Unique Performance in trouble with Shelby?
10-08-2007, 10:14 PM
#21
6th Gear Member
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: AR
Posts: 5,469
RE: Unique Performance in trouble with Shelby?
ORIGINAL: cprstreetmachines
This is the HARDEST part about starting out. You always hear/see stories like this. We're making it as an honest shop, why can't they ? They just make it hard for people like us. We aren't into the 200k builds, yet.[8D] But we have some customers that drop 20-30k on smaller builds. And we take a little money at a time and they slowly relax and realize we aren't those guys. But unfortunetly, everyone says that, only some of us are lying.
This is the HARDEST part about starting out. You always hear/see stories like this. We're making it as an honest shop, why can't they ? They just make it hard for people like us. We aren't into the 200k builds, yet.[8D] But we have some customers that drop 20-30k on smaller builds. And we take a little money at a time and they slowly relax and realize we aren't those guys. But unfortunetly, everyone says that, only some of us are lying.
It is also interesting how some consumers can have memories of conversations that have no resemblance to the conversation that actually took place.... (ie:,, I know how the contract reads, but you said,,,,,) Sometimes it is amazing... and almost funny..
10-08-2007, 11:02 PM
#22
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: L A 32548
Posts: 316
RE: Unique Performance in trouble with Shelby?
ORIGINAL: easttennmotors
he got the blue licked off his boss 302 team carsby bud moore. bud moore, smokey yunick, junior johnson, holman moody all ford racers in the 60's and I would take a piece from them long before a shelby. In fact if you asked any of them(still living) what they thought of carroll shelby, they would probably say that they didnt care much for him at all, you gotta remember, his legacy among racers is as a manipulative person, short changed his drivers, had constant turnover among crew members, got sued numerous times by ford, and generally was never well liked by any of his peers.
he got the blue licked off his boss 302 team carsby bud moore. bud moore, smokey yunick, junior johnson, holman moody all ford racers in the 60's and I would take a piece from them long before a shelby. In fact if you asked any of them(still living) what they thought of carroll shelby, they would probably say that they didnt care much for him at all, you gotta remember, his legacy among racers is as a manipulative person, short changed his drivers, had constant turnover among crew members, got sued numerous times by ford, and generally was never well liked by any of his peers.
As far as Carroll Shelby being loved by everyone, possibly not. Neither was he as reviled, as your history would have us believe. Nothing personal, but I think some of those refferences are just a little off. Like Shelby sued Ford, not the other way around.
But then again my memory, can be my undoing sometimes too.
10-09-2007, 12:26 AM
#23
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 296
10-09-2007, 12:35 AM
#24
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 296
RE: Unique Performance in trouble with Shelby?
Im not talking just trans am, I include nascar in the picture, Holman moody won more than their share of road racing contests, Junior Johnson is probably the foremost innovator of american racing technology in the past 50 years, maybe zora arcus duntov and smokey are up their with him in that respect.
I remember bud moore being quoted as saying that shelby detracted from the boss 302 effort in 69, that moore and the independent racers were sharing info and even parts but shelby tried to go lone wolf and it eventually led to ford pulling team support from him(apparently a big blow up over valve spring issues started all this). As I recall ford sued shelby over missing parts and cars at some point? late 60's not sure...and the arguement that henry ford didnt build every model t or henry the 2 build every mustang. well what I was trying to get at was that shelby always built on other platforms, he didnt conceptualize and engineer a car, an engine, drivetrain all that. therefore it is my belief that he gets more credit than anyone in history for putting a v8 in a roadster. even the daytona coupes were really the brainchildren of top engineers not really shelby himself
I remember bud moore being quoted as saying that shelby detracted from the boss 302 effort in 69, that moore and the independent racers were sharing info and even parts but shelby tried to go lone wolf and it eventually led to ford pulling team support from him(apparently a big blow up over valve spring issues started all this). As I recall ford sued shelby over missing parts and cars at some point? late 60's not sure...and the arguement that henry ford didnt build every model t or henry the 2 build every mustang. well what I was trying to get at was that shelby always built on other platforms, he didnt conceptualize and engineer a car, an engine, drivetrain all that. therefore it is my belief that he gets more credit than anyone in history for putting a v8 in a roadster. even the daytona coupes were really the brainchildren of top engineers not really shelby himself
10-09-2007, 01:27 AM
#25
5th Gear Member
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Wasilla, Alaska
Posts: 2,505
RE: Unique Performance in trouble with Shelby?
