So what about us?

[supercrackerbox]

From Hemming's weekly E-newsletter.

http://www.hemmings.com/newsletter/n...lid=51763#1382

Shelby forms new owner’s club

Carroll Shelby may be in his mid-80s, but he is still trying to control everything associated with his name. He has created a new community for enthusiasts of the cars built by his companies.

Based in Dearborn, Michigan, “Team Shelby” is the only club officially recognized by the factory for all Shelby-built vehicles, including the 2006 and newer Shelby-based Mustangs. The club will officially launch on January 11, 2008, Shelby’s 85th birthday.

“People have asked me for years to form a club that will help them really enjoy their Shelby car,” said Carroll Shelby. “There’s a new generation of cars, new faces at Shelby and people who want to enjoy their vehicle in new ways. The world has changed over the past 42 years, so we need a club to meet the needs of this new generation.”

Unfortunately, this means the longstanding Shelby American Automobile Club will no longer be recognized by Shelby. The SAAC began in 1975, when the newest Shelbys, just five years old at the time, were still, in many cases, daily drivers. The club, based in Connecticut, has more than 5,000 members in this country and another 500 around the world. The club is dedicated to the preservation, care, history and enjoyment of the cars built by Shelby.

Rick Kopec, one of the operating directors for the SAAC, said, “Our lawyers have advised us not to comment about this matter because it is in litigation. The facts will all come out in due time.” Stay tuned.
- By George Mattar

[turbovanman²]

You know, for a guy thats supposed to love cars, he sure is an ahole,

[JeremyL]

Someone over at fordmuscle.com posted that earlier.. *shakes head*

[sdac guy]

I think the comments quoted are somewhat slanted against the attempt by Shelby to get the entire Shelby community together (which is how I see it).

I got an email earlier this week from the folks at Shelby inviting me to join their site (Team Shelby). And just coincidentally while I was visiting their website yesterday, I got a phone call from the Shelby organization (in Las Vegas). It was the head of their IT department, and I've talked to him before.

We talked for about a half hour, and his main concern was how to verify VIN's for the Shelby Dodge's because they want to create a registry for all Shelby owners. For the Dodges it will not be limited to just the Whittier cars, But will include the cars "inspired" by Shelby such as the Daytona Shelby, Daytona C/S, and the Shelby Charger.

I see the whole thing as a positive action and told them I would help their effort in any way I can.

But he also gave me some background info on the new club and the website. Carroll has wanted a club type organization for some time (which I already knew about). So the Shelby organization approached the "stangsunleashed" folks in Dearborn and asked them to create the Team Shelby website http://www.teamshelby.com Eventually (Jan 11 ??) the Team Shelby website will be completely run by the folks from Shelby in Las Vegas.

As far as SAAC and Rick Kopec are concerned, I can well understand his reluctance to provide any info for the new registry, and his view of this new "club" as a possible threat to SAAC. While I understand his view, I don't necessarily agree with it. But I also don't know his "side" of the story.

Barry

[Clay]

interesting.

so we, meaning the SDAC, are not having any issues with the new "team shelby" folks about not being 'recognized'?

[Turbodave]

I received an email inviting me to join them as well. I looked it over and the membership is pretty steep (approx $50) so I'm going to hold off on joining until the club actually goes live in January. Right now it's all on a Mustang forum and just doesn't feel very inviting to me.

It's good that you've got a positive feel about this Barry, hopefully it will work out for us in the long run.

[BIGBRUDDA]

I think the comments quoted are somewhat slanted against the attempt by Shelby to get the entire Shelby community together (which is how I see it).

I got an email earlier this week from the folks at Shelby inviting me to join their site (Team Shelby). And just coincidentally while I was visiting their website yesterday, I got a phone call from the Shelby organization (in Las Vegas). It was the head of their IT department, and I've talked to him before.

We talked for about a half hour, and his main concern was how to verify VIN's for the Shelby Dodge's because they want to create a registry for all Shelby owners. For the Dodges it will not be limited to just the Whittier cars, But will include the cars "inspired" by Shelby such as the Daytona Shelby, Daytona C/S, and the Shelby Charger.

I see the whole thing as a positive action and told them I would help their effort in any way I can.

