Carroll Shelby Vs. His Fan Club
The Shelby American Automobile Club has been keeping the flame alive for Shelby-built and badged vehicles for 33 years. Now its namesake wants them out of the picture. As of January 1, Shelby's yanked their license to use the club's name (which Shelby trademarked), AND he wants all club's registry data going back to 1996, AND he wants to see the club's financial records. The automotive equivalent of Howard Beale, Peter DeLorenzo, sees the move as nothing but a logical extension of Carroll Shelby's long history of unbridled greed. "Shelby has once again confirmed for everyone what he's been about since Day One," the Autoextremist writes. "And it's not about the legacy of the Cobra or 'protecting' his name or anything like that. It's not about the championships or the men and women who helped him achieve racing history. No, it's about the money, pure and simple." As Autoblog reports, Shelby has fired back. In a press release, the Texas racer accuses the club's managers of selling loaned memorabilia, failing to provide financial reports or proof of liability insurance, licensing Shelby products without the old man's permission and, get this, not even paying the $1 per year licensing fee. It all sounds credible enough– until you remember the shambles that is Carroll Shelby's Childrens' Foundation. Do as I say, not as I do?
More by Robert Farago
Comments
Join the conversation
What does the Shelby name mean anymore to anyone who follows car news at all? The last Shelby GT was so obese, portly and had handling that belonged to an era where Shelby actually raced.
Isn't he that old dude attempting to flog dodgey engine additives on late night TV? Enzo may have been a absolute shit to work for a but at least you knew that he would sacrifice anything to get his name on a winner trophy in formula one (and a much lesser extent in sports cars). Shelby apart from a few bright spots, mostly triumphed up against some pretty mediocre opposition case in point if he was that good why was he flogging a maserati 250f in 1960 when rear engined F1 cars had eliminated the front engined cars within a season,