Carroll Shelby Licensing Responds to Comments

[ColdwaterHotrod]

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/071208/clsa003.html?.v=27

 

Press Release

Source: Carroll Shelby Licensing

 

Carroll Shelby Licensing Responds to Comments by Ken Eber and Rick Kopec

 

Saturday December 8, 1:04 am ET

GARDENA, Calif., Dec. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Carroll Shelby, CEO of Carroll Shelby Licensing Inc., (CSL) has issued a statement in response to allegations made by the owners of the organization formerly known as the Shelby American Automobile Club.

 

"I wanted to explain my concerns to the members of the Shelby American Automobile Club directly, but couldn't because SAAC has refused to give me a list of its members, even though the licensee agreement with SAAC requires them to allow me access to their books and records. So I am being forced to share the facts through a news release.

 

Rick Kopec and Ken Eber, two of the individuals who run the for-profit business called SAAC, have said that they don't know why we didn't renew their annual license. That's not true. We've sent e-mails, made phone calls and mailed letters explaining our concerns for quite some time. Except for the message noted at http://www.shelbylicensing.com/press.htm

they went unanswered. (PLEASE CLINK ON THIS LINK & READ BEFORE GOING FARTHER)

 

For the past several years, I've repeatedly told them that I was unhappy with their disregard of the reporting requirements of their license agreement and the way they managed the club. And, for the past eight years, their business hasn't kept the terms of its extremely favorable agreement with my licensing company, Carroll Shelby Licensing.

 

Here are the primary reasons that we did not renew the license for this business:

 

-- For many years, I loaned truckloads of memorabilia to the club and provided 1960s production records for the registry; Kopec and Eber promised that everything would be returned to me whenever I asked. In fact, that's what Kopec admits to on page 11 of the last printed edition of the "Shelby American World Registry," which was published in 1997. But they have refused to do so, and I'm told they have sold many of the items, like cancelled Shelby American checks, over the Internet and the like. This is not what anyone had in mind when I let them borrow my things, or my licensing company granted them a license.

 

-- Under the terms of their licensing agreement with CSL, they were required to provide annual and quarterly sales reports, as well as certified statements of sales and a full audit. Also, if requested, they were to allow us 'free and full access' to their books, records and accounts. They have not done any of these things, even though I've personally asked them many times.

 

-- They've never provided proof of the basic liability insurance required by the license agreement. This could expose me personally and all of my companies to enormous liability.

 

-- They failed for nine years to even ask for, much less receive advance approvals from CSL of the thousands of products and product designs they've been selling under license, even though the license agreement clearly states that this failure is grounds for "immediate" termination.

 

-- They didn't even pay the $1 per year licensing fee for the past nine years.

 

-- CSL not only has the right not to renew SAAC's license (which was made for only one year at a time for a reason), but in light of their continued disregard for the license agreement requirements, my trademarks and other intellectual property rights are at great risk if I allow this to continue.

 

 

Kopec and Eber say SAAC has 5,000 members who pay almost a quarter-million dollars in dues each year. Then there are advertising revenues, sponsorships and money made at the SAAC national convention. In return, from what I can tell, members receive just one mediocre publication and a couple of classified advertising newsletters.

 

And where is the Registry that has been promised year after year? The last one was published 10 years ago. I have received many calls from people who have paid hundreds of dollars for a Registry; they have threatened lawsuits against me and my companies because they have not received their book. The basic information in the Registry about colors, how many cars were built, etc., should be regularly updated and available online for instant access by members.

 

Kopec and Eber recently offered sponsorship of the club to a kit car maker. I have no issue with the individuals who buy kit cars and love the Shelby brand. But, would GM let Chrysler sponsor the Corvette Club? Would Harley Davidson ignore an attempt by Kawasaki to sponsor the Harley Owners Group?

