shell Valley rises again

jojoegen · #1 (**permalink**) 05-11-2009, 04:47 PM

Shell Valley is up and running thank god.Parts will be able to be shipped starting in a few days.Get your orders in for kits and parts Johnny G

ROUSHAC · #2 (**permalink**) 05-11-2009, 04:57 PM

That is good news indeed!

Hopefully they will be able to retain a good portion, if not all, of the "former" staff. Great people.

patrickt · #3 (**permalink**) 05-11-2009, 06:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jojoegen

Shell Valley is up and running thank god.Parts will be able to be shipped starting in a few days.Get your orders in for kits and parts Johnny G

What sort of assurance might a potential purchaser receive that the new owner is indeed solvent? Perhaps a third party escrowing agreement for funds until the car is built and delivered?

jojoegen · #4 (**permalink**) 05-12-2009, 09:54 AM

Hi Patrickt,Guess the best thing is to call them about your cocerns.See ya

patrickt · #5 (**permalink**) 05-12-2009, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jojoegen

Hi Patrickt,Guess the best thing is to call them about your cocerns.See ya

You wouldn't have concerns about placing a sizable deposit with a company that just skirted bankruptcy and is now soliciting offers to deliver cars from the "new management?" Seriously. How do we know anything about the new owners other than they'd like people to send them cash?

MaSnaka · #6 (**permalink**) 05-12-2009, 02:22 PM

I tend to agree with Patrickt on this one. I think the escrow account is a good idea or a bond provided by the seller to insure delivery of goods purchased.

John

patrickt · #7 (**permalink**) 05-12-2009, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaSnaka

I tend to agree with Patrickt on this one...

Now don't get me wrong, I'd like to see Shell Valley run by a nice Ozzie & Harriet type family-business that serves a niche market with good quality at competitive prices and puts Americans to work. Who knows, maybe they are and will do just that. But, having said that, we all know the Cobra replica industry is rife with misrepresentation, incompetence, and outright fraud. Anyone who turns money over to a "fresh new face" in the business, without putting common-sense safeguards in place, is just asking to be taken for a ride -- and not a "happy Cobra ride" either....

compaq · #8 (**permalink**) 05-13-2009, 07:28 PM

Personally i wouldn't buy anything from Shell Valley.
I had paid them upfront for a fiberglass body and was told
that it was damaged or was an earlier body when the person
picked it up and from seeing videos of it that i had on
a Youtube Video it appeared to be.
I paid $5200.00 for the body but was told it was damaged or
was not a new body for the price of $5200.00 but rather an
old one and it cost the guy i sold it to more money to have
it painted due to it being damaged or an older body.
I believe the guy who picked it up and Dana Dankert told me
that they were a Lokar Dealer and then he told me that he wasn't.As far as being honest i don't think they were never 100%.I tend to believe they are not a very honest bunch of people.

compaq · #9 (**permalink**) 05-13-2009, 07:36 PM

I have a video of the car on Youtube.My username is LAHUSSO.
Go to Youtube and search that username and it will come up.
There is a video of the car and tell me if you think the body is messed up and post a reply back here and tell me what you think.
The pictures i have didn't show it very good but the video does
show something.I seen the body he put on it but he could have switched bodies when i first seen it.I sold the car but i believe he sold me a body that was old or damaged just to make more money.

patrickt · #10 (**permalink**) 05-13-2009, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by compaq

Personally i wouldn't buy anything from Shell Valley.

If that's true, and if that's the way the treated their customers, then they deserve to be out of business... or sold at a fire-sale price, whatever it was....

rustyBob · #11 (**permalink**) 05-14-2009, 07:41 AM

It is truley a shame that Shell Valley has gone down hill like this and I hope the new owner has thick skin and deep pockets because I dont think he truley knows what a hornets nest he has a hold of. If you own a company and the bank closes it and sends your employes home THATS TROUBLE. Maybe this new owner will weed out the the problems but even so i think it will never be the same.

patrickt · #12 (**permalink**) 05-14-2009, 09:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rustyBob

Maybe this new owner will weed out the the problems but even so i think it will never be the same.

Only time will tell whether Shell Valley is indeed the Phoenix, or whether it's being piloted by the Colgan Air duo....

You'd think they'd at least make an appearance on this forum and introduce themselves though.

compaq · #13 (**permalink**) 05-14-2009, 09:11 AM

Well i bet most people who had any dealings or bought anything from them
recently like within the past five or six years won't be dealing with them anymore.
If they dealt with them like i did they won't and considering some of the things that Dana Dankert said to me over the phone like making remarks about me
having a five or six thousand dollar bill and not being able to pay it or wouldn't pay it.I was also told that he wanted to triple the price on parts that someone was going to buy versus what the guy was told to begin with when he got there to buy the stuff.He told the guy that i had parts that i didn't have or that
i didn't order.I know that i didn't get the certificate of origin for the body until
April of 2009 and the body was paid in full in 2006.I also asked Dana for a receipt for the body when it was paid in FULL and i never got it until this year.
He sent me a receipt that was printed out of the computer but wasn't marked paid.I didn't expect to receive it but i got the certificate of origin for the body and a tag and it indicated that i should have had one for the frame also.I received the paperwork this year for everything like the body.
I received a regular Shell Valley invoice that wasn't printed from the computer that is blue in color and has their address and it was marked paid with a rubber stamp.Due to the way they operate and among other things i wouldn't deal with them.

