Carroll Shelby's licensing arm is taking steps to end its relationship with Unique Performance, the Texas tuner that created and still updates muscle cars for both Shelby and Chip Foose. Unique has apparently been the subject of an increasing number of complaints and lawsuits from folks who have paid for cars and not received them.
Unique's issues with Shelby seem to revolve around the Shelby GT350 SR and GT500 E, which sell for upwards of $100,000 apiece. The Foose vehicle in question is the Foose Stallion. The Foose is produced by two companies, Unique and Tecstar, so it's possible that Tecstar could continue to produce it without Unique. Chip Foose's licensing arm is still working with Unique and their customers to resolve complaints.
[Source: AutoWeek]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
GN60 @ Oct 8th 2007 4:47PM
What is going to happen to all the orders Unique has taken. Are the customers going to lose there money? This is a tragedy that a company would ruin such a great car.
Tony @ Oct 8th 2007 8:15PM
Good for Shelby. They don't need the bad Press.
Here my simple solution for Unique "Stop taking orders, until you have enough cars completed". Or at least give customers a realistic time frame as to when they should expect their cars.
Jetleaf @ Oct 8th 2007 10:44PM
With Foose' name involved you can bet that Chip will make sure the customers are satisfied.
catgirlshyla @ Oct 9th 2007 4:17AM
Howabout they stop with these "clones." I respect anyone's right to make a buck, but to re-vin old bodies (and possibly re-vinning new Dynacor bodies) is just sacreligious. It just slaps the originals in the face.
Plus the colors suck. Chip Foose maybe a god, but god isn't perfect. Gunmetal grey should not be put onto any Shelby.
Rabiddog @ Oct 9th 2007 10:34AM
My Shelby is gunmetal grey....... If we all drove the same car with the same colors, wouldnt life be boring.......
catgirlshyla @ Oct 11th 2007 5:13AM
Gunmetal Grey should NEVER be put onto a Mustang.
Mark @ Oct 11th 2007 9:54PM
I just put down an 86k deposit on a Unique Shelby GT 500. I am very very concerned right now. I feel like they took my money and dont care if they deliver. The contract is crap. Basically they take 1/2 up front. 1/4 after that to start several months later, then 1/4 upon final assembly. However, who knows how long final assembly will take.
I do know this.....Im getting legal council tomorrow.
Will let you know how things unfold.
Mark
GN60 @ Oct 12th 2007 4:38PM
Speak with Shelby about this. Call shelby licensing and speak with John Luft. That is a tregedy that they said nothing to you about this. I feel they knew what was going to happen.
Lucky @ Oct 25th 2007 5:56PM
Suggest you get legal counsel asap. It appears that UP has terminated it production employees and has locked its doors.
JMB72 @ Nov 3rd 2007 3:21PM
Contact the Farmers Branch Police Department, Auto Theft Division. Unique has been shut down and the current owners taken into custody for all sorts of FEDERAL crimes. ALL vehicles have been confiscated and being reviewed. If cars are not stolen and vin numbers match up, they will be returned to the owners. The only problem is that they do not know who owns what when cars are still in production. You need to press this with the Farmers Branch PD. The original designer and owner of Unique now owns a shop in Fort Worth. He might be able to finish the build, but that is between you and him.
Kory @ Nov 5th 2007 6:57PM
Mark we are in the same boat. i put down $150,000. I want my deposit back....Now!! Do you have any info re: lawsuits or Dallas basd attorneys??
oneoffdesign @ Dec 10th 2007 7:54PM
mark,
sorry to hear about your situation. if your still interested in building your dream car check out my shop at www.oneoffcustoms.com. we can build you a car with better quality and for less money. call me at 408 476-6492 if interested. my shops name is oneoffdesign were located in northern california. thanks for your time hope to hear from you. good luck with your situation.
robb robinson
owner
oneoffdesign
baltocamaro @ Oct 16th 2007 4:13PM
Mark, I'm in the same boat, but I ordered 12 mos. ago...now they are quoting "early summer"...but they claim to have a new production process improvement coming, and their backlog problem(supersnake engine problems) behind them. See an interview in Autoweek.com from today...so could be sooner?
Mark @ Oct 22nd 2007 2:25PM
Thanks for the heads up with the Shelby Licensing contact. If any of you have direct ph. #'s it would be appreciated.
FYI......Unique Performance will not respond to multiple voice or emails. Zero communication other than the 1 VP sending me the link to the Hasty/AutoWeek interview. Was it just spin anyway?
Im in utter shock that I cant get a direct call back after all my requests.
I have asked for my deposit to be returned. No response.
-Mark
oneoffdesign @ Dec 10th 2007 8:19PM
baltocamaro,
sorry to hear about your problems with unique performance. i have a customer who actually received his car of course with no title. we are going to build him a pro touring camaro for him. i saw the eleanor let me tell you the quality was real bad. if your still interested in building that car you can see what i do at www.oneoffcustoms.com. my name is robb i am the owner, you can reach me at 408 476-6492. thanks for your time hope to hear from you.
robb robinson
owner
oneoffdesign
www.oneoffcustoms.com
kelly @ Oct 16th 2007 7:03PM
Doug Hasty, CEO of Unique Performance, has a history of being a crook, a liar and stealing deposits. Ask him about the $15 million dollars he and his partners (Richard Kearby, Chris Layne) owe AMS Staff Leasing. Ask him about the class action lawsuit filed against him and his partners for worker's comp fraud in California. Ask him about not paying his employees and bouncing payrolls. Ask him about the concrete company he mismanaged and ran into the ground.