But he also gave me some background info on the new club and the website. Carroll has wanted a club type organization for some time (which I already knew about). So the Shelby organization approached the "stangsunleashed" folks in Dearborn and asked them to create the Team Shelby website http://www.teamshelby.com Eventually (Jan 11 ??) the Team Shelby website will be completely run by the folks from Shelby in Las Vegas.

As far as SAAC and Rick Kopec are concerned, I can well understand his reluctance to provide any info for the new registry, and his view of this new "club" as a possible threat to SAAC. While I understand his view, I don't necessarily agree with it. But I also don't know his "side" of the story.

Barry

HE HE HE :seems like "you've played right into my hands" BARRY

Check "what classic insurance do you have, post #28

[Directconnection]

Barry, if Shelby and Team Shelby "refuse to "recognize" (as in their words) SAAC, then what does this mean for SDAC? Sounds like if SAAC won't close up shop, then they will be shunned big time. I assume the same can be said for SDAC.

[turbovanman²]

Hoping your are right Barry, fingers crossed,

[sdac guy]

Barry, if Shelby and Team Shelby "refuse to "recognize" (as in their words) SAAC, then what does this mean for SDAC? Sounds like if SAAC won't close up shop, then they will be shunned big time. I assume the same can be said for SDAC.

That is why I said the article appeared to be written with a "slant". Lets see, where is Hemmings main office, Vermont right?? Where is SAAC main office, Connecticut?? Could there be a slant to the article from an inside source at SAAC?? Possibly.

Certainly any press release from Shelby would not have been written that way. And as I also said, I haven't really heard SAAC's (or Kopec's) beef with the new club, so I can't make any comment or form an opinion there.

The guy from Shelby I talked to did tell me that SAAC was not pleased that Shelby requested registry info from them and that they refused. But the SAAC registry, last I heard, is a huge database, the book is about 1000 pages. SAAC has put a lot of time and effort into creating and maintaining that data, and if I were them, I might be reluctant to help Shelby out with such an undertaking also. Much of it would depend on how I was approached, and what our club was offered in return for such use of our data.

To say that SDAC may not be recognized by Shelby in the future?? Heck, I didn't know we were already. How can we lose something we never had?

All kidding aside, in the past when an SD owner calls Shelby and asks questions, they are usually referred to SDAC for the answer. Shelby can't answer the tough questions for the owners of SD's. Shelby came to me to ask how to tell if a car is a real Shelby because they don't know!

And my response was that I would help them all I could, but it boiled down to "Lotsa Luck!"

I don't see it as a threat to SDAC. There very well could be more to this than I am aware of, and that could change the picture. Time will tell.

Barry

[Clay]

To say that SDAC may not be recognized by Shelby in the future?? Heck, I didn't know we were already. How can we lose something we never had?

I guess the way I see us as recognized is that Shelby allows us to use his logo and his name. Loosing that would.... well, it would suck.

[sdac guy]

I guess the way I see us as recognized is that Shelby allows us to use his logo and his name. Loosing that would.... well, it would suck.

And that is the problem with the article published by Hemmings. No source for the info or definition of terms was given. Who told them SAAC would no longer be recognized by Shelby? And what does that really mean? All good questions.

Certainly in my phone conversation with the guy from Shelby there wasn't even a hint of a change in relationship in the future. All he really said about the SAAC thing was that HE wanted to stay out of the political discussions as he wasn't in any position to speak with any authority.

My opinion is that if Carroll was starting a club to pull the rug out from under SAAC (and/or SDAC) it could backfire in the community. I don't know about SAAC members, but SDAC members are fairly loyal to the sport and club.

Barry

[J&G_BlueGLH]

That is all very interesting. It will be interesting to see what comes out of everything. I snuck over to SAAC's website just to see what all they were about.. as I didnt ever hear about them til now.. and I found this blurb interesting:

Rare were the articles in the Shelby American about Cobra replicas, Panteras or Mustangs because we have a strong feeling about what SAAC stands for. An attempt to widen the scope of the club to include all of these cars would be to dilute and change it. We discussed this when Carroll Shelby began building Dodge-based cars in the mid-1980s. In fact, it was Shelby himself who asked us what effect the production of these cars, carrying his name, was likely to have on SAAC. Would their owners be welcome?