I do know that if it weren't for Carroll Shelby, there would be no AC cobra, GT 40, GT 350, or the GT 500. Carroll Shelby is a legend. Sure he didn't go at it alone, but a boss is only as good as his employees. That alone should tell you how well he managed and managed to be successful. He was and still is an inovative genius.
[align=left] [/align]
[align=left] [/align]
10-09-2007, 01:38 AM
#26
6th Gear Member
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location:
Posts: 8,162
RE: Unique Performance in trouble with Shelby?
ac cobra was a britsh sports car he shoved a 260 in then a 289 later on you forget one car valley the shelby dayonta coupe the ferrari killer.i dont know how much of that letter is truth or bull but if they do loose the licenses theres 50 other builders making them now too.
10-09-2007, 07:33 AM
#27
1st Gear Member
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location:
Posts: 121
RE: Unique Performance in trouble with Shelby?
ORIGINAL: 67 evil eleanor
I think anyone that knows anything about Shelby, knows that he done a little more than put a 289 in a small car. He licked the red off Enzo's lollypop in a 1,2,3 finish. Not to mention how fierce a competitor he was when he was behind the wheel. May the old man live forever, hislegacy certainly will.
I think anyone that knows anything about Shelby, knows that he done a little more than put a 289 in a small car. He licked the red off Enzo's lollypop in a 1,2,3 finish. Not to mention how fierce a competitor he was when he was behind the wheel. May the old man live forever, hislegacy certainly will.
But, ole Shelby is a much better car guy than business man. Until he hired Hot Wheels Amy Boylanto run his show, he had done the same thing with the continuation Cobras. I heard that some guys has spent large sums and had waited 10+ years for them.
10-09-2007, 10:34 AM
#28
5th Gear Member
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: North Fulton, GA
Posts: 2,287
RE: Unique Performance in trouble with Shelby?
ORIGINAL: easttennmotors
well what I was trying to get at was that shelby always built on other platforms, he didnt conceptualize and engineer a car, an engine, drivetrain all that. therefore it is my belief that he gets more credit than anyone in history for putting a v8 in a roadster. even the daytona coupes were really the brainchildren of top engineers not really shelby himself
well what I was trying to get at was that shelby always built on other platforms, he didnt conceptualize and engineer a car, an engine, drivetrain all that. therefore it is my belief that he gets more credit than anyone in history for putting a v8 in a roadster. even the daytona coupes were really the brainchildren of top engineers not really shelby himself
As mentioned earlier, Bill Gates did not write the code for MS-DOS (bought the rights to it for peanuts), George Foreman did not design his grille, Suzanne Somers did nothing more than lend her name to the Thighmaster and George Steinbrenner never suited up for the Yankees. Nonetheless, they are the faces of those brands, and like it or not, they are highly associated with the success or failures of those entities.
I am a registered professional engineer and design grading and infrastructure for large subdivisions of single family homes. Although all the design comes out of my office, it is the developer's name on the brochures, not ours. Though an integral aspect of any production, design is merely one piece of the puzzle.
My 2cents,
Jeff
10-09-2007, 10:51 AM
#29
Mach I Section Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: round abouts these parts
Posts: 7,140
RE: Unique Performance in trouble with Shelby?
