Researching any info re: Paul Cunningham, Competition Cobra privateer

[1ntCobra]

I have the 1987 and 2008 versions of the registry.

It is interesting how the story changes over time as new information becomes available.

1987 mentions Ann Abiden as first owner with Lance Hasselrig purchasing the car in pieces, put it in storage. Someone stole the parts and chassis from storage. ... Multiple people, several title attempts in 2 states ... But later Hasselrig sells the car to Wesselink in 1987.

2008 mentions Harry S and Peter Rothschild purchasing the car with no mention of Ann Abiden nor Lance Hasselrig nor Wesselink. But has some other details that match the rest of the 1987 version.

Maybe I should get the latest version of the registry to see how that is different.

[1ntCobra]

Michael,

You say a Shelby employee gave your mother the parts of the car. Do you know the name of the Shelby employee? If so, is that employee still alive? Maybe that employee might be able to back up your story.

Also, do you suppose it is possible that the Shelby employee had parts that he thought were from your father's wrecked car, but those parts may have been from a different wrecked Cobra in the shop? The pictures from 1967 show a car that has not been cut up into pieces. What time frame did your mother get the parts from the Shelby employee? Was that prior to 1967?

[1ntCobra]

Originally Posted by Nedsel

We know that the wrecked car is CSX 2049 because we have tracked the car from its selling dealership to its first owner, who was Ann Abiden, and we examined the wrecked front end of the car after it had been purloined from the storage facility where its current owner had been keeping it. It showed a VIN of CSX 2049. The current owner is the same one who bought the car as a wreck from Abiden in 1967 (hence the date on the photos above), we have copies of the CA registration(s) showing both his name as well as Abiden's during the time he was paying off the loan, and he actually appears in photo #4 above. There is no question that the car Cunningham was killed in is 2049.

Ned,

You say the current owner is that one who purchased it from Ann Abiden. Is that Hasselrig as mentioned in the 1987 registry? Was the car not sold to Wesselink in 1987? Did the car alway remain in Hasselrig's storage? Or was it stolen and later returned to Hasselrig? Or maybe the current owner who bought the car from Ann Abiden is not Hasselrig?

And why is it that the 2008 registry doesn't mention Ann Abiden or Hasselrig?

[Nedsel]

The current owner of 2049 is indeed Lanse Hasselrig. He bought it from Ann Abiden. He is partners in the car today with Rick Wesselink, as Hasselrig lacked the funds to repair/ restore the car on his own. As for the 2008 registry, apologies for the mis-information. We were given a very thorough report on the car by an individual who worked for the FBI and performed DMV research, and he submitted his report shortly before the 2008 book went to print. We altered what we thought we knew based on his assertions, absent sufficient time to double-check his report. What none of us knew at the time was that said individual had a brain tumor that was rendering rational thought impossible for this individual. And he had an agenda which included an effort to subvert the car's true history in favor of an acquaintance who wanted to purchase a clone and have it legitimized. We have since corrected every bit of data.

[1985 CCX]

In support of Ned.

Getting the facts on any of these cars is always an adventure.
Most of the original players are passed and the ones left don't recall 100%. Same deal with AC MKIV, my facts are from people that were there recalling facts from 35 years ago; as I was just a boy in that time period. The Cobra is even more difficult as "in the day" was now 56+ years ago and they are a million dollars in value. Now trying to correct and decode the what was remembered and the actual occurnaces is the mission and unfortunately it may take a few turns in that process.

In the end the most accurate story is what we all want for these registries.
Great Job to all that pull facts together.
It's a thankless job for the most part.

[USC_COWBOY]

Originally Posted by 1985 CCX

More pics?
Any with your father?

I have more photos, and probably can find a picture of my step-father, will post later.

[USC_COWBOY]

A lot of names familiar to me being posted by others. To shed light on the various deceptions I offer a brief report that exposes the various activities that have gone on....