I tried for years to address changes that should be made, but my requests fell on deaf ears. Some of the correspondence concerning this matter can be found at http://www.shelbylicensing.com/ So my licensing company and I asked Eber and Kopec to return the 1960s records and items they originally promised to give back to me, as well as those they have collected over the years using my name under license. And I told them that they can't use my name or the name of my company anymore, and to dispose of their inventory as required by the license agreement.

 

Now they want club members to give them hard-earned money to defend their business interests. Eber and Kopec are asking people to help sue me when they won't even tell anyone, much less my licensing company, how much money the club has made over the years collecting member dues and selling 'Shelby' memorabilia and merchandise for a royalty fee of only $1.00.

 

Are they fighting me because they're really afraid for the Registry or do they fear giving us financials, which they've been required to do, but refused?

Shelby enthusiasts, as well as SAAC club members and registrars deserve better. They should have a club that provides good value and benefits everyone who is involved. They deserve a club that leverages technology to share information and runs events that encourage people to enjoy their cars. They deserve to be treated with class and respect. To say that Team Shelby will negatively impact the value of Shelby cars is ridiculous.

 

I've received probably 250 telephone calls from people asking me to check on whether a particular Cobra or Mustang they wanted to buy is authentic. The next thing I hear from them is that Ken Eber has bought it. Where I come from, when there's that much smoke there's usually some sort of fire!

Also, I've been told many times by members that Ken Eber has said that he doesn't need Carroll Shelby. Well, now he won't have to bother with me and I won't have to bother with him. And, it seems to me that they make enough money that they don't need to go around poor-mouthing to the Club members to finance their legal defense fund against me. Shame on both of them! And, as far as Ken and Rick's associate, Mr. Pardee, the Club members should ask him how much of my personal memorabilia is being stored in his garage that, by all rights, should come back to me. Even though the three of them have slandered me by making public statements that I am 'evil,' I'm still entitled to get my personal belongings back. Who can disagree with that?

 

The bottom line is my legacy should be left in the hands of my family and real enthusiasts. I want to extend an offer to the local clubs to contact my office and arrange for a license to use the Shelby and Cobra name at the same base cost that we offered SAAC of $1. This will allow them to continue their great work.

 

It's my right to stop letting someone use my name and the name of my legacy company, Shelby American, when they won't listen to me or keep the terms of the licensing agreement they signed many years ago. Team Shelby won't be run that way. You have my word on it."

 

About Carroll Shelby Licensing

Automotive manufacturer and entrepreneur Carroll Shelby is one of the most famous and successful high performance visionaries in the world. In 1998, he founded Carroll Shelby Licensing Inc., which is the exclusive holder of trademarks and vehicle design rights for some of the most famous muscle cars and high-performance vehicles. CSL also holds trademark rights for Shelby- branded apparel, accessories and collectibles. For additional information about the company or licensing opportunities, call (310) 914-1843 or visit www.shelbylicensing.com.

 

 

 

Source: Carroll Shelby Licensing

[Son of GT]

Now you know the truth why the relationship has ended and why I made my remarks about Mr. Kopec's behavor and DIRECT lack of respect to Carroll and his creations. You can tell by the writing style that letter came directly from Carroll's hand.

 

One should remember the old addage, NEVER bite the hand that feeds you.

[ColdwaterHotrod]

Talk about putting the last nail in the coffen SAAC

[KCMO-GT500]

..for what its worth, I have been informed multiple times by multiple persons who were SAAC members, that when people placed ads in SAAC publications for parts/cars for sale, or notices of sales at events, SAAC insiders would typically purchase these items before the regular SAAC member ever had an opportunity to bid or purchase. No wonder the prices on parts and cars has stayed high and ownership somewhat exclusive This is certainly not the transparency that is required of an organization that touts their mission as "keepers of the the flame" for shelby cars on behalf of shelby car owners. I certainly expect much more than that from any organization to which I belong.