I do know that if it weren't for Carroll Shelby, there would be no AC cobra, GT 40, GT 350, or the GT 500.
all it takes is a good idea marketed in the correct way and then it will work, a common misconeption is that its the idea that makes something great, while that is partly true its more on the marketing and advertising that makes a product work well.
10-09-2007, 03:00 PM
#30
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 24
RE: Unique Performance in trouble with Shelby?
Another related story...
Looks like Unique Performance, the Texas company producing a host of classic and modern musclecars with Carroll Shelby and Chip Foose badges, is in trouble.
When we wrote about the company a year ago (AutoWeek 11/20/2006), things looked golden for Unique. There was a mini assembly line at company headquarters cranking out a number of classic musclecars at what looked like a good clip. We drove many of the cars and enjoyed them all.
But since then things have gone south. Today (Oct. 5) Shelby’s licensing branch announced it has taken steps to sever the relationship with Unique Performance after numerous complaints and several lawsuits filed by customers who had paid money for "Continuation" Shelby GT-350SRs and GT-500Es (Eleanors ) but not received cars. Those cars are refurbished original models brought up to more modern standards of safety and performance. Prices range from $100,000 to $200,000.
But Shelby customers weren’t the only ones. Unique Performance also produced refurbished 1969 Camaros and 1970 Challengers designed by Chip Foose and sold under the Foose name.
"We’ve been working with Unique to resolve concerns that we’ve brought forth," said Carson Lev, head of Foose licensing. "Chip is dedicated to the fact that he doesn’t want to leave customers at risk."
"We don’t want to say, ‘See ya’, that’s your problem," said Foose of customers who have made deposits on cars. "We’re trying to resolve those issues."
Unique Performance also produced the Foose Stallion, a Chip Foose-designed tuner car based on the 2007 Ford Mustang, through a network of Ford dealers across the country. The Foose Stallions were manufactured at another Texas company called Unique Performance Concepts, a partnership between Unique Performance and a Fort Worth company called Tecstar. It’s possible that Tecstar could continue to make Foose Stallions without Unique Performance.
The Foose Hemisfear will continue production uninterrupted, since it is manufactured by MetalCrafters in Southern California.
AutoWeek was unable to reach Unique Performance’s ceo Doug Hasty.
When we wrote about the company a year ago (AutoWeek 11/20/2006), things looked golden for Unique. There was a mini assembly line at company headquarters cranking out a number of classic musclecars at what looked like a good clip. We drove many of the cars and enjoyed them all.
But since then things have gone south. Today (Oct. 5) Shelby’s licensing branch announced it has taken steps to sever the relationship with Unique Performance after numerous complaints and several lawsuits filed by customers who had paid money for "Continuation" Shelby GT-350SRs and GT-500Es (Eleanors ) but not received cars. Those cars are refurbished original models brought up to more modern standards of safety and performance. Prices range from $100,000 to $200,000.
But Shelby customers weren’t the only ones. Unique Performance also produced refurbished 1969 Camaros and 1970 Challengers designed by Chip Foose and sold under the Foose name.
"We’ve been working with Unique to resolve concerns that we’ve brought forth," said Carson Lev, head of Foose licensing. "Chip is dedicated to the fact that he doesn’t want to leave customers at risk."
"We don’t want to say, ‘See ya’, that’s your problem," said Foose of customers who have made deposits on cars. "We’re trying to resolve those issues."
Unique Performance also produced the Foose Stallion, a Chip Foose-designed tuner car based on the 2007 Ford Mustang, through a network of Ford dealers across the country. The Foose Stallions were manufactured at another Texas company called Unique Performance Concepts, a partnership between Unique Performance and a Fort Worth company called Tecstar. It’s possible that Tecstar could continue to make Foose Stallions without Unique Performance.
The Foose Hemisfear will continue production uninterrupted, since it is manufactured by MetalCrafters in Southern California.
AutoWeek was unable to reach Unique Performance’s ceo Doug Hasty.