Good Morning Michael.
Yesterday I had an hour long interview with Lance S. Coren by phone. I asked Mr.Coren about what he knew about any Cobra chassis remains ownership claims that both Lance A. Hasselrig and Richard Wesselink had in there possession (over the past 40+ years etc). Mr.Coren made a statement to me that neither Hasselrig or Wesselink ever owned -any- real-original-cobra-remains of Cobra VIN CSX2049. And that he (Coren) also had firsthand knowledge of this true hard fact (proof) because he himself had been in and out of Hasselrig old small body shop in LA for over the past 30 + years, and never saw -not even one part- of any original cobra remains from a cobra (not even a cobra door, etc).
So as you can see my many years of investigations is finally came to a now 100% proven factual conclusion. As I stated many times over the past 15 years to the SAAC Club, Richard Kopec, and Ned Scudder, the cobra registar for the so-called club-ring. Hasselrig and Wesselink used the California DMV and the LA county court system to help to file a automobile title rights 100% fraudulent claim for the original cobra chassis remains of Shelby Cobra VIN CSX2049 back in the early 1980s. Which is a class-1A criminal felony and major automobile conspiracy to commit major fraud.
I will now be informing the LA Attorney General’s office to post a “red flag” type of criminal automobile fraud alert with the California DMV data base, in order to pull and remove any known records for Cobra VIN CSX2049 in Hasselrig and Wesselink names or businesses.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by Nedsel

What none of us knew at the time was that said individual had a brain tumor that was rendering rational thought impossible for this individual. And he had an agenda which included an effort to subvert the car's true history in favor of an acquaintance who wanted to purchase a clone and have it legitimized.

Well that certainly sounds unusual. How often does this sort of thing happen?

[USC_COWBOY]

Thought it might be relevant to Paul's history with the Cobra, so I offer a brief history...

Year, Month, Day, Org., Event, Car No., Car Driver, Entrant

1963, July 28, SCCA, Regional Cotati [AP], 246, Shelby Cobra, Paul Cunningham, Paul Cunningham

1963, August 18, CalClub of SCCA, San Luis Obispo [AP], Shelby Cobra, Paul Cunningham, Paul Cunningham

1963, August 31, CalClub of SCCA, Regional Santa Barbara [AP], 37, Shelby Cobra, Paul Cunningham, Paul Cunningham

1963, September 1, CalClub of SCCA, Regional Santa Barbara [AP], 37, Shelby Cobra, Paul Cunningham, Paul Cunningham

1963, October 13, CalClub of SCCA, Riverside Gran Prix 200 Miles [O2 liter], 37, Kurtis Pontiac, Paul Cunningham, Chieftan Pontiac

1963, October 13, CalClub of SCCA, Riverside 1 Hour [GTIII], 37, Shelby Cobra, Paul Cunningham, Paul Cunningham

1963, October 19, SCCA, Laguna Seca Gran Prix [AP], 37, Shelby Cobra, Paul Cunningham, Paul Cunningham,

1963, October 20, SCCA, Laguna Seca Gran Prix [O2 liter], 137, Kurtis Pontiac, Paul Cunningham, Chieftan Pontiac,

1963, November 16, CalClub of SCCA, Preliminary Race Willow Springs [AP], 37, Shelby Cobra, Paul Cunningham, Paul Cunningham

[1ntCobra]

Originally Posted by USC_COWBOY

A lot of names familiar to me being posted by others. To shed light on the various deceptions I offer a brief report that exposes the various activities that have gone on....