Shell Valley · #14 (**permalink**) 05-14-2009, 09:20 AM

Mr Johns (compaq) was NOT sold a damaged body, old body, used body or anything like that. What he was sold was a new body out of the old style mold, to match his old style frame.

Anyone that knows me knows that I may not always have the answer they want, but they will get an honest answer.

As for the status of the company, I just posted a press release in the Shell Valley forum.

Thanks to those who have wished us well and helped with the transition! We plan to be here for a long time!

Dana Dankert

patrickt · #15 (**permalink**) 05-14-2009, 09:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shell Valley

... I just posted a press release in the Shell Valley forum..

Dana, so they're excited, went to high school & college, got an architectural degree, kids, and ran an auto repair shop & speed parts store. What do they know about building Cobras?

compaq · #16 (**permalink**) 05-14-2009, 04:29 PM

One thing i know about building Cobras and that is by the time you pay someone
to put one together even if you don't build it in pieces and including all of the money that you have for the parts and labor you end up having way more money in these things then they are worth or what anyone is willing to pay you for one.The prices people want to paint these fiberglass bodies and do bodywork adds to it.Especially dealing with a Cobra Kit Car.These body shops want more money to even mess with these fiberglass bodies.These things are nothing but a money pit.It is hard to believe that anyone sells one of these
for what they have invested in one.Based on my experience with one i think
they are more of an investment and work then it is worthwhile.
I had $30,000.00 invested in the one i had and you can't even drive them at this price.Even if you do the assembly work or the most of the work yourself
you are still spending more money even by not paying the labor and the work
involved to build one is to time consuming i think and ends up being more then what you want to do.You can't also trust most people and like i was saying people don't want to give you anything for these at least not what you have invested in them.This Kirkham Motorsports has one that is $108,000.00 and it just makes me ask them is that car really worth it?
You can go pick up a car from the lot that has alot of comfort items for
$50,000.00 from a dealership like power windows,leather seats etc.
Most vehicles at that price you can get alot of things on them.
There isn't even any room in these at all.Vehicle prices are to much anyway
but the money invested in these things along with the time hardly makes it
worthwhile along with the people you deal with.They are not working on any low profit margin.They make money not only from the labor but also from the parts.

compaq · #17 (**permalink**) 05-14-2009, 04:36 PM

One thing i know about building Cobras and that is by the time you pay someone
to put one together even if you don't build it in pieces and including all of the money that you have for the parts and labor you end up having way more money in these things then they are worth or what anyone is willing to pay you for one.The prices people want to paint these fiberglass bodies and do bodywork adds to it.Especially dealing with a Cobra Kit Car.These body shops want more money to even mess with these fiberglass bodies.These things are nothing but a money pit.It is hard to believe that anyone sells one of these
for what they have invested in one.Based on my experience with one i think
they are more of an investment and work then it is worthwhile.
I had $30,000.00 invested in the one i had and you can't even drive them at this price.Even if you do the assembly work or the most of the work yourself
you are still spending more money even by not paying the labor and the work
involved to build one is to time consuming i think and ends up being more then what you want to do.You can't also trust most people and like i was saying people don't want to give you anything for these at least not what you have invested in them.This Kirkham Motorsports has one that is $108,000.00 and it just makes me ask them is that car really worth it?
You can go pick up a car from the lot that has alot of comfort items for
$50,000.00 from a dealership like power windows,leather seats etc.
Most vehicles at that price you can get alot of things on them.
There isn't even any room in these at all.Vehicle prices are to much anyway
but the money invested in these things along with the time hardly makes it
worthwhile along with the people you deal with.They are not working on any low profit margin.They make money not only from the labor but also from the parts.

rustyBob · #18 (**permalink**) 05-14-2009, 09:03 PM

blah, blah, blah, there to small ,there to loud ,they ride rough, they cost to much, thats what makes them so much fun. I love mine dont you love yours?

thudmaster · #19 (**permalink**) 05-15-2009, 12:05 AM

I don't have one anymore but I miss the 3 that I had (2 spf and 1 ffr).
Dana, I wish you well. I hope everything turns out great for your company....

john chesnut · #20 (**permalink**) 05-15-2009, 05:42 AM

Wow! What a thread. I don't know anything about the new owners of Shell Valley but I am going to give them a chance and not start off by thinking that they are not qualified to run the business or worse, are crooks! I have been dealing with Rich, Dana, and Roger of Shell Valley and have been extremely happy with anything that they have done for me. They have my molds and jigs for my Dragon cars and I have ordered a number of them from them. All of the parts that they have made for me have been of great quality. I also have purchased 2 Cobra bodies along with their Cobra specific parts and have been very happy with the prices and quality. The delivery of EVERY part that I have purchased along with the paper work has been on time and as descriped.
If you build a Cobra or other Kit car to make a profit you are missing the point. These are supposed to be fun to build and fun to drive. They are not like "normal" cars. It is your responsibility to make sure that the Kit you buy and build is the right one for your abilities and for the performance level you want.
The fact is that when you buy a new car it losses significant value the second that you drive it off the lot. Alot of body shops don't like to deal with fiberglass because it is something that is out of the realm of their regular work. That doesn't mean that fiberglass bodies are bad, just different. They all require work out of the mold but they can be made to look great.
I trust Dana and I will continue to do business with Shell Valley. In fact, I am ordering parts today to replace a Dragon nose that a customer damaged racing and a new Dragon kit that I just sold. If things don't turn out to be the same as they were I will make a change. As of now I will support the new owners and wish them the best.

John