I have always liked this car, and watched as the first ones from the higher quality shops were sent out to market. I was initially fearful that these were immensely overpriced, but it seems that the value has held in a manner consistent with several exotics. Based on the few examples out there, it would seem that they certainly depreciate, but not at a rate of 40-50% right off the lot which is what I was fearing.

I have searched the forums, and it seems there is at least one owner here. I was hoping for some updates since delivery. Alternatively, if anyone else knows someone who has owned one of these, I would appreciate any feedback as to the finished quality of the builds, the drivability, etc.

Thanks for your assistance.

Ron

 

Hey Ron, check out MrTheKid's shelby... very very hot

 

the one from the movie is for sale

http://www.emcars.com/descripcion.php?auto_id=193

 

Interesting. Might be worth a look if I was purely after movie memorobelia, but I would want to drive it and I could be wrong, but I don't believe that the majority of movie cars are made to a high performance/finish quality. I thought they were made to look good on camera and rely on special effects enhancement for the performance scenes. It is also my understanding that they make anywhere from 6-20 cars for different purposes. My guess is this one is for motion scenes shot from outside the car, since it is an automatic. Furthermore, it has a puny 302, while the recreation specialists are putting 410 and 427's in their GT500E's. And who knows to what level this one was restored and what suspension mods were performed. My guess would be "good enough to look good at 10 feet" and "none" respectively.

Thank you never the less for pointing it out, since that is the genesis of this niche car.

 

Thanks. I did read through the previous post about his car. I was hoping that MrTheKid might chime in with an update. I was further hoping that a few others might have had first hand experience from which they could post some feedback.

It's a unique automobile. Purists probably slam it because it's not original. A riced out classic car, if you will, but I challenge you to deny its looks. And I seriously doubt that any restored original late 60's muscle car could hold a candle to one of these things in terms of performance and handling.

It's an interesting internal irony for me because I am not a mustang fan, but I am quite attracted to the Eleanor recreations.

 

I haven't ask Knick (Nick) for a ride in Eleanor but from observing it at a standstill and on the freeway, this car is insane. He had one issue with the radiator that was originally installed. I felt the problem was the fan; the electrical is a bit too much from the 60's and pointed out a few areas passing trhough the front bulkhead where just plain wire was exposed to the steel. Having had a car fire myself on my 65' Mustang due to exactly that kind of wiring, I told him at LEAST wrap several layers of electical tape around there or properly install a grommet AND insulation.

He replaced the entire assembly with a Be-Cool aluminum radiator w/fan and has licked the overheating issues. And he did take my advice and tapped up the exposed wire.

The car is wicked fast with NOS. Even in NA form, I had a hard time keeping up in my 347 (see my avatar). He's got a 427 (boredxstroked 351) with stacked injection. The NOS bottle out in back with a activation button on the shifter. Suspension is all sorted out with what looks like Total Control Suspension setup so k-members are tight, unique watt's linkage (used the diff. casing as the pivot point), NO leaf-springs, just coil-overs all around.
It's the kind of car I wished my 65' would of become had I kept it. He's brought to Santana Row a few times. I guess I should ask for a ride someday; Nick is a cool guy to talk to.

 

One of these just sold at Barrett Jackson for $110k I believe.

 

It hammered at $140K. After tax and buyers commission, that comes to about $165K.

I don't know what it had cost new, and it's now difficult to research. Due to the cloud of problems hanging over Unique Performance, their website is down. IIRC, they started at $119K for one with a 302 crate motor, and near $200K for the blown 700+hp version, with a 351 Windsor, middle of the road engine (about 525hp) starting around $149K. I believe there were several options when ordering through Unique that could significantly increase the cost. Again, speaking only from memory, I don't believe that the base model came with many modern performance upgrades besides the engine. I seem to remember that the Total Control suspension, disc brakes, power steering, nitrous, etc. were options. I also believe that many of these became standard equipment at the higher price points. Long story short, if you wanted a reasonably optioned GT500E from Unique, you were in for $150K or so, ad if you wanted the Super Snake model, you were in for $200K +/- a few bucks.

