[DaveSanborn]

Having spent A LOT of money with UP ($20-25k?), from where I sit (and this is just my opinion and is in no way to be considered "slanderous"), UP is a not a company that should be associated with the Carrol Shelby name.

Not wanting to get caught up in anything myself, I'll just leave it at that.

Dave

 

[bigb427]

I personally wouldn't be disappointed if that agreement ceased and no more Eleanor's were made period.
The problem in my opinion goes all the way back to the aftermath of the Gone in 60 Seconds movie release and that years Barrett-Jackson auction. A good number of the interested parties jumping on that Eleanor frenzy bandwagon that had to have one of those cars were not really car guys in the true sense, meaning they weren't familiar with the idiosyncrasies of a 30-40 year old car and were getting into the hobby for reasons different than most of the tradional car show crowd.
These people were/are buying $200K plus cars from unique performance expecting world class cars in return. A recipe for disaster, seeing how all Mustangs had fit & finish issues from the factory when new (especially if you are trying to compare them to the standards of todays cars) and were by design when originally conceived intended to be economical cars that anyone could afford - a far cry from a world class car!!!
In all fairness to Unique Performance, there is no way they could make money unless they went the volume route.
If they only produce say 3 or 4 trully exceptional cars a year that did in fact live up to all the hype and expectations, their selling price would have to be well over $500K each in order for them to make money. They then wouldn't be able to keep up with demand (something they are already dealing with as it is) opening the door for even more crappy product in the market place.

 

[dodgestang]

Since I think we all love these guys so much I can't see dedicated 2 whole threads to the topic....merging threads

 

[351stang]

While I feel bad for the guys that have lost all that money, I feel a little better about driving a Joe Average '68 351 Stang that does just fine, hand built with a combination of NAPA, NPD, NOS and hardware store fasteners...looks pretty good going down the road, too. And, it cost about what a new Chevy Cobalt goes for.

 

[Jim]

I'm no fan of Shelby, but in this case it looks to me like they are doing what they have to - "if" what they state is true. While most of his law suits seem frivolous, I'd probably do the same thing in this case.

 

[fastlane_65]

Maybe we'll benefit when all the left over interior and suspension parts start hitting ebay!!!! Those front seats are awesome looking, and I wouldn't mind a nice coil-over rear end.

 

[coupesix]

Enough already! stop the madness! :lol:

 

[Helmantel]

On a related note

Ebay

 

[180 Out]

I can't believe anyone would pay $140,000 for an Eleanor. That's enough for a Z06 and an M5, both of which will leave the Eleanor in the dust, both of which are everyday all-weather cars, and neither of which will make the owner look more than slightly mid-life-crisis-ey, as opposed to the Full Monte M.L.C. effect of the Eleanor.

 

[Helmantel]

I can't believe anyone would pay $140,000 for an Eleanor. That's enough for a Z06 and an M5, both of which will leave the Eleanor in the dust, both of which are everyday all-weather cars, and neither of which will make the owner look more than slightly mid-life-crisis-ey, as opposed to the Full Monte M.L.C. effect of the Eleanor.

I don't get it either. One would assume that somebody who makes enough money to buy one is intelligent enough not to fall for such an obvious hype, but apparently not...

Out of curiousity, does anyone has an idea of how many of those cars they've sold?

 

[bigb427]

I can't believe anyone would pay $140,000 for an Eleanor. That's enough for a Z06 and an M5, both of which will leave the Eleanor in the dust, both of which are everyday all-weather cars, and neither of which will make the owner look more than slightly mid-life-crisis-ey, as opposed to the Full Monte M.L.C. effect of the Eleanor.

I agree completely with the $140k part, but I'm not sure about the rest. You may be partially correct. LOL!

It's just my opinion, but If I wanted an eleanor, I would by the parts and put it together myself or pay someone to do it.
My 1st choice however would definitely be to buy a
an authentic original 67 Shelby. Not a clone of a car that was in a movie that was a figment of someones imagination. With $140K in my pocket, that would at least put a very nice down payment on a real & original 67 Shelby, a car with a history of appreciation in the market place, and will always be collectible. The new licensed GT500E cars from Unique Performance may be considered legitimate by some, but a future collectible that will appreciate?
It's a no brainer in my opinion. The GT500E's spent 99% of their life as a Mustang, not a Shelby.

 

[bigb427]

On a related note

Ebay

That's very interesting!

