GT-40 is hot and all but..................

[Howard Jones]

WHEN Ron Dennis hears of this, one of his MANY lawyers will spend what for Dennis is a very small sum to lay waste to the whole thing. Just about the time the car appears in public the first time I would guess. Can you say money down the tolet. GTD and everyone else gets away with what they do mostly because the original GT40 is not currently in production. Can you guess what Ford would have to say if it was. Does anyone remember the "Cobra" lawsuit. Kind of like cloning a 2003 Mustang!

 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Howard Jones:
"...Does anyone remember the "Cobra" lawsuit. Kind of like cloning a 2003 Mustang!..."<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Huh? Which Cobra lawsuit? I don't remember anyone cloning a current-production Cobra ever.

Your pal,
Meat.

 

[Howard Jones]

I seam to remember a legal action involving Ford and Carol Shelby a few years ago, 80s, over just the use of the word "Cobra". I might be wrong but I believe Ford owns the "Cobra" name. What I mean to say is that nobody is going to allow another company to copy and then market something so central to their interest as a current production body design.

 

[Howard Jones]

I would agree with you if someone wanted to do their own build in their garage. But selling them could be another matter. I supose this really isnt much of a big deal anyway. I'll be interested to see a completed car.

 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Howard Jones:
"...I seam to remember a legal action involving Ford and Carol Shelby a few years ago, 80s, over just the use of the word "Cobra". I might be wrong but I believe Ford owns the "Cobra" name. What I mean to say is that nobody is going to allow another company to copy and then market something so central to their interest as a current production body design..."<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Shelby wanted to use the word "Cobra." Ford said they owned the word, even though they had not used the word on any car for many, many years. They went to court in Los Angeles, and a JUDGE found that the word "Cobra" was - as Shelby had argued - "public domain." The word Cobra as it relates to automobiles was actually -technically- in the public domain!

Ford and Shelby went into a meeting room. Ford went in with a briefcase full of cash and trademarks, Shelby walked out with it, and they told the judge that they had reached an agreement and wished to set aside the judgement. The judge set it aside. The word Cobra was no long public domain.

It wasn't about cloning an existing car at all. Nor was it about the imaginary Cobra "trade dress" that Shelby keeps claiming (without any actual proof) is his...even though AC designed the body of the Cobra.

I do not believe that the McLaren referenced here is still in production. While it's a very unusual and unique design, I wonder if it's been trade dressed anywhere? The S7 design has, but I didn't find anything about the McLaren.

There was a mold set for sale over on kitcars.com, but it's gone now. If the F1 isn't trade dressed...

Your pal,
Meat.

 

[Mike Dozier]

Unless I missed something, the F1 was a once and done project. Unless someone specifically
notifies McLaren, I doubt they'd spend the time to search out and squash such a "garage" project as this one.

MikeD

 

[Rick]

Instead of trying to reproduce the F-1 that has a carbon fiber monocoque, why not try something that started with a tubular frame instead? You're never going to emulate the same type of performance and handling that the original possesses in great quality as opposed to, say, a GT-40, where one can closely approximate the same type of performance level enjoyed by the originals...

I was thinking of the MTX Tatra Supersport for example... actually has the chassis blueprints from the factory in Prague.

 

[Howard Jones]

Thanks for the info Meat, as always this forum has the "rest of the story"