Unique Performance, maker of Eleanor, is in big trouble!

[Go Hogs Go]

Check this out. I hope nobody was expecting their Eleanor soon!

http://jalopnik.com/cars/breaking-news/oh-no-eleanor-unique-performance-accused-of-title-washing-319267.php

[terrible one]

Haha ouch! Well that's a way to raise profit. . . not having to buy the real thing to start!

[68charger383]

The scary thing is if you had $25,000 or $50,000 deposited for a car and now they may be gone tomorrow with your money

[moparstuart]

 wow i saw a show on them and they never all there cars where real shelby's in fact they said they were looking for any fast back mustanges they could get    they were dismantling  a six cylinge car on the show  ?

[Old Moparz]

And people wonder why swapping VIN tags & calling it a rebody is illegal?

I hope they prosecute the hell out of them & put them completely out of business.

[69charger2002]

yeah i agree. that is just sickening. what sucks is all the people losing a ton of money.. that hurts the worst.. more car people that will likely get out of the hobby now
trav

[Go Hogs Go]

I'd venture to guess that this has already put them out of business. I don't see how a company selling mega buck cars can recover from something that serious.

[Leonidas Rex]

With all of the Shelby clones out there now as it is, maybe this will help. As a Shelby owner, I love it!

[Charger_Fan]

Not for one second did I ever assume those cars may have started as actual Shelby cars, that would be a total abomination to do that to a real Shelby, IMO.
However, I did not know they are trying to pass them off as being real Shelby's of some sort. What kind of moron would think he could actually get away with that? If these cars were standard Shelby clones, I could almost see someone trying to pass one off as real...but a CUSTOM Shelby?
And merely 'registering' it into the Shelby registry does not a real Shelby make.


In a way, I'm glad. I'm tired of seeing so many Eleanore clones...the "ooooh" factor is long gone. Gimme a real one & I'll drool on that all day.

68rtchargerstang67, I assume your Shelby is a '67? My favorite year!

[TruckDriver]

WHOOPS!!! I love the looks of those cars too as well as the movie. (I have the original movie too). I agree with what Travis said. 

I always knew they were not real Shelbys that were converted to Eleanors. I forgot what tv show did a segment on them a few years ago, and the Unique guys said on that show they were just plain Fastback Mustangs, some with V8s, and some were 6cyl cars. If I remember right, it was either "My Classic Car", or "Dream Car Garage" that did the segment on them.

That's okay, I am running outta drool looking at the black and grey Roush Supercharged Mustang at the dealer here in town

[HITMAN 149]

jason giambi from the yankees bought a super snake a while ago from them... it was on one of them TLC shows (rides i believe???).
at least he got his!!! 
who cares if they use a friggin 4cyl mustang? they tear it all down to nothing... and build it up all brand new!!!!
it's wrong if they say it was originally a real shelby!!!
they in troublllllllle.. ooooooooooooohhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!

[moparstuart]

jason giambi from the yankees bought a super snake a while ago from them... it was on one of them TLC shows (rides i believe???).
at least he got his!!! 
who cares if they use a friggin 4cyl mustang? they tear it all down to nothing... and build it up all brand new!!!!
it's wrong if they say it was originally a real shelby!!!
they in troublllllllle.. ooooooooooooohhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!

    thats the same show i watch and they didnt advertise them all as real .     they did do one for some guy out of his original car shelby  but thats what he wanted dont and it started out as a rust bucket

[bull]

I'd venture to guess that this has already put them out of business. I don't see how a company selling mega buck cars can recover from something that serious.

So you've never heard of HLPAG I take it?

[hemihead]

yeah i agree. that is just sickening. what sucks is all the people losing a ton of money.. that hurts the worst.. more car people that will likely get out of the hobby now
trav

The people that buy these aren't car people.They are just investor types with more money than brains. Someone with some influence must not have liked his car that he got or was too far down the waiting list and called in the law.

[remta1]

I'd venture to guess that this has already put them out of business. I don't see how a company selling mega buck cars can recover from something that serious.

