Researching any info re: Paul Cunningham, Competition Cobra privateer

[1ntCobra]

Originally Posted by xb-60

Yeah.... but this thread's gone zero to near f-i-v-e h-u-n-d-r-e-d !! posts in no time flat!
A record for an Introduction Forum post ?

Hmm, I wonder who got post 500?

[g4g2g7]

First time poster here with no skin in the CSX2049 game (will do a proper introduction soon – have a Hurricane Cobra, HM1021). Have been lurking for a couple of years on this site and most recently watching this post with casual interest and sometimes amusement – many good points made supporting different avenues of this tangled web. Seems like a long shot to ever get to the bottom of the mystery with so many years having passed.

So, to my reason for posting: in the bottom right of the pic in post 499, anybody notice the notary stamp is Carol J. Abidin and then her name is signed to the right of the stamp? A quick web search of Carol Abidin returned a hit on Facebook, with her and the other Abidins (including an Al Abidin) being located in California. The Al looks in his pictures like he may be too young, maybe a grandson (I’ll call him Al Jr here to keep it straight) to Ann? And based on the pic of Carol, could should be Ann’s daughter, brother to Al Sr, aunt to Al Jr? Thought I’d add some more speculation to the mix

Seems like a good path would be for somebody to contact this Carol and Al to see if, in fact, they are the correct Abidin family and can provide any info/recollection.

Apologies if this has been discussed somewhere and I’ve missed it among the many posts!

[CompClassics]

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[CompClassics]

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[Nedsel]

Lots of questions, but no great answers. Lots of data appears to be getting ignored. John wonders why there is no Bill of Sale between Abiden and Haselrig in the court papers. Maybe because one never existed? And while there is the notation about repairing Abiden's car, there is no mention of what car. Anyone who saw the photos of the wrecked 2049 has to know that it was unlikely to be able to be repaired at all given the state of spare parts at that point, and surely not for $400. Not to mention, why would Lanse be paying Abiden to fix her car? It appears they struck a deal on having Lanse repair some body damage on a different car after Lanse agreed to buy the Cobra. There is nothing to show that the note regarding repair of a car was on the back of a document relating to 2049. There are various documents in the case file referring to a series of payments "to pay off the Cobra" as well as CA DMV papers in Haselrig's name following his acquisition. As for what goes in the Registry, we examine the preponderance of evidence and make a judgement based upon it. As I have said previously, I have no dog in this hunt and continue to welcome supported documentation - not speculation - to arrive at the most rational series of events to record the car's history. All input is welcomed, as long as it is supported by factual evidence.

[1ntCobra]

Originally Posted by CompClassics

Why would Hasselrig have Al Abidin dying in the crash of 2049 at the Riverside crash in 1963? When in fact it was Paul Cunningham that died in the crash of 2049 a couple of months later at Willow Springs? Now we know Hasselrig promised to repair his car in 1967. As Ned had pointed out the photos dated March of 1967 was supposed to be when Hasselrig took possession of 2049 but in fact 2049 was being dropped off for repairs per the promissory note agreement. But then Al Abindin was supposedly dead already, but in fact Al Abidin did not die until 2014.

The latest registry says that Al Abidin picked up the wreck from SAI and put it in storage.

Is there something in the court documents that said Al Abidin died in a crash in 1963? The first I heard of Al dying was when you mentioned it now. Could you show us a page from the court documents saying that?

[CompClassics]

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[CompClassics]

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[CompClassics]

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[1ntCobra]

Originally Posted by CompClassics

Yes, I can and Ned knows I can as he has the same court documents. How is Al Abiden dead in 1963 and then resurfaces in 1967 with a car that needs to be repaired?

How do we know that there is only 1 Al? After all, George Foreman has 5 sons named George and one of his daughters is Georgetta. Maybe all of Ann's sons were named Al?

[1ntCobra]

Originally Posted by CompClassics

“ There are various documents in the case file referring to a series of payments "to pay off the Cobra" as well as CA DMV papers iHaselrig's name following his acquisition.”

Please provide the documents that refer to “to pay off the Cobra”, I seem to be missing those documents in my court records.

That would be interesting if John and Ned each have a different subset of the court documents. I suspect that neither John nor Ed went out and bought their copies of the court documents the way that I think Michael is trying to do now.

Is it possible that Hasselrig and Wesselink supplied both John and Ned with whatever they have? If so, I wonder if they intentionally left out some of the pages. I wonder what else John or Ned might be missing then. Maybe if Michael buys a copy of the court documents, he might end up with a more complete set of pages then either John or Ned.

[CompClassics]

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[Nedsel]

Originally Posted by CompClassics

“ There are various documents in the case file referring to a series of payments "to pay off the Cobra" as well as CA DMV papers iHaselrig's name following his acquisition.”

Please provide the documents that refer to “to pay off the Cobra”, I seem to be missing those documents in my court records.

OK, here is one taken from the court records that mentions the Cobra:

[CompClassics]

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[1ntCobra]

Originally Posted by CompClassics

Thank you Ned for posting the “Post It”!
First let’s compare the two receipts for payments from Hasselrig to Abidin, you can plainly see the differences in the receipt slips, the White being a 1/2 page concise document. Let’s look at the yellow “Post It” receipt, very sloppy and it has that all important connection to the “Cobra”, does anyone here know when “Post Its” were first sold to the public?

