Unique Performance raided by local police
Unique Performance, located in the Dallas, Texas area, was raided by police today. The news does not come as a huge shock to some as Unique has been in legal trouble with customers awaiting their restored Mustangs, but never receiving them. Carroll Shelby also recently severed licensing ties with the shady shop. The police confiscated all vintage cars on the premises in the belief that the company was title-washing. Pretty much like they were taking cues from the original Gone in 60 Seconds film.
[Source: CBS News]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
judd 10:22AM (11/06/2007)
Do people actually watch that show?
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DRFS Rich 11:06AM (11/06/2007)
"Unique Whips" is filmed at Unique Autosports in New York State, not this place.
- R
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judd 1:34PM (11/06/2007)
Oh, duh! Sorry about that, but does anybody watch that show? What a waste of time slot.
500 11:23AM (11/06/2007)
Never been a fan of the highly-modified "Eleanor" look, and that was all I saw in that news piece. Would much rather have an original GT500. The GT350SR shown above doesn't look too bad either.
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Nick 11:24AM (11/06/2007)
Credit for the tip?
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jcar302 11:29AM (11/06/2007)
I read through some of the comments in the link to the original blog, and i don't mean to sound insensitive, but i'm not sure what kind of jackass gives someone 150k to build a car that probably only gets 30 grand in parts and you provided the roller. When someones building you anything, and they need 5 times the parts cost just to start, you need to run, not get your wallet out.
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Perry 12:12PM (11/06/2007)
$150k should buy you a lot of car, but you are greatly understating the cost to build these. $30k would get you a drivetrain for these cars, nothing more. You are missing the labor costs for building these. By no means am I defending UP, but I am in a shop that builds older cars, and you can't walk away from any rebuild for less than $40k. $70k-$100k is a reasonable budget for a mean, fully restored, modified street machine.
jcar302 12:22PM (11/06/2007)
Agreed, but the desposit to start the car, shouldn't include that much labor.
If the desposit on the car was 150k, what is the second payment? Third?
BTW, wholesale costs on pushrods engine parts, especially carb'ed really isn't that much, so a trans engine and rear shouldn't exceed 20 grand for an actual shop.
Of course these rebuilds are labor intensive, but i don't know about you, but i'm not paying up front for labor. A repudable shop should have the bankroll to start the project. And as i said, if they don't you need to worry.
They were borrowing from peter to pay paul, and it caught up with them, and that's why people are going to lose their money.
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jcar302 12:24PM (11/06/2007)
And by paying up front for the labor, you give them no inscentive to finish your car.
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catgirlshyla 2:52PM (11/06/2007)
The police accused UP of Title Washing (aka the "Ship of Theseus" fraud).
But wait, I read somewhere that Ford AND Shelby were providing new VIN# for the shells. So in a sense, wouldn't that also make Ford and Shelby culpable in the situation as well? That would explain why Shelby was quick in severing ties with the company earlier.
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Randy 3:39PM (11/08/2007)
That's not what Ford and Shelby were doing in reference to VIN #'s.
A 'Shelby' Mustang has a separate sequential number plate that ID's the Shelby sequence. The actual number on the title is the original number stamped on the frame.
There was/is no dirty dealing by Ford or Shelby.
Frank143 11:32PM (11/13/2007)
Randy,
What do you call it when a public company lets one of its partners keep taking money, time after time and dam right knowing that these people will NEVER get there cars? Is that dirty dealing, or nah?
Come on pal, wake up and smell the joe...
Me..
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panic 11:37AM (12/15/2007)
Doesn't anyone remember that Shelby "remembered" that he still had 20 or 50 original Cobra chassis with VINs "stored away", and could build original 1964-66 Cobras for the right price?
That's right - he was into fraud a long time ago.
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