So you've never heard of HLPAG I take it?

[Go Hogs Go]

I've heard of HLPAG, but I've never seen them make the national news before. The story is also being covered by CNN and several other media outlets. Maybe they'll do a story on them next, but I doubt it. I'll beat ya that the average Jo spending 15K-30K on a General bondo bucket does not noramlly have the means vigerously prosecute. A person willing to pay 200K for a toy probably doesn't give a care about happens, and can raise a lot more hell.

[sixpack70]

Whats sad is those fastbacks will probably be crushed making them even more rare. The eleanor thing has run its course though. Don't see the craze that tore up a lot of good mustangs to make them rolling plastic pieces of junk. The good thing with Chargers are they don't usually get screwed up with plastic parts, just 26" clown car wheels every so often.

[Mike DC]

The whole thing seems unclear to me.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Was U.P. claiming to be delivering Eleanors made from real 40-year-old Shelby Mustangs?  Is that the ruckus? 

Or is this just a case of the news reporter not understanding a common practice for the old car hobby?  Making gorgeous cars out of old junker unibodies that they bought cheaply isn't fraud per se. 



And in this case I fail to see the relevance of whether a specific unibody has ever had a "salvage" title or not.  One would assume that the U.P. customization would render any given unibody's past history pretty irrelevant once the smoke clears.  (I'm not saying that makes it right to lie about a car's past, but I'm saying it should remove the need/care to lie about it in the first place.)

     

[bull]

The whole thing seems unclear to me.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Was U.P. claiming to be delivering Eleanors made from real 40-year-old Shelby Mustangs?  Is that the ruckus? 

Or is this just a case of the news reporter not understanding a common practice for the old car hobby?  Making gorgeous cars out of old junker unibodies that they bought cheaply isn't fraud per se. 



And in this case I fail to see the relevance of whether a specific unibody has ever had a "salvage" title or not.  One would assume that the U.P. customization would render any given unibody's past history pretty irrelevant once the smoke clears.  (I'm not saying that makes it right to lie about a car's past, but I'm saying it should remove the need/care to lie about it in the first place.)

     

It's not that convoluted. It's a simple case of the police telling the reporter that VIN fraud is illegal and that it happens to effect as many as 61 people who have or are investing $200k each. They only know what the police are telling them. The courts will decide the rest.

[Really?]

Guy on eBay had a posting about 3-4 weeks ago about how he had sent them bunches of cash and had NOTHING but a photo of a wrecked fastback shell to show for it. From his post you could go onto a thread where a few other folks were sharing their story of wallet rape by...ah, welll..."Unique Performance!" Guy might be back on there-look in 'Shelby' listing if I remember correctly.

[69bronzeT5]

Werent they the guys who made that UGLY green 68 Charger with the ugly dash and funny "pimped' wheels?? If so, they deserve to be shut down

[Old Moparz]

What's not to understand? I reread the entire article just now, & it's apparently clear as to why they are in trouble. This is the paragraph from the article.

When Farmers Branch, Texas police raided the place they found 61 vintage cars (the video report from the local CBS affiliate shows mostly Mustangs) in various levels of construction. After lifting the hoods, cops found VIN plates to be fake. And underneath? You guessed it. They found signs of significant scratching where the old ones were.

A fake tag is a problem.

[69bronzeT5]

I wonder if the cops will crush all the cars because of the fake tag...that would suck. Such a waste of muscle cars

[1FastCharger]

Werent they the guys who made that UGLY green 68 Charger with the ugly dash and funny "pimped' wheels?? If so, they deserve to be shut down

That was West Coast Customs for the show Street Customs.

[Brock Samson]

pic of a blue eleanor i spotted this year at the Jimmy's picnic...

about 20 feet from where last yr. there was another red eleanor...

i asked the owner of the blue one if he knew the owner of the red one, and he seemed shocked there was another one there the year before...
i thought it was weird they were with in a few feet of each other a yr. apart...

hey,.. Maybe their not "Shelbys" their :Shelbes"... 