The left edge of the small yellow paper looks like it is perforated. I have not seen "Post Its" with a perforated edge before.

[twobjshelbys]

Originally Posted by 1ntCobra

The left edge of the small yellow paper looks like it is perforated. I have not seen "Post Its" with a perforated edge before.

It's not a Post-It. They were introduced in 1980.

[Nedsel]

Typically, if one is involved in a court case, they bring their best evidence into play. While I understand John's interest in trying to poke holes in whatever Haselrig and Wesselink have presented to prove their case, I remain more focused on anything that might shed light on, or be relevant to, the Paul Cunningham ownership allegations. I'm not going to speculate on the validity of the documents used in the 1992 court case because I believe sharper and more experienced legal minds have already done so. And I would point out that, just as John wondered why there was no Bill of Sale presented, one might ask, if what appears to be a beat-up Post-It scrap is the best these guys can come up with, why didn't they dummy up something much better? And the rational answer would be because the documents presented were legitimate and there was no attempt at entering phony paperwork into evidence. So it would be great if we could move off this particular line of thought at this point.

[CompClassics]

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[1ntCobra]

Originally Posted by Nedsel

Typically, if one is involved in a court case, they bring their best evidence into play. While I understand John's interest in trying to poke holes in whatever Haselrig and Wesselink have presented to prove their case, I remain more focused on anything that might shed light on, or be relevant to, the Paul Cunningham ownership allegations. I'm not going to speculate on the validity of the documents used in the 1992 court case because I believe sharper and more experienced legal minds have already done so. And I would point out that, just as John wondered why there was no Bill of Sale presented, one might ask, if what appears to be a beat-up Post-It scrap is the best these guys can come up with, why didn't they dummy up something much better? And the rational answer would be because the documents presented were legitimate and there was no attempt at entering phony paperwork into evidence. So it would be great if we could move off this particular line of thought at this point.

I have a feeling that if and when Michael gets his own copy of the court documents that he is going to start posting pictures of the documents and trying to poke holes in their legitimacy the same way that John is doing now.

Perhaps sharper more experienced legal minds have come to the correct conclusions, but you might remember a bunch of years ago that some apprently very sharp legal minds did their best to convict OJ Simpson of murder and failed. So just because Hasselrig and Wesselink's lawyers won their case, does not necessarily mean that the legal minds came to the correct, ethical, logical and moral conclusions, it just means that Hasselrig and Wesselink won their court case and have the legal title to CSX2049.

Anyway, if in 1985 when Hasselrig moved the "vehicle" to the new location, that "vehicle" consisted of a bent headlight trim ring and a philips head screw that might have been from CSX2049, it seems that "vehicle" and the legal title to CSX2049 will be good enough to create a brand new CSX2049, regardless of what John and Michael might think. Also even if John or Michael can find some smoking gun in the court papers, I don't see that changing anything, unless they use the smoking gun to sue to get the title or get the title invalidated. But what is the chance of that happening and it would probably waste a bunch of money that Michael could use for something else.

[USC_COWBOY]

Originally Posted by 1ntCobra

That would be interesting if John and Ned each have a different subset of the court documents. I suspect that neither John nor Ed went out and bought their copies of the court documents the way that I think Michael is trying to do now.

Is it possible that Hasselrig and Wesselink supplied both John and Ned with whatever they have? If so, I wonder if they intentionally left out some of the pages. I wonder what else John or Ned might be missing then. Maybe if Michael buys a copy of the court documents, he might end up with a more complete set of pages then either John or Ned.

I'm trying, I contacted the actual court personnel where the case was heard and requested on-line a copy of the case, they responded "no problem" and sent me an email with my request embedded in it and they instructed me to click on their link to confirm my request. That was 10 days ago or so and nothing yet, just the sound of crickets.

I have stated before that our family was in possession of the Cobra in July of 1963, where it was before, I don't know, but there was never another person connected to the Cobra after that date except for our family. Something happened at that period of time, I contend that our family bought the Cobra at that point and owned it until we lost contact with it.

Ned is reluctant to consider the Cunningham ownership, even though it is common to just sell with a bill of sale for a race car not to ever be driven upon the public streets, or even to have a registration. The Abidin documents presented so far are also non-conclusive as to the ownership, and even what has been shown here is weird as to the type of documents, and the apparent monkeying around with them, missing watermarks, scraps of torn paper, court docs that have Al Abidin as being killed several months before Paul was killed in the car.

Step back and view the total scene, the principal characters in this merry-go-round ownership is convoluted to say the least, and along the way certain people have done illegal things, presented false misleading documentation, and to top off the sundae, the so-called cherry on top, we have a superior court that appears to be incompetent.

The official SAAC history should be reconsidered and rewritten to expose the mess, no one should be able to claim and use the Cunningham Cobra for their personal gain, SAAC owes all of us this transparency. Even though our family may never be able to assert our ownership no on else should be able to do so either.