[Son of GT]

..for what its worth, I have been informed multiple times by multiple persons who were SAAC members, that when people placed ads in SAAC publications for parts/cars for sale, or notices of sales at events, SAAC insiders would typically purchase these items before the regular SAAC member ever had an opportunity to bid or purchase. No wonder the prices on parts and cars has stayed high and ownership somewhat exclusive This is certainly not the transparency that is required of an organization that touts their mission as "keepers of the the flame" for shelby cars on behalf of shelby car owners. I certainly expect much more than that from any organization to which I belong.

That is 100% true. The classified ads only served to benifit a handful of members (officers) for their own personal collections.

[ve4mm]

If SAAC has any of Shelby's personal belongings, they should be returned in a timely manner.

 

The rest of the letter............who really knows the truth.

 

Let the courts decide.

 

I do like Shelby's chili mix!

 

It is good!

 

Go buy some.....................

 

Michael Mark, BSc EE, P.Eng.

[MMcGuirk]

Over the years I have owned several Shelby vehicles and have attended numerous events where Carroll was in attendance.

 

I have had the wonderful experience of a one on one conversation (initiated by Carroll at the 1995 Wine Country Classic after my then 8 year old daughter started flirting with him). My first hand knowledge is that it is more about the hobby and the enthusiasts than the benjamins with Mr Shelby.

 

I am impressed with the resurgence of the brand with the S197-based products and happy to see Team Shelby formed. I also attend SAAC events and really enjoy the people and the spirit at their events.

 

SAAC give Carroll his stuff back and work this out, life is too short!

 

Michael

[SLB8SNK]

Nice post! I hope that now, the SAAC members who post here, or the others who keep trying to bring the fight here, will back off and let this rest. At least on this forum.

 

Good job!

[Son of GT]

Do you know me buddy? Do you know how long I have been around Shelby's? I saw the writing on the wall about SAAC a couple of decades ago and decided then to pass on their bullshit then. It's you that's just now seeing the light about Rick and Ken, and they way they have been raping their members and Carroll himself. Don't come in here with your pretzel logic that allows you to justify in your mind their behavors and how they have run their orginization for the last 30+ years.

 

You gloss over the fact that they 'may" have purchased cars underneath the noses of members who were looking to buy a Shelby even though Carroll has stated that was absolutely happening. If only one or two people contol the flow of a desired commodity, then they can also artifically control their value of that commodity just like the De Beers family has done with Diamonds for all these years. How much did you have to pay for your Shelby? Unless you bought it before 1975, you were probably also a victim of inflated pricing that eventually drove out the true enthousists and brought in the deep pocket collectors.

 

Barrett-Jackson. Now that's another great orginization that I won't even get into about how they operate. Can you say shills in the auction gallery? I wouldn't be suprised if the press release you are refering to was created by B-J under the guise that it came from Carroll. Think about this for a moment... Who stands to gain if the car appears to been touched by Carroll? Carroll? No, he's not involved with the sale. B-J? Bingo! Let's pump the providance of the car up (even if it's not true) that way we can really get big commission bucks from the sale of the car.

 

SAAC members are not bad mouthing Team Shelby? Why don't you come out of the fog and pop over to your newly minted website and see for yourself what's being said about Team Shelby and more specifically about Amy herself.

 

Too early to claim victory? Wake up and smell the exhaust. Your in denial and have tied yourself to a sinking ship. Have fun on the way down.

 

SAAC stands for SHELBY American Automobile Club, it's NOT KAAC.

 

"New to Carroll Shelby crowd" Okay, I'm assuming that based on that comment you aparantly consider yourself to be a seasoned Shelby owner that knows how Carroll is. Okay then, if you have been arround the scene so long, you should be able to tell us where and what the building in this picture represents..

 

[cobraracing]

This is a lot of history many of of the newer Shelby owners are interested in hearing about

I have always only heard good things about Carroll, his legacy and his foundations etc.

