SAAC & SHELBY QUIT FIGHTING . . . FOR NOW.

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It’s old news now, but the knock-down, drag-out legal war between the legendary Carroll Shelby (and his for-profit licensing business) and the for-profit Shelby American Automobile Club (SAAC) apparently ended in a whimper with a top-secret settlement agreement signed back on August 8, 2008.

SAAC’s website says:

The Shelby American Automobile Club has reached an agreement with Carroll Shelby and his companies to end the legal battles and return to the normal life of having fun and enjoying the people and the cars of our hobby. . . .We are now and forever the Shelby American Automobile Club. . . . don't miss the celebration at SAAC-33... We'll be there...Team Shelby will be there... this is what it's all about. Spread the word......It's over.

The SAAC website has also removed or blocked access to all of the juicy anti-Carroll rhetoric posted by club officials during the dispute. (Just like in George Orwell's "1984," it's as if it had never been published).


Curiously, there’s nothing on the public pages of Team Shelby’s website about the hush, hush settlement.

The Carroll Shelby licensing website only has an old licensing letter from 2007 (which was generally before all of the public finger-pointing and pontificating by “the Man” and SAAC’s Rick Kopec.)

Truth with Speedzzter couldn’t find anything at the “official Carroll Shelby website," either.

The bottom line is most likely that it came down to money.

All of the heated rhetoric was probably just a smokescreen for a simple business dispute.

Undoubtedly, while Carroll Shelby’s high-profile public relations offensive helped shift some public opinion against SAAC, at some point both sides in this dispute had to realize the toll it was taking on the global Shelby legacy.

And someone in Carroll’s camp had to recognize the contributions (even if for-profit) that SAAC had made in keeping the REAL Shelby legacy alive during the years “the Man” was wasting time with chili mixes, hunting and hopping-up Lee Iacocca’s forgettable FWD Chryslers.

Maybe someday we’ll all find out the details of how it was resolved.

The real questions are:

–Whether Team Shelby will continue growing and overtake SAAC in prominence.
–Whether SAAC and Team Shelby will divide “coverage” of the various Shelby eras.
–Whether SAAC will be able to comply with whatever Carroll Shelby Licensing require.
–Whether SAAC and Shelby will continue to “get along” or if this is just a temporary truce.

Now that the great Shelby v. SAAC war is over, what about all those left without Shelby-branded cars in the Unique Performance mess? And will Shelby Automobiles ever produce a car with a reasonable bang-for-the-buck?