It was a thorny question. We did not want to alter SAAC’s basic make up, so we established the Shelby Dodge Automobile Club as a parallel organization to SAAC which would cater to these cars. We received some help from Dodge (after prodding from Shelby) but after three years of working hard to keep this club afloat and at the same time looking for someone to take it over so we could direct all of our energies towards SAAC, we were unable to find anyone who was willing to make the commitment necessary. So we turned the club over to its strongest region and walked away from it. They immediately downscaled it. SDAC is still active today but it remains small, mostly because those cars just do not inspire the same level of enthusiasm and interest that Cobras and Shelbys do.

[mwrenn]

I guess the way I see us as recognized is that Shelby allows us to use his logo and his name. Loosing that would.... well, it would suck.

At this point, twenty years after my Shelby Lancer was built, I don't think that SDAC could be prevented from using Carrol Shelby's name, image, logo, legally.
Does anyone know of a trademark, patent, or copyright which CS had on his creations? Even if he did, the name "Shelby" defines a niche in the automotive marketplace, and his cars are described by this "trademark". As such the name, logo, etc.. become public domain and are not protected by copyright, patent, or trademark laws. Some examples of this lack of protection for the manufacturer are the registered trademarks: Jell-O, Band-Aid, Sheet-Rock, Spam. These have all become generic names which define more than just the brand of the original manufacturer.
Just my two cents, I hope that Barry is correct, and this turn of events will be positive for SDAC.

Carrol Shelby Did I even spell Carrol correctly?

[sdac guy]

At this point, twenty years after my Shelby Lancer was built, I don't think that SDAC could be prevented from using Carrol Shelby's name, image, logo, legally.
Does anyone know of a trademark, patent, or copyright which CS had on his creations? Even if he did, the name "Shelby" defines a niche in the automotive marketplace, and his cars are described by this "trademark". As such the name, logo, etc.. become public domain and are not protected by copyright, patent, or trademark laws. Some examples of this lack of protection for the manufacturer are the registered trademarks: Jell-O, Band-Aid, Sheet-Rock, Spam. These have all become generic names which define more than just the brand of the original manufacturer.
Just my two cents, I hope that Barry is correct, and this turn of events will be positive for SDAC.

Carrol Shelby Did I even spell Carrol correctly?

All of Shelby's marks, logos, and his name are copyrighted. Back in 1990, when SDAC was handed off to the Baltimore chapter (from SAAC) there were a number of letters that went back and forth between the Shelby managers/lawyers and the MD crew. Those letters spelled out the relationship and gave SDAC the rights to use certain marks, logos, and the Shelby name. When I was given SDAC in 1999, those letters were turned over to me as part of the club documentation.

Carroll Shelby spells his first name with 2 L's.

Barry

[BadAssPerformance]

I agree with everything Barry and am glad they contacted you.

I'm all for 'teaming' up with 'Team Shelby'

[quantum]

SDAC is still active today but it remains small, mostly because those cars just do not inspire the same level of enthusiasm and interest that Cobras and Shelbys do.[/I]

Ouch! I don't think that is true at all; then again I just may be one of the few that are inspired by these cars.

[csx452]

I received an email inviting me to join them as well. I looked it over and the membership is pretty steep (approx $50) so I'm going to hold off on joining until the club actually goes live in January. Right now it's all on a Mustang forum and just doesn't feel very inviting to me.

It's good that you've got a positive feel about this Barry, hopefully it will work out for us in the long run.

I just visited the site. There is a place in the forums for the Shelby Dodges. I didn't check it out completely though. As a CSX owner, I just checked the CSX page and there is a guy from Province, Pa who posted a bunch of pics of his very sweet looking 89 CSX-VNT. Check it out.

http://www.stangsunleashed.com/forum...howtopic=12923

Frank H.

[Polygon]

We're the bastard children, I've grown to accept that.

[rare_ram]

I went to the site a few days ago and asked if the Dodge cars were welcome as there was no Dodge section. Eveyone was very nice to me and I felt welcomed. The next day there was a Dodge section.