Trying to put somebody else down to make yourself look good is a sure way of SAAC losing my vote

 

[mciarochi]

Nice post, very clear press release, very well documented.

 

I know I've only been exposed to Carroll Shelby for, um, maybe four decades. Not personally, but by reputation. I was racing GT350's on the streets back when some posters here were still riding their Stingray bicycles. I drove chevvies back then, but Carroll Shelby and Steve McQueen inspired me to change my evil ways. I don't think I'm part of the "new" crowd - it seems I'm always explaining that I'm not in my second childhood, that I've always been doing this to the best ability of my bank account!

 

Anyway, I've never heard anything bad about him as a person. Not. One. Word.

 

This pretty much confirms everything I've learned to expect from Carroll Shelby the person, his companies, and the products associated with him. It makes me feel even better about my decision to spend my hard-earned money supporting a company and product that are associated with him, and I will continue to do so.

 

In a few weeks, if Iget close enough to him, all I'm going to say is "Thanks for the Rides!"

[shelby69]

[/size]

Like they say: if you can't dance....

 

 

 

 

This has been edited due to the entire post that was quoted has been deleted.Thanks, trying to keep the bashing down........07 Shelby.........................

[SLB8SNK]

 

[kaylan1521]

I've removed the post regarding Becker as it has nothing to do with anything currently going on between Carroll Shelby and SAAC. Please keep comments relevant one way or another and refrain from any kinds of personal attacks.

 

Thanks

Paul

[KCMO-GT500]

Son of GT, it is early in the game to be claiming victory. as for SAAC higher ups grabbing first crack at an ad, well there could be some truth to that but remember, the Items were listed for SALE so the SELLER did a good thing by posting them for Sale there! Online advertising has taken that possible scenario away from any publication. But here is one y'all can try on for size...

 

You "New to Carroll Shelby" Crowd will learn your lesson in due time. just remember this, "SAAC" and it's members are not bad mouthing TEAM SHELBY. So why is it the other way around??

 

......I could have sworn that I was pointing out a fact about past actions by individuals, not bashing a whole group of people. From what I have seen and heard, it is commonly accepted that certain individuals within SAAC took advantage of their own members, ouch! From what I have been told, this was not just done a few times, but was a common business practice. I am not sure why these members would now feel very strongly about staying with the owners of that type of organization. Loyalty really should flow in both directions.

 

Your response quoted above seems to be very shrill and defensive; to me signs that the arguments you have left overall are more emotional than factual. Never a good sign in an open discussion. Pointing out flaws and mis-steps by a person (CS) which are not really part of the central argument is disingenuous, since all of us have flaws of some kind or another. It also seems to me that a large part of the SAAC phenomena and past success is based not just on the shelby cars themselves, but also hinges on involving the man himself, integrating the two and obtaining a synergistic effect. Now, some within SAAC are bad talking CS, which seems to be tearing down their own efforts over all these years. CS is the same man he has always been; if he is worthy of bashing now, why was he being praised earlier? Just because it helped your brand and the value of the older shelbys? I am really just surprised that the SAAC owners didn't just make the effort to meet the licensing agreement terms and continue the relationship. Although, maybe they do not view relationships as I stated above for loyalty, not needing to flow in both directions. From the communications that have been posted, maybe what CS is doing is walking away from what he views as a one sided relationship. And yet, after all of this, I would bet (a six pack of diet pepsi please) that if SAAC made a sincere effort to restart a true relationship with CS, he would be receptive. But not just more of the same. He has certainly communicated his feelings about that.

 

edited to remove reference to Becker; sorry Paul, it took me a while to write my post so I side stepped your edit

[aonebadbone]

I will not renew my membership with SAAC .

Art

[DC500]

ColdwaterHotrod,Thanks for the post.Wow, what an eye-opener about the co-owners of SAAC,Ken Ebers and Rick Kopec. I certainly have a different perspective after reading all of this!!!

