Carroll Shelby and Shelby American Initiate Legal Actions To Halt Infringement of Cobra and Shelby Trademarks

    BOSTON, Feb. 7 Shelby American Inc. and automotive manufacturing and racing 
legend Carroll Shelby, have launched a second lawsuit in Massachusetts Federal 
Court against a Cobra replica car manufacturer.  This second action is against 
Superformance Complete Replicars, and follows a similar action brought against 
Factory Five last year.  Both actions have been filed in the same Federal court 
and assert trademark infringement, dilution and unfair competition claims.

    The suit charges Superformance with unlawful use of Shelby trademarks and
other intellectual property rights.  As is the case with Factory Five, the
suit alleges that Superformance has manufactured and sold counterfeit copies
of the famous Shelby Cobra 427S/C.

    In an effort to curtail the misuse of the Shelby(R), Cobra(R) and
427S/C(R) trademarks, Shelby has for years tried diplomacy and negotiation,
and such previous efforts have resulted in numerous licensing agreements
covering a wide range of products.  However, Shelby contends that several
large replica manufacturers, including Factory Five and Superformance, seem
determined to continue their counterfeiting operations, unless they are
stopped by the Federal Courts.

    The suit claims that Superformance and others sell packages featuring
bodies that copy Shelby's famous roadster.  The companies then market their
packages as "faithful reproductions" of the 427S/C while frequently 
marking the cars with the Shelby(R), Cobra(R) and 427S/C(R) trademarks.  This
increasingly artful deception misrepresents a counterfeit as if it is an
original, the suit further states.

    The action by Shelby challenges Superformance's operation as a willful
deception and unfair competition in violation of the Lanham Act and the
Massachusetts unfair trade practices law.  The suit seeks damages and attorney
fees, which may exceed $10 million.  Of critical importance to Shelby, the
suit seeks an order to seize and destroy Superformance's fiberglass molds,
which it uses to fabricate the Cobra 427S/C knockoff.

    Shelby states, "As I said before, credit should be given where credit is
due, and these knock-off car guys don't deserve the credit or profit, for what
my team and Ford accomplished in the 60's."  Superformance's continuing
violation of federal trademark laws is particularly brazen because of the
extent to which it uses virtually all of the Shelby trademarks to misrepresent
their knock-off cars.