Ford vs Safir

[B O N Y]

This is the firm that owns the rights to the name GT40....

Plaintiff: Ford Motor Company
Defendant: Safir GT40 Spares, Ltd
Movant: Holman Automotive

Case Number: 3:2008cv00491
Filed: October 29, 2008

Court: North Carolina Western District Court
Office: Trademark Office [ Court Info ]
County: Mecklenburg

Nature of Suit: Intellectual Property - Trademark
Cause: Federal Question
Jurisdiction: Federal Question
Jury Demanded By: Civil Miscellaneous Case


Be interested to know more about this case... They licensed the name GT40 and the rights to continue the serial numbers to Jimmy Price of South Africa who is building the Superformance GT40

 

[djs]

Isn't this (Safir) the outfit that wanted $40 million from Ford for the GT40 name when the GT was first proposed/shown?

 

[B O N Y]

I have read many different reports...
What is certain was that Ford and Safir where unable to come to terms.
The early preproduction models of our cars where called Ford GT40's.
I have promo literature with the car being called that.

 

[Pantera1]

Bony, any way you'll be able to find out more on this. October 08, well after the end of the GT program....I, too would love to know more! Maybe Ford will get the name GT40 back and we can retro-name our cars!!! :cheers :thumbsup

 

[B O N Y]

any lawyer should be able to get a copy of the complaint. I know as much as you do at this point.

 

[Gulf GT]

Very interesting... Something is up. Why would you sue after the fact? Unless it's not...

 

[B O N Y]

Is Holman Automotive aka Holman Moody. They have been building replica GT40's for years....

 

[cobraownr]

Isn't this (Safir) the outfit that wanted $40 million from Ford for the GT40 name when the GT was first proposed/shown?

I know one of the owners (Bob Wood) of Safir GT40 Spares. The $40 million figure is pure BS. He posted a long message on GT40s.com about the controversy with Ford a few years ago. I will try to dig it out and post it on the FGT Forum.

I don't know anything about the case with Holman but will see what I can find out.

 

[timcantwell]

I know one of the owners (Bob Wood) of Safir GT40 Spares. The $40 million figure is pure BS. He posted a long message on GT40s.com about the controversy with Ford a few years ago. I will try to dig it out and post it on the FGT Forum.

I don't know anything about the case with Holman but will see what I can find out.

You are right about the $40 Million figure, purely an extortion-based starting place from which to settle a smaller sum from the deep-pocket Ford Motor Corp.

 

[B O N Y]

Would have loved to be the fly on the wall during those talks,.... I read Woods post.
Would seem that he should have been able to get a reasonable royalty...

 

[dbk]

I know one of the owners (Bob Wood) of Safir GT40 Spares. The $40 million figure is pure BS. He posted a long message on GT40s.com about the controversy with Ford a few years ago. I will try to dig it out and post it on the FGT Forum.

Please do. I'd be interested to read.

Somebody I know very well and trust from the FGT program told me that that was indeed the figure they started off at. Can't imagine he has any reason to fabricate.

 

[STORMCAT]

Did you know that the first two new GT's actually carried Safir GT 40 continuation VIN Numbers...?? 0000000000000GT1147 & GT1148.. I learnt this from the new SAAC registry ....:biggrin

 

[centerpunch]

You are right about the $40 Million figure, purely an extortion-based starting place from which to settle a smaller sum from the deep-pocket Ford Motor Corp.

Tim-

I don't know what Wood/Safir did wrong here, other than not being the world's best negotiator. (Yes, I have met him a few times, but don't really know him.)

Many years ago he bought the GT40 spares, tooling, rights and trademarks. He liked the cars, and probably figured, over time, that his purchase would also turn out to be a good investment. Nobody else, including Ford, thought that stuff was worth anything.

Ford was wrong. Wood was right.

Not sure if that's different than buying a Cobra in the 1970's for under $10,000, and asking $400,000 for it now.

And anyway, "Ford GT" was really a better name for Ford to use for the new car- because it built equity into the Ford brand, not the GT40 brand.