 

DC

[kaylan1521]

edited to remove reference to Becker; sorry Paul, it took me a while to write my post so I side stepped your edit

 

Thanks

[ve4mm]

This is sure one hot topic.

 

Hopefully the two sides can resolve their differences in a timely manner.

 

 

 

 

Michael Mark, BSc EE, P.Eng.

[39Mustang]

ColdwaterHotrod,Thanks for the post.Wow, what an eye-opener about the co-owners of SAAC,Ken Ebers and Rick Kopec. I certainly have a different perspective after reading all of this!!!

 

DC

 

 

I have had enough of this please stop.

[39Mustang]

Do you know me buddy? Do you know how long I have been around Shelby's? I saw the writing on the wall about SAAC a couple of decades ago and decided then to pass on their bullshit then. It's you that's just now seeing the light about Rick and Ken, and they way they have been raping their members and Carroll himself. Don't come in here with your pretzel logic that allows you to justify in your mind their behavors and how they have run their orginization for the last 30+ years.

 

You gloss over the fact that they 'may" have purchased cars underneath the noses of members who were looking to buy a Shelby even though Carroll has stated that was absolutely happening. If only one or two people contol the flow of a desired commodity, then they can also artifically control their value of that commodity just like the De Beers family has done with Diamonds for all these years. How much did you have to pay for your Shelby? Unless you bought it before 1975, you were probably also a victim of inflated pricing that eventually drove out the true enthousists and brought in the deep pocket collectors.

 

Barrett-Jackson. Now that's another great orginization that I won't even get into about how they operate. Can you say shills in the auction gallery? I wouldn't be suprised if the press release you are refering to was created by B-J under the guise that it came from Carroll. Think about this for a moment... Who stands to gain if the car appears to been touched by Carroll? Carroll? No, he's not involved with the sale. B-J? Bingo! Let's pump the providance of the car up (even if it's not true) that way we can really get big commission bucks from the sale of the car.

 

SAAC members are not bad mouthing Team Shelby? Why don't you come out of the fog and pop over to your newly minted website and see for yourself what's being said about Team Shelby and more specifically about Amy herself.

 

Too early to claim victory? Wake up and smell the exhaust. Your in denial and have tied yourself to a sinking ship. Have fun on the way down.

 

SAAC stands for SHELBY American Automobile Club, it's NOT KAAC.

 

"New to Carroll Shelby crowd" Okay, I'm assuming that based on that comment you aparantly consider yourself to be a seasoned Shelby owner that knows how Carroll is. Okay then, if you have been arround the scene so long, you should be able to tell us where and what the building in this picture represents..

 

 

Son, you first bash SAAC then defend SAAC in the same statement, tell me you are not voting for Hillary?

[Son of GT]

If he posts go jump off a bridge, are you gonna do it? lol

 

Making up your mind by a few posts by obvious bias against SAAC, ridiculous conclusion!

That's okay. The band on the Titanic was loyal to the end too. Glub, glub, glub....

[Son of GT]

Son, you first bash SAAC then defend SAAC in the same statement, tell me you are not voting for Hillary?

Well 39, I'll give you the benifit that you can't see DaltonDavid's post that I'm reacting to, but please explain how you have concluded that I am bashing and defending SAAC in the same statement within my post? I have read and re-read my writings, and don't see what you are seeing.

 

Hillary? Nope. You? Osama, Oprah, or whatever his name is, right?

[amyb]

guys, I think we should just end this discussion, I dont see any good coming. There are 2 sides and if those 2 sides work it out great, if the Saac side never responds to the letters, then this will be long and drawn out. What ever happens will happen, we should move on.

 

We have cars, parts , birthday events to chat about

 

Amy

[kaylan1521]

Ok kiddies I think this thread has run it's course. Once again when things get personal it becomes the time to shut things down. I will be closing this thread and hopefully this issue will be left to the players and the rest of us will just get back to enjoying our cars and festivities.