Then ask your self why anyone would do business with this shmuck.
Anna @ Nov 12th 2007 1:32PM
Hi,
I gave Unique Performance a deposit last September of $200,000.00 for a GT500E. Does anyone know of a group lawsuit for all of us who gave deposits? If anyone has information that would be helpful as I am pretty sure I won't see a car or my money at this point.
Thanks to anyone that can help.
GN60 @ Oct 22nd 2007 2:44PM
jluft@shelbylicensing.com
GN60 @ Oct 22nd 2007 2:45PM
jluft@shelbylicensing.com
GN60 @ Oct 22nd 2007 2:48PM
just found this today...
LOS ANGELES — Plagued by lawsuits, an angry Carroll Shelby says he will cancel a licensing agreement with a company that has fallen far behind on customer orders for vintage Shelby Mustangs.The 84-year-old sports car hero says the company, Unique Performance Inc., has taken millions of dollars in deposits for cars bearing his name. But some customers have been waiting for more than two years for their vehicles, and several have filed lawsuits.At least 10 customers have sued Unique Performance. And Shelby Automobiles Inc. also has been named as a defendant in suits."We've been sued by numerous people," Carroll Shelby told Automotive News. "We cannot continue to accept excuses."Shelby is engaged in a war of words with Douglas Hasty, Unique Performance's CEO, who says Shelby's operations are mostly to blame for the problem. Hasty says faulty engines supplied by Shelby Automobiles contributed to the production delays.Since 2002, Unique Performance has partnered with Shelby to re-engineer and refurbish 1960s vintage Shelby Mustangs that range in price from just under $100,000 to more than $200,000.Customers complain that Unique, headquartered near Dallas, has taken nearly $7 million in deposits but has a backlog of 50 to 60 orders going back to 2005. Hasty admits to the problems but points a finger at the Shelby camp."Production delays with the vintage vehicle lines stem back to problems with Shelby 427FE engines supplied by our vendor dating back to August 2005," Hasty wrote in an e-mail to Automotive News.
Overheated
He said engines in the Shelby Super Snake, a special performance version of the Mustang GT500, were plagued by overheating that in some cases caused them to fail. Hasty wrote that the problems have been "resolved" but put his company behind schedule."Twenty-eight of the 42 Shelby Super Snakes produced prior to August 2006 experienced engine issues that led to overheating and/or mechanical failure," he wrote. "Resources required for addressing the Shelby engine issues led to production delays to all vintage models."Shelby angrily dismisses Hasty's claims. He says he became aware of the engine problems only recently."The fact that (Hasty) hasn't delivered the cars has nothing to do with the engines," Shelby says. Hasty "accepted the engines and never said one word to me (about the engines) until a couple of weeks ago. These engines have nothing to do with people waiting two to three years for their cars."One suit, filed in Texas on Sept. 18 by Alan Cummins, alleges that he bought a defective Super Snake in August 2004 from Unique for $188,300 and that the company has neither repaired the vehicle nor returned the plaintiff's money.Cummins' suit states that Carroll Shelby may be added as a defendant because he endorses the vehicles.
An April 20 suit filed in Texas by Keith and Kevin Rafferty against Shelby and Unique says that their vehicles, which cost $136,000 each, are more than a year late. The plaintiffs say they have paid deposits of nearly $130,000 for each car.A Sept. 4 lawsuit against Unique by Robert Garner claims that Garner agreed in May 2005 to buy a $189,000 Super Snake and has made two deposits totaling $141,750. Garner says he has no car and says Unique has refused to return his deposits.In addition to the Shelby vehicles, Unique manufactures vehicles designed by famed car customizer Chip Foose, including a reproduction 1969 Chevy Camaro, a 1970 Dodge Challenger and a Foose Stallion based on the current Mustang. Hasty says Unique has 106 vintage vehicles in various stages of production — 80 Shelbys and 26 Foose vehicles.
106 vehicles orderedHasty would not say how much he has taken in deposits for undelivered vehicles. But he says all of the money is being used to produce the 106 vehicles on order."Traditionally, production of vintage vehicles averaged 12 months from start to delivery," Hasty wrote. "However, because of the issues with Shelby 427FE engines, Unique's timetable for production of vintage vehicles has doubled to as much as 24 months during the past year while the engine issues were resolved to the company's high quality standards and complete customer satisfaction."Hasty says that since 2003, Unique has delivered 119 vehicles, mostly Shelbys. He says that two were delivered at the end of September and that the company is on schedule to deliver another 13 cars before the end of the year.Of the 10 customers that Hasty says have sued his company, he says three cases have been settled and seven are being addressed.