Shelby cancels license for 33-year-old SAAC car club
In the eyes of many automotive enthusiasts, Caroll Shelby is a legend with few peers. His breathed upon Mustangs are so coveted, they routinely sell at auction for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Shelby Cobras are truly special icons of the muscle car era, but when Caroll and Ford parted ways, he left the keys to the Shelby Mustang kingdom to the throngs of enthusiasts and car clubs across North America. [Source: Mustang Evolution]
The 5,000 member-strong SAAC is a key Shelby club that has used its years of Shelby Mustang knowledge to help both members and non-members ascertain the validity of their 1:1 scale toys. Mr. Shelby had given the club the right to use his name and branding to carry out its duty, but as of January 31, 2008, he's declined to renew the license. Shelby isn't stopping there, either. According to the SAAC (and a letter they say they got from Shelby's legal team) Caroll is also going after all verification data collected by the club since 1996, and he wants to see the club's financial statements during that same span of time. After the lawyers delivered the news to the club, Caroll reportedly trademarked the SAAC name, giving the club little choice but to hire lawyers to fight the onslaught from the patriarch.
Right now we're only getting the SAAC's side of the story, and there seem to be conflicting reports on the net regarding the license cancellation. It's also unknown how much (if any) of the documentation in use by the SAAC was provided to the club by Shelby. The SAAC also profits from said information, which makes any relationship with Shelby all the cloudier. We also have to keep in mind that the agreement was signed through January 2008, and Shelby has every right to simply decline to renew the right to use the Shelby name and property. Regardless of who's at fault and who owns what property, we hope that the 5,000 Shelby-loving members of the SAAC are considered during this entire ordeal.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Delayedz 8:35AM (11/30/2007)
Everyone know's carrol shelby is a cheap loser, this is a surprise? I was at a car show where this little kid who couldn't of been more then 8 years old went and asked for his autograph and he told him it'd cost him 20 dollars, and he said it dead serious. He's a cheap loser, always will be.
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Mike 11:04AM (11/30/2007)
Shelby runs a well documented children's foundation that gives lots and lots of money to charity.
At least some of the profits for many of the cars he's sold at Barrett-Jackson lately have gone to his charity.
If you physically witnessed this action (which I doubt) there may be more to the story. Maybe he already signed two photos for this kid and had an belief that a greedy father was trying to get their kid to get him more autographs. Who knows.
The thing is that we're talking about a for-profit business here and not a not-for-profit enthusiast car club so there's probably more to this story. Guess time will tell.
chrisdavis 11:21AM (11/30/2007)
Correction: It has been well documented that Shelby's "charity" *raises* a lot of money for children but does not *distribute* it. The federal government has come down heavily on him for this.
naggs 1:44PM (11/30/2007)
he is establishing a financially sound institution that will be around long after he dies. it is not an uncommon practice for non profits.
the shelby childrens fund is by all accounts a well run outfit that does and will continue to do a lot of good for kids
Menice 8:53AM (11/30/2007)
that kind of sucks, i had heard/read rumors he was a douche like that. money goes to your head, makes you greedier.
that and having a girls name has gotta leave you with a piss poor attitude.(not fooling anyone adding the xtra L)
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Guenther 8:59AM (11/30/2007)
Data collected by the club is club property. Think I'll flush my Shelby Chilly Seasoning when I get home. Either that guy is just turning into an old bastard, or he's become senile enough to not have a clue what's going on inside his organization.
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Francis 9:01AM (11/30/2007)
I dunno here, I read the letter and it appears to be a standard boiler plate schpiel about Shelby is clearing the books and since this is an ongoing account, it needs to be closed and the "property" of Shebly can then be accounted. Nothing in the letter says a new agreement wouldn't be drafted, it merely says that this current one is not going to be renewed.
As for Carrol being a "cheap loser", the man is marketing his image and his creations and under US law they are his to do with as he pleases. If he feels that an autographed photo of him is worth 20 bucks, fine because for every photo he signs, how many more are fakes?
Yes it is always a sad day when the legal pit bulls are let loose but what we're not hearing is how this situation developed, the SAAC very well may just ignored him the first few times as the tone of the letter hints that this was not an out of the blue communication.
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Paul P. 9:18AM (11/30/2007)
A while back I sent Carroll Shelby a letter, basically asking for his autograph. I got back a signed photo of him with a red 427 Cobra, as well as a pencil and a sticker from his children's foundation.