 

[MAD IN NC]

Is Holman Automotive aka Holman Moody. They have been building replica GT40's for years....

Yes. In Charlotte Nc., ergo the filing in NC of the suit..... Nice place to visit. Maybe during Rally 5?


From their Website:
Holman Moody was for years the official racing contractor for Ford. We prepared GT Mark IIs, A/FX Mustangs, Shelby Cobras, Falcons, and Stock Cars. We raced in NASCAR, sports car racing, drag racing, rallys, and ocean boat racing.

Holman Moody had the best drivers in the world; men like: Fred Lorenzen, Mark Donohue, Bobby Allison, Ronnie Bucknum, Parnelli Jones, Ned Jarrett, Walt Hansgen, Peter Revson, David Pearson, Nelson Stacy, Al Unser, Joe Weatherly, Cale Yarborough, Dan Gurney, A. J. Foyt, Bo Ljungfeldt, Mario Andretti, Jim Clark, Junior Johnson, Dick Hutcherson, Augie Pabst, Richard Petty, Fireball Roberts, Curtis Turner, and Bobby Unser.

This web site will tell you about the history of Holman Moody, the people who made Holman Moody great, the products you can buy from Holman Moody and Holman Automotive. You will also find information about the new GT Mark II LeMans race cars being built today in the Holman Moody Race shop.



© 1997 - 2005 Holman Moody and Holman Automotive
Shop Address: Holman Automotive Inc.,
9119 Forsyth Park Drive, Charlotte, NC 28273

Mailing Address: Holman Automotive Inc.,
PO Box 669351, Charlotte, NC 28266

Questions or Orders, call (704)583-2888 or
Contact Us via Email
Fax number (704)583-2890

 

[RALPHIE]

As I recall, Holman-Moody were contractually (and thus their drivers) tied to Firestone tires, whereas Shelby American (and its drivers) were under obligation to Goodyear. By tying into both organizations, Ford would have virtually the best drivers available for their GT40's.

 

[SYCO GT]

Not all lawyers are paying to have access to the PACER system.

I tried a cursory search to find the case in the North Carolina Western District Court, but could not locate or do not have general authorized access to the records. http://www.ncwd.uscourts.gov/

I did find that someone by the forum name of Cliff Beer posted some thoughts over on GT40's.com, repeated here for educational value, but not independently verified:

"Without looking at the case files it looks to me like Ford is the originating plaintiff, Safir is the original defendant and Holman got joined in the suit subsequently thereafter as a co-defendant (probably along with others). If I had to guess, Holman is likely making a motion to either be removed from the case or somehow limit their liability.

As the case is currently pending, it has not been published in any of the Federal case reporters. The Western District Court would have the filings available at the court records desk for public access, or, electronic access for lawyers admitted to the NC bar who have taken the required training for electronic filing and review. Unfortunately, it looks like pending case review is not available to the public online, nor lawyers not admitted to NC bar w/o the training.

Looking at the United States Patent and Trademark Office online trademark search functionality it's clear that Safir has rights to the phrase "GT40." This doesn't mean that they have rights to anything accessory to this which is otherwise "Ford." I would guess that Ford is pissed about Safir being difficult about the GT40 copyright and is giving them some grief about using the Ford mark in some manner. That's just a WAG however."

 

[911teo]

What is funny is that Ford originally called the car Ford GT. It was only the British press that started calling it GT40 after being impressed by how low to the ground it was (40 inches tall).

I have a copy of an interview with Carroll Shelby on Octane where he recalls this very fact.

I can scan it later if anybody is interested.

 

[B O N Y]

Thanks Randy....

911,... in the early promo literature the our car was caled GT40,... I have examples, in fact some gifts for the press and key executives and FOB (friends of bill) have the GT40 name etched on them.

 

[911teo]

Yes... you are talking about the 2005 Ford GT, right? I meant the original 1964. That was just a Ford GT...

 

[B O N Y]

Yes, sorry about that. I have lots of books of the early days, and will try to look up early pictures,...