How much Shelby did Ford Purchase?

[gt5001]

From PR Newswire: "On the 42nd birthday of

the Ford Mustang (introduced on April 17, 1964), Carroll Shelby

International, Inc's (OTC: CSBI) wholly owned subsidiary Shelby

Automobiles, Inc. announced today the start of production of the new Shelby

GT-H at its Las Vegas production facility. "

 

Shelby is building the supercharged V6 and has entered into an agreement with Hertz. The thread on "GT500 as a scam" begs the question of what Ford is paying for the use of his name. Perhaps the most important commodity of Shelby Automobiles Inc. is the licensing of his name and personna, i.e., Michael Jordan, entertainment personalities, etc.

 

Wonder what Ford paid for the use of GT500, assuming Shelby has that trademarked? Remember when the prototype Ford GT was introduced as the GT40? Some small company trademarked that brand. It informed Ford it could use GT40 for $40 million.

 

Wonder if Shelby kept or Ford was unwilling to pay for the lettering to go in the center of the deck lid? Note it is centered on the Hertz and Shelby's V6. I suspect the "side" lettering was inegotiated at a lower cost. Wonder if Ford could have purchased rights to a dash plate? Signature? If so, what would ithey have cost?

 

When you purchase a Duke, Notre Dame, Texas, Ohio State cap or jersey, the university. for selling its trademark, gets about 15 percent of the producer's profit.

 

Wonder how much of the $40K is going to Shelby American and/or his foundation for licensing rights? Whatever Ford is paying, it appears to be worth the cost, based on the traffic on these boards and at Ford dealers' showrooms.

[DVS2XS]

Very good points raised!

 

But again, the basic issue SEEMS to be just how important to you is it that this car carries the SHELBY name and/or is or is not a very limited production unit.

[Orf]

I think the GT-H is a very limited production car. I wouldn't consider 15,000+ units over 2 years to be very limited. I also understand that it isn't in the "mass production" range, either.

 

My guess is, if you want to buy one new, you will be able to do so. It's just a matter of how long you want to wait.

 

For me, the performance is the key issue. The fact that the Shelby name is associated is a bonus.

 

Regarding "how much Shelby did Ford purchase?", I believe Ford purchased as little as possible to get the name on the deck lid. Every $100 paid to Mr. Shelby per unit represents about $1.5M over the production run. I would guess that less than $1000 per unit is going to "nameing rights".

 

I'm not a marketing/financial guy, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night. :D

[rocket88]

The lettering being moved to the side of the trunklid was due to the lettering not sticking well to the vinyl stripes. Odds are they'll move it on the production version of the rental car too.