Good Morning Michael.
Yesterday I had an hour long interview with Lance S. Coren by phone. I asked Mr.Coren about what he knew about any Cobra chassis remains ownership claims that both Lance A. Hasselrig and Richard Wesselink had in there possession (over the past 40+ years etc). Mr.Coren made a statement to me that neither Hasselrig or Wesselink ever owned -any- real-original-cobra-remains of Cobra VIN CSX2049. And that he (Coren) also had firsthand knowledge of this true hard fact (proof) because he himself had been in and out of Hasselrig old small body shop in LA for over the past 30 + years, and never saw -not even one part- of any original cobra remains from a cobra (not even a cobra door, etc).
So as you can see my many years of investigations is finally came to a now 100% proven factual conclusion. As I stated many times over the past 15 years to the SAAC Club, Richard Kopec, and Ned Scudder, the cobra registar for the so-called club-ring. Hasselrig and Wesselink used the California DMV and the LA county court system to help to file a automobile title rights 100% fraudulent claim for the original cobra chassis remains of Shelby Cobra VIN CSX2049 back in the early 1980s. Which is a class-1A criminal felony and major automobile conspiracy to commit major fraud.
I will now be informing the LA Attorney General’s office to post a “red flag” type of criminal automobile fraud alert with the California DMV data base, in order to pull and remove any known records for Cobra VIN CSX2049 in Hasselrig and Wesselink names or businesses.

Interesting. So someone had never seen the remains of CSX2049 in Hasselrig's shop. But apparently the remains were in some storage location that Hasselrig had. And according to the 1987 registry, it would seem that CSX2049 was stolen out of the storage location and who knows how long it was missing (maybe years) before Hasselrig realized it was not there.

So playing devil's advocate here, how about if some theoretical long time acquaintence of your family said in the past 50+ years that he had never seen the remains of your father's Cobra in your mother's driveway, garage, basement, backyard or living room that is a true hard fact that your mother was never in posession of the remains of the car? And that is a 100% proven factual conclusion? Could it be that acquaintence had just never seen the remain of the car in your mother's storage location where you found them? How often did your mother check her storage location to make sure the car remains were still there? And would that family acquaintentence of yours who had never seen the car remains be justified in contacting the LA Attorney General’s office to report you of some crime?

Just because someone has not seen what you or Hasselrig have is that evidence of fraud for you or Hasselrig?

[USC_COWBOY]

The report was prepared by a qualified private investigator.

[USC_COWBOY]

Here's some photos of the cars and races we are involved with....

[Nedsel]

Ah. As soon as I saw the name Lance Coren, I knew we were in for a bumpy ride. All I can suggest to Michael is, don't rely on whatever Coren says. Did Lance tell you he attempted to claim 2049 was his many years ago? Did Lance show you the photograph of another Cobra that he claimed was his restored CSX 2049? Did Lance admit that he surrendered his phony CA title to Lanse Hasselrig because the courts made it clear he, not Coren, was the legitimate owner? Probably not. I am aware that Lance Coren saw the remains of Hasselrig's Cobra as well as the 2049 VIN on it at an early SAAC convention, after it had been stolen by the manager of the storage facility where Hasselrig left it. And he was angry, as it cast a shadow on the claim Coren had made that he owned the car. Please do not expect me to accept anything Mr. Coren says, as I have already been down that road way too many times.

[USC_COWBOY]

Ned, I am so discouraged by this whole situation. Everyone is pointing fingers of blame on everyone else, I think now people involved in this mess are protecting their own turf.

I was directly involved in Paul's racing, every car from the AH Sprite in which his racing career started up to his death in the Cobra.

I can only present my memories and experiences.

I am going on 75 years of age and have survived death twice, once due to total blockage of my lungs due to DVTs and PEs, and Stage 4 stomach and liver cancer, which is in total remission.

I have no axe to grind, all I am attempting to do is clear the air about Paul and his ownership of the Cobra.

In the entire time we had the Cobra, there was never a person known as Ann Abidin or her son involved with our family, never at a tech inspection, never at a race or event. A person who buys a state of the art race car and hires a driver goes to the events. Paul never was paid a cent by her or her son.

The entry application for the various races we were in involved a registration where the owner, driver are specifically identified; the race programs always showed that information, and if you look at them you will see that she or her son were never shown as owners, they show Paul Cunningham as owner and driver.

Wesselink may well have a piece or pieces of the wreck so that he can incorporate it into the newly built chassis, as the car was cannibalized for identifying features, the wrecked car went to Shelby for post wreck examination, and our family never was contacted or any effort to return the car to us. That action did not sever the ownership from our family.