Either last year or the year before I got the chance to meet him at the Lime Rock Vintage Festival and the guy seemed as nice as could be. The term "Good 'ole boy" comes to mind.
I don't know where all these rumors started, but in my experience there's nothing wrong with the guy.
With that said, I don't think this has anything to do with Shelby himself. There's a girl that works for him (Amy I think?) that's in charge of the business side of things. Carroll doesn't really handle any of that anymore. If anything, I think this would be her doing, be it positive or negative. I know shes being trying to turn the company around and tighten up any loose ends, so this may be part of that.
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Jay Evans 10:14AM (11/30/2007)
Amy is Pres. of Shelby Auto. This action is by the Shelby Trust. The report I've seen said she was kept in the dark and knew nothing about this.
I suspect with all the new Shelby's being produced, Shelby want to market his own club ($$). This is a way to shut down any competition.
FYI, SAAC is a "for profit" bussiness, as opposed to a non-profit club.
olderty 9:38AM (11/30/2007)
Shelby is always giving money away to his children's foundation. Those Shelby Series I (or II, whatever) were stupid expensive because most of the profits went to the foundation. I don't see this guy being that stingy. Maybe you were at a charity fundraiser delayedz??
Let's wait to find out wtf Shelby's side of the story is...
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Apu 9:59AM (11/30/2007)
It's a front.
Jay Evans 10:20AM (11/30/2007)
Yep, CS is starting his own club. That answers the questions as to why. If somebody is going to make money off his name it seems CS is going to be the one doing it.
http://www.stangsunleashed.com/teamshelby
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cwcentral 10:21AM (11/30/2007)
It's in another blog, but the devil is in the details.
http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200770723007
Shelby maybe a nice guy to most people, but stuff like this is why he parted with Ford way back--the original Shelby cars were a success, made him a legend and of course all that fame and fortune ended up with him breaking bonds with Ford. An almost 25yr deadzone of Shelby cars incurred until last year.
History sure loves to repeat itself, and now does with the SAAC. In the end, I'm sure it the lawyers taking inventory of what SAAC has upto the license expiration, so they can track violations after 2008. Then again, lawyers can spin anything so this is a disadvantage to SAAC in their future growth opportunities. This happens a lot in the technology industry. I wouldn't be surprise if Shelby creates his "own" club, to compete with the SAAC for their members' dollars. It will likely be more expensive too (maybe a couple more track days though). Shelby's pretty business savvy to not pass up creating a club himself.
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cwcentral 10:24AM (11/30/2007)
Thanks Jay for the link to the NEW club.
Hmmm.. $49.95? It's a corporate franchise my friends. No more grassroots Shelby clubs!
And I'm waiting to see >5% grants from his foundation...
Dan Roth 10:36AM (11/30/2007)
Did you read all the way down to the bottom, where the response from Caroll Shelby is included? Both the SAAC issue and what's going on with his charity are issues that have been reported on, yet still remain rather murky.
Caddycrazed 11:04AM (11/30/2007)
Am I reading this correctly? They've been running this club for 33 years and never got around to having their name trademarked?
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falloutagain 11:42AM (11/30/2007)
This just in - Special Edition "Official Shelby Club" Mustang to be auctioned off at Barrett Jackson! j/k
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Sean 12:36PM (11/30/2007)
Shelby has done nothing wrong. Business is business. He explains why his charities have not given a lot. He is tapping Wells Fargo to manage the funds. There was no "25 year" lull. He produced some great cars for Mopar that embarrassed Mustangs of all breeds on the track.
The club is for everyone..not just Shelby Mustangs...and if SAAC didn't trademark their name then it is their own stupid fault.
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catgirlshyla 1:29PM (11/30/2007)
Wow, I thought he was a senile old bastard for whoring out his name. Now this seals the deal that Shelby is, a ****ing prick.
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agt350guy 10:35PM (1/13/2008)
I can sympathize with Shelby, having had first hand experience with SAAC's notorious lack of accountability. Many years ago, I interviewed a mid-'60s GT350 race driver for the SAAC magazine. Along with an interview tape, the driver provided a large amount of original factory documentation on race car preperation that SAAC promised to return. Of course the documentation was never seen again, and the racer rightfully blamed me for its loss. These original papers would have great value today.
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