I wonder if Unique Performance has started using the new recreation 67-68 Dynacorn bodies yet?
Are we supposed to believe that a GT500E produced with an aftermarket body is a legitimate Shelby that will be collectible investment???

 

[fastlane_65]

The GT500E's spent 99% of their life as a Mustang, not a Shelby.

Judging by this thread, most of the GT500E's have spent 100% of their life as a Mustang, and are still waiting to become "Shelbys."
:rofl: :rofl:

 

[bigb427]

The GT500E's spent 99% of their life as a Mustang, not a Shelby.

Judging by this thread, most of the GT500E's have spent 100% of their life as a Mustang, and are still waiting to become "Shelbys."
:rofl: :rofl:

:rofl: :rofl:

 

[Big_B]

From the ebay ad - it looks like this guy has set up a (sparse) webpage: http://www.uniqueperformancescam.com/

 

[79cobraII]

umm interesting i followed that ebay link...

which took my here through the auction
http://www.uniqueperformancescam.com/


which lead me here:
http://www.fixeleanor.com/

buried on fixeleanor.com was this letter:

A letter from unique about the issues.
http://web.archive.org/web/20050201095442/www.fixeleanor.com/uniqueperformance.PDF


I find it interesting to read both sides.

 

[180 Out]

buried on fixeleanor.com was this letter:

A letter from unique about the issues.
http://web.archive.org/web/20050201095442/www.fixeleanor.com/uniqueperformance.PDF

I find it interesting to read both sides.

I read that letter too. I see it as a combination of denying the existence of a problem, quite a bit of buck-passing to suppliers, and blaming the victim (the customer) for trying to fix problems. I can see why Unique went under. This is not what I would expect from a maker of extremely expensive custom cars. Is there anywhere in that letter that Hasty admits the existence of a problem, other than the gas filler pinhole? If he did I missed it. Any business that does not religiously follow the motto that the customer is always right, at least in the realm of luxury products and services, is doomed to failure. Just compare Hasty's letter to the posts we often get from the manager of NPD on this board, in response to problems posted up here.

Bye bye Unique. I hope lessons were learned.

 

[bigb427]

buried on fixeleanor.com was this letter:

A letter from unique about the issues.
http://web.archive.org/web/20050201095442/www.fixeleanor.com/uniqueperformance.PDF

I find it interesting to read both sides.

I read that letter too. I see it as a combination of denying the existence of a problem, quite a bit of buck-passing to suppliers, and blaming the victim (the customer) for trying to fix problems. I can see why Unique went under. This is not what I would expect from a maker of extremely expensive custom cars. Is there anywhere in that letter that Hasty admits the existence of a problem, other than the gas filler pinhole? If he did I missed it. Any business that does not religiously follow the motto that the customer is always right, at least in the realm of luxury products and services, is doomed to failure. Just compare Hasty's letter to the posts we often get from the manager of NPD on this board, in response to problems posted up here.

Bye bye Unique. I hope lessons were learned.

That letter is an excellent example of what I was talking about in my 1st post in this thread!

Is it just speculation that Unique Performance will be going out of business?

Did anyone watch TV last night and see this yet another new Shelby project that appears to to be coming about between Shelby and World Wide Customs in Cali?

 

[79cobraII]

oh god yhea i saw that drama last night on tv.

like oh we need another shelby urg

 

[Jim]

I can't believe anyone would pay $140,000 for an Eleanor. That's enough for a Z06 and an M5, both of which will leave the Eleanor in the dust, both of which are everyday all-weather cars, and neither of which will make the owner look more than slightly mid-life-crisis-ey, as opposed to the Full Monte M.L.C. effect of the Eleanor.

I agree completely with the $140k part, but I'm not sure about the rest. You may be partially correct. LOL!

It's just my opinion, but If I wanted an eleanor, I would by the parts and put it together myself or pay someone to do it.
My 1st choice however would definitely be to buy a
an authentic original 67 Shelby. Not a clone of a car that was in a movie that was a figment of someones imagination. With $140K in my pocket, that would at least put a very nice down payment on a real & original 67 Shelby, a car with a history of appreciation in the market place, and will always be collectible. The new licensed GT500E cars from Unique Performance may be considered legitimate by some, but a future collectible that will appreciate?
It's a no brainer in my opinion. The GT500E's spent 99% of their life as a Mustang, not a Shelby.

I agree. The only thing that makes these cars any different than a repro batmobile or general lee is that Bo, Luke, Batman and Robin didn't endorse them or sign them.