[TK73]

Shel-wanna-bees

[Khyron]

With all of the Shelby clones out there now as it is, maybe this will help. As a Shelby owner, I love it!

thats harsh! 

[Ghoste]

I really would rather see this happen to HLPAG than these Eleanor dudes but vin fraud is bad for the hobby overall so I can't say I'm too upset.  It's also probably true that ripping off some of the big wallet types was a much more dimwitted move than Hans the bottom feeder (well, maybe not a bottom feeder but he's not too far away from being one) likes to pull.

[Old Moparz]

I really would rather see this happen to HLPAG than these Eleanor dudes but vin fraud is bad for the hobby overall so I can't say I'm too upset.  It's also probably true that ripping off some of the big wallet types was a much more dimwitted move than Hans the bottom feeder (well, maybe not a bottom feeder but he's not too far away from being one)

That's great,   

[autodynamics]

the actual story is like this: there are not real shelby's or cobra's  however shelby did put his name on them after they were produced.  here is a link to it exactly. what a shame allot of people will get screwed.
http://www.pro-touring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36223

[dukeboy_318]

sucks to be the people dumb enough to pay 250,000 for a Eleanor clone

[charger_mike75]

A fool and their money are soon parted. $250,000 for a mustang period is excessive.

[Mike DC]

This case looks like a pretty epic example of what not to do in the custom-car biz. 

It's got everything: 
Using a vintage factory nameplate, using a Hollywood link, trying to overhaul crappy cars, way overpriced final products, taking money up front too early in the game, big press/SEMA and no real shop running yet, crooked a**holes in charge, disgruntled employees, angry ripped-off customers, Chapter 7, police raids for VIN fraud . . .



If the picture follows through the typical pattern, then it's not over yet.  The guys who ran this mess will get away with everyone's money, set up a new shop in a few years, and keep doing similiar crap with a slightly lower profile in the future.  And of course the automotive press will never say a bad word about any of it. 

 

[89MOPAR]

  Hoo boy would i laugh if Carrol Shelby was brought in as a defendant in the case.  I wonder if he will refund the money he got [ I assume] to lend his credence and name to these cars. "Cause I don't think he did it for free. Hahaha.  I'd rather have the 71-74 Mach 1 version from the original movie .

[Ghoste]

sucks to be the people dumb enough to pay 250,000 for a Eleanor clone

Have a heart man.  Do you have any idea what an huge burden it is to try and show the world how excessive your disposable income is?  I don't, but I'm thinking it's gotta be really really hard.

[moparstuart]

  and what about all the people who already have there cars?  are they vin'ed wrong and illegal too ?
they have been pumping them out for awhile  ?

[hemihead]

Can't say as I feel too bad for the investor type losing his money  .Maybe they will go invest in something they know about. And I would think any finished car that was VIN swapped should be illegal also just like any other car out there . It should be surrendered to the authorities and destroyed.

[Mike DC]

Those guys from Unique Performance had better just be glad they did this scam here in America. 

I've heard that in some primitive third-world countries, they actually put people in jail for stealing millions of dollars.

[Alaskan_TA]

Foose bailed on them now too;

http://www.oldcarsweekly.com/Default.aspx?tabid=520&articleid=8765&articlemid=1519#1519Articles

[Mike DC]

 
Another sign that the situation at U.P. is already way beyond the damage-control stage. 
Foose's actions sound more like: "Get clear of the building before the whole thing blows!"




I just hope the authorities are monitoring all of U.P.'s tangible/liquid assets very, very carefully right about now. 

This is usually when all sorts of cars, parts, tools, and unshipped finished inventory will begin "disappearing" in the ruckus.  And friends of the people in charge of the operation begin getting amazingly cheap deals on all sorts of items.  (And those items tend to remain very close to the location of their previous owner even after the sale.)

 

[dukeboy_318]

sucks to be the people dumb enough to pay 250,000 for a Eleanor clone

Have a heart man.  Do you have any idea what an huge burden it is to try and show the world how excessive your disposable income is?  I don't, but I'm thinking it's gotta be really really hard.

oh i feel for them, but still, they were the ones who piled that much money on a car, i wouldnt pay that much for any car, simply cause id be afraid to drive it and thats what a car is designed for, not sit in a garage covered up.