People simply took parts and claimed ownership for their personal projects, as evidenced by the air-car in the Netherlands (they contacted me to try to extract information to add to their supposed history, again to increase the worth of their air-car) as they laid claim to CSX2049); also, the car being reconstructed from parts in Encinitas by Wesselink.

Those involved in nefarious activities will eventually meet their demise and will pay the dearest price for the harm they did to the victims.

I will continue my search for truth until my dying day, that is the least I can do to in an effort to correct the ownership and history of Paul Cunningham, Privateer Cobra pilot.

[Nedsel]

I wish you well in your efforts. Please allow me to append a letter from May of 1980, written to me by Lance Coren, in which he explains that he has sold "his" 2049 (which never existed except on a fraudulent title) to Lanse Haselrig, and he explains further the ownership chain he found doing research at the CA DMV. It may alter your perception of his claims regarding the car today:

[CompClassics]

Deleted

[Nedsel]

Those of us who have dealt with Lance recognize he's wrong about a number of things. In reality, Ann Abiden bought 2049 in 2/63 from Downtown Ford, 7th and Wall Streets, Los Angeles. This data was not in the DMV records he located.

[Nedsel]

Originally Posted by USC_COWBOY

Thought it might be relevant to Paul's history with the Cobra, so I offer a brief history...

Year, Month, Day, Org., Event, Car No., Car Driver, Entrant

1963, July 28, SCCA, Regional Cotati [AP], 246, Shelby Cobra, Paul Cunningham, Paul Cunningham

1963, August 18, CalClub of SCCA, San Luis Obispo [AP], Shelby Cobra, Paul Cunningham, Paul Cunningham

1963, August 31, CalClub of SCCA, Regional Santa Barbara [AP], 37, Shelby Cobra, Paul Cunningham, Paul Cunningham

1963, September 1, CalClub of SCCA, Regional Santa Barbara [AP], 37, Shelby Cobra, Paul Cunningham, Paul Cunningham

1963, October 13, CalClub of SCCA, Riverside Gran Prix 200 Miles [O2 liter], 37, Kurtis Pontiac, Paul Cunningham, Chieftan Pontiac

1963, October 13, CalClub of SCCA, Riverside 1 Hour [GTIII], 37, Shelby Cobra, Paul Cunningham, Paul Cunningham

1963, October 19, SCCA, Laguna Seca Gran Prix [AP], 37, Shelby Cobra, Paul Cunningham, Paul Cunningham,

1963, October 20, SCCA, Laguna Seca Gran Prix [O2 liter], 137, Kurtis Pontiac, Paul Cunningham, Chieftan Pontiac,

1963, November 16, CalClub of SCCA, Preliminary Race Willow Springs [AP], 37, Shelby Cobra, Paul Cunningham, Paul Cunningham

Some additional date culled from newspapers and magazines from that time period were omitted. They are:

Pomona, CA SCCA Regionals 4/20-21/63; #105, AP, driver Ted Roberts, DNF.

Cotati, CA SCCA Divisionals 5/12/63, #300, AP, driver Allen Grant, entrant: Albert Abidin

Pomona CA SCCA Regionals 7/13-14/63, #25, AP, driver Ted Roberts, 6th OA/5th AP.

[Blackbart]

I've followed this thread with interest. I can't imagine this is the only CSX car with such a diverse "history". Thank you to all the experts out there doing their best to document these cars. I've watched what I thought was the original CSX 2049 race at Goodwood for many years. I have one question, is the Hart car(Netherlands) a knockoff of CSX 2049. If so, how can they advertise the car as 2049?

[1ntCobra]

Ned,

Since you have information about Hasselrig getting a loan to purchase CSX2049 do you know how much the loan was for? Or how much he paid for the car? Presumably it must have been a bargain price at the time since it was a very damaged car. I am not sure a bank would want to issue a loan for a car that seemed to be totaled, but I guess he would not have had to disclose the car's condition at the time he got the loan.