> Wonder if the new AC ownership will work with Carroll Shelby, or one
> of the Healey descendants, to produce a 4-cylinder roadster? :^)
>
> --
> T.J. Higgins
This one I think I can can safely answer. No way. There hasn't been
any love loss between Shelby and AC since Cobra production stopped.
>From Shelby's point of view, AC was just a subcontractor to Shelby
American. From AC's point of view they sold cars to SA, who then
slapped Ford engines and transmissions in them, re-badged them, then
resold them. In my opinion, there is a degrees of truth to both points
of view, but each side tended to see it one way or the other. For a
while, there were some pretty nasty word exchanges between the two,
eventually ending in a lawsuit. Both sides claimed victory at its
conclusion. What I read about it at the time sounded like a stalemate
to me, but I'm no lawyer. The bickering even continued, to some degree,
after the suit was settled, but by then AC had so many financial
difficulties that the public feud finally died away.
At this point in time I doubt Shelby American gives much of a hoot what
AC does. Both have their own manufacturing facilities, and are trying
to appeal to different markets. I don't see them ever collaborating on
anything again.
Roland
/// british-cars@autox.team.net mailing list
/// or try http://www.team.net/cgi-bin/majorcool
/// Archives at http://www.team.net/archive
|