[Mike DC]

 
I've been thinking for a long time that we're just lucky that Warner Bros hasn't gotten into that racket with General Lees.




Can't you just picture it now? 

"All the GLs in this limited edition are actual vintage Dodge Chargers that are given a thorough reconditioning.  Then they are modified to the strict standards & specifications of Warner Bros, rendering them no longer a mere Dodge Charger but the REAL General Lee of automotive legend." 

For $200K and more you can get the optional 426/472/528 Hemis, Strange S-60 rearends, EFI . . .

[Ghoste]

Maybe Hlpag is really just a front for Warner Brothers. 

[1FastCharger]

DAMN  I just found out my certificate of authenticity is forged!!!!

[Brock Samson]

Caroll S himself has been involved in a pretty wide range of auto scams over the years... like all the cobra frames that showed up about ten years back.. I met one of his old drinking driving buddys a couple mos. back who told me some tales from their on highway testing racing vettes back in the mid '60s.

[Brock Samson]

interesting link and video, could halpag be next?.. 

  http://jalopnik.com/359986/unique-performance-mustangs-allegedly-built-by-prisoners-used-13-gallons-of-bondo

[Mike DC]

   
It sounds like most of the news about this incident right now is just a bunch of reporters trying to stumble through their misunderstandings about classic car restos.  Not much concrete info past that. 

All that seems clear is that the place is getting raided, everyone respectable is trying to cut loose of the operation fast, and the trouble might have something to do with VIN fraud. 
     

[suntech]

I saw that they are trying to make a point out of where the aftermarket parts where made, and personally i dont care about that. It is the QUALITY of the parts that are important. (We have had that discussion before here)
What it really boils down to, is the vin fraud, and cars not delivered!
If somebody is dumb enaugh to pay 200K plus, for bad craftmanship, i´d say that is pretty much their problem. I am not familiar with their work more than what i have seen on the tv shows, but that looked FAR from impressing!! ( that goes for some of the other shops on tv too).
A lot of it seems to be cheap, off the shelf, aftermarked parts, tacked and bondoed on to a crappy body, with a fancy signature
A 50K car, with a 150K signature...................what a bargain!!!

[rav440]

not that i agree with what they did , but it seems like overkill . is illegle to rebodie a car or unethical  the jist i get is they are not passing them off as original SHELBY car but clones . i dont feel bad for  the idiots plunkging down that kind of $$$ and losing it .
first off if your going to spend money on car or even a part youd better damn sure know what your looking at and going to get for your buck .
and as far as the title washing goes it seem like a frign loop hole that needs to be fixed and should have been fixed along time ago . just like the other thread about the ROUGH SUPERBIRD in the AREO car section NO TITLE but theres guys on here that say they can go thru the same process bacily and have a title made .
and the tags or vins the report claims to be fake looks legit to me to a point ,  the vin is on the dash im not sure but it looks like the fender tag ID #s were ground off and replaced by their own fender tag .  how is that differant than what ROUSHE does ? 
big deal that they were using inmates to do the work  .

like i said i do nto agree with what they do and i hate the idea of the whole rebody deal . i just think these guys were mearly making a clone car and some pin head with big $$$$$$$ bought one thinking he had a real SHELBY till he was told differant .

[Mike DC]

 
Yeah, but what are the buyers supposed to believe?  If you're a rich but uninformed buyer, who do you ask to find out whether the car you're getting was built out of an actual 40yo original "Shelby" Mustang from the 1960s or not? 

I wouldn't trust anyone connected to the Shelby empire (including Carroll Shelby himself) to give me an honest answer.  Johnny Cochrane could have learned a thing or two from the legaleze they use when disclosing what these cars really are. 


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   


Imagine paying $200,000 for a "real" General Lee of some sort, and then being delivered a sh*tty GL that was built by HLPAG last week.  But it has Warner Brothers paperwork that very strongly implies it was an original TV-series car they overhauled.

That's basically the way the Shelby enterprise operates these days. 

[LeeBoy]

Boyd Coddington had a similar problem awhile ago. http://www.billetwheel.com/new/dmv.htm  http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb5269/is_200504/ai_n20482341 I am sure with the volume of cars these shops do this happens offten. 

[rav440]

 
Yeah, but what are the buyers supposed to believe?  If you're a rich but uninformed buyer, who do you ask to find out whether the car you're getting was built out of an actual 40yo original "Shelby" Mustang from the 1960s or not? 

I wouldn't trust anyone connected to the Shelby empire (including Carroll Shelby himself) to give me an honest answer.  Johnny Cochrane could have learned a thing or two from the legaleze they use when disclosing what these cars really are. 


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   


Imagine paying $200,000 for a "real" General Lee of some sort, and then being delivered a sh*tty GL that was built by HLPAG last week.  But it has Warner Brothers paperwork that very strongly implies it was an original TV-series car they overhauled.

That's basically the way the Shelby enterprise operates these days. 

rich , poor or middle income it dont matter if your buying something and your not sure about it , youd better do swome research and gather as much info as you can .

i dont feel bad for them people one tiny bit .

[Mike DC]

Realistically I agree with you about that, but it doesn't excuse fraud.   

[rav440]

Realistically I agree with you about that, but it doesn't excuse fraud.   

no it doesnt excuse fraud but im not to sure they commited fraud , the way i see it is they took a fast back stang and cloned it into a SHELBY they even put their own fender tag on it .

[Troy]

Realistically I agree with you about that, but it doesn't excuse fraud.   

no it doesnt excuse fraud but im not to sure they commited fraud , the way i see it is they took a fast back stang and cloned it into a SHELBY they even put their own fender tag on it .

The fraud is turning a salvage car into a non-salvage car. People purchasing the finished cars have every right to expect that they were legal, drivable cars before the conversion and not a pile of metal that otherwise couldn't be sold. The added fender tag and badging is legal but VIN tampering is not.

What is Title Washing?

Title washing hides the history of a vehicle that's been salvaged.

Salvage titles are assigned to cars that are deemed a total loss by insurance companies. This is also referred to as "branding" a vehicle. This doesn't mean the car can't be driven but vehicles branded with salvage titles have lower market values and are difficult to sell. Title washing washes away a vehicles branding. Once the branding is eliminated, the car's value goes up and it's a lot easier to sell. You can see why so many car owners might be motivated to "wash" their titles.

http://www.fraudguides.com/auto-title-washing.asp

Troy

[69bronzeT5]

They've gone bankrupt. They're selling everything including Cuda shells, a Challenger shell and a 70 Charger shell.

http://www.maxanet.com/cgi-bin/mndetails.cgi?rosen/

[ChgrSteve67]

Would be very interesting to be there to see what is laying around and what some of it sells for.

Sucks for the employees that never got paid or lost their deposit money.

What gets me is that they had to be sitting on a gold mine.
Endorsements form Carrol S. and Chip F.  clients standing in line and handing over stacks of cash.

Guess it doesn't take much smarts to screw up a good thing.

[Brock Samson]

chances of gettting any of those shells and parts cars are pretty much, zinlch, zip nada...
you think the poor lowly hoi paloi here have a chance...                                                   

[Blown70]

chances of gettting any of those shells and parts cars are pretty much, zinlch, zip nada...
you think the poor lowly hoi paloi here have a chance...                                                    :smilielol:

I saw a link for an auction on Cuda-challenger.com?  You saying that is not going to happen?

[Brock Samson]

i bet there some big money guys there with the $ to get in line...
i'd sure be interested to see the outcome...
everyone here. is saving their fundage for a DAYTONA...

[Blown70]

i bet there some big money guys there with the $ to get in line...
i'd sure be interested to see the outcome...
everyone here. is saving their fundage for a DAYTONA...

As Ron Burgundy would say "What?, I dont speak spanish"   

Yea, I was not getting my wallet out for it......