I don't believe that you can order from Unique any longer, as the have filed Chapter 7, and are dealing with a number of legal problems, but it seems like the cars are holding value fairly well. The one that went for $140K at Barrett Jackson was, I believe, a 351 Windsor optioned car, so it base priced at $149K and appeared to be optioned with Nitrous which , I believe added $1500. It may have had a few other options, but it's safe to say that the car was $150-160K at delivery.

The latest darling of this niche industry is Classic Restorations. One of their cars is for resale on ebay right now. I spoke with the owner and he is looking for just north of 6 figures. This builder had a car at Barrett-Jackson, but it was part of a display for Anthem Motors, and was not sold at the auction. The fit and finish looked great. The cars they are building currently can be had with completely new sheetmetal bodies, that are 300 lbs. lighter than original 67 bodies, and greater in tortional rigidity. They now come standard with TC power rack and pinion steering, TC suspension, Baer brakes, A/C, Nitrous, Tremec TKO transmission, Kevlar clutch, and 410 Keith Craft fuel injected motor making more than 500hp/500tq. To combat the perception that has recently plagued the industry, they hold your deposit in escrow until you take delivery of your car and pay the balance. I was sufficiently impressed with them that I am looking forward to an opening in my schedule so that I might visit their production facility for some up close due diligence.

 

Unique = chapter 7 (indeed)

their Supersnake was a cool 250k, those generally sold at Barrett Jackson in the mid to high 300's

mine was a few bucks shy of 200racks and have been offered 250k more than once...
the car is awesome no doubt, a true piece of art. I don't think Unique aver met their shelby quota w/ the 500E's which should keep the car valuable to Shelby enthusiasts for years to ome

 

MrTheKid,

Correct me if I am wrong, but I get the sense that your car is far from a garage queen. Would you be so kind as to share your impressions of the car? Which engine option did you go with? Can I assume that your car is outfitted with all of the Total Control upgrades?

 

sent you a PM

 

MrTheKid,

Thanks for the PM and the link. I attempted to reply, but was blocked due to an insufficient post count. BTW, I love the look of the stack injection.

 

Nick:
Rest assured your Eleanor is going to go up.

Carroll Shelby has cancelled their licensing agreement to Unique Performance around October of 2007. Unique can no longer use the Carroll Shelby tags, signatures, etc. on any future 500E's. the The company has been doing bad business lately (very late delivery, overheating issues (sound familiar?) and many deposits have turned up with no shipement of the 500E's.) Blame being spread all over the place but Shelby want's nothing more to do with them.

Not sure who will be doing them now but it's clear, Unique will no longer beign making "legal licensed" versions.

Here's the article in case you're interested;
http://www.clubcobra.com/forums/all-...ore-story.html
near the bottom, it indicates Unique shipped 119 vehicles, mostly Shelby's. Damn Nick, you should be playing the lottery!

-Herman

 

The dispute that still seems to be unresolved is whether or not Shelby and Unique ever had legal license to produce cars in the likeness and name of the Gone in 60 Seconds four wheeled star.

http://eleanorblog.com/?p=6

http://www.allbusiness.com/legal/leg...5297369-1.html

Although an apellate court judge had dismissed Denice Kalicki's previous lawsuit by summary judgement in 2005, it seems he may have done so without the key piece of information present in the second article. Disney pictures had signed an agreement with Kalicki that assigned her rights to marketing and merchandising of the circa 2000 Eleanor in addition to the rights she already possessed to the original Eleanor character. This more recent, and more substantial suit by Kalicki can only lead to some very interesting speculation as pertains to Eleanor reproductions. I am no attorney, but see no way in which this can harm Unique GT500E owners. Shelby and Unique may find themselves playing let's make a deal regarding unauthorized marketing and merchandising of the Eleanor character. As for current Unique owners that have taken delivery: at the very worst, they own what may end up being termed "unautorized Eleanor" vehicles. Would these then become even more valuable, much like the rare coin or stamp that was let out to circulation with an error on it?

Early press releases suggested that Shelby dissolved his relationship with Unique due to problems with Unique's business practices, but it is interesting to note that these actions also seem temporally linked to the most recent lawsuit filed by Kalicki.

Sadly, I was not anticipating such drama when I started to look seriously at these cars. I still want one, but the quest seems to be growing more complicated.

 

Do a search on dfwstangs.net. I believe a few ex-UP employees are on there and may give you insight.