it is really surprising.

[DTurnbull]

It is doubtful that anyone will buy one of these cars on a whim. Most likely they will practice some due diligence and find a site like this one. My guess is this will come back and bite him in his saggy butt.

[lovehamr]

Originally Posted by Mark IV

"I'd really like to have all that stuff from the old days for the Shelby Museum we're building at the factory in Las Vegas. I want my legacy to be mine and Ford's, not part of some for-profit operation."

So Ford and SAI are not "for profit" operations?[/b]

Now I do agree that the old snake oil salesman is quite the revisionist (just look at his BS tirade about the Coupes), however in the above quote he does say "Mine and Fords" he didn't even insinuate that he or Ford were NPOs just that it was HIS. He did nail SAAC on that one though. And I for one still don't see why anyone would want to support Kopec and Eber in a financial sense. A chartered NPO trustee run organization would be just as good (maybe better) at preserving a legacy; but the time for that went bye, bye when SAAC went for profit. What I still see is that both sides are so full of BS that it's collecting on the whole hobby. And it stinks.

Steve

[Joe Wicked]

Originally Posted by otomix

Response to Joe Wicked; I think your comments are "spot on". The trend will continue.. You are really an Educated enthusiast. Yes, the PR may carry for awhile, but just like consumers who re-search beyond the headlines or labels, the truth will begin to spread via enthusiasts knowledge. Mr. S would be wise to just relax, focus on new Mustangs, stay away from folks trying to capitilize on his name, be quite and try to stay healthly as possible. As I mentioned in the past, 90% of CSX hype is simply pure BS. Once you look close at the whole picture, it is really surprising.

I am not educated in the slightest yet. I still have questions on everything, but I am working on it.

[SPF2245]

"In my opinion, if these people aren't smart enough to design their own cars, they shouldn't be able to make money reproducing what I did in the 1960s, with help from Ford and great people like Ken Miles and Jerry Titus."

Hey @sshole, how 'bout old geezers who can't DESIGN a new car (that people would buy...aka Series 1) who in turn return to using sacred name plates to make some quick cash, aka the new "Shelby" Mustangs?! AS for reproducing "his" car, I would BET my cobra that in no small part, all these companies reproducing his "car" has been what has kept his name in the media...'cause without them, we'd just watch the few examples of "real Cobras" on Barrett-Jackson and go buy something we could afford.

His attitude over the past two or three years has been the sole reason I WILL NEVER have his signature on my "copy". I can't wait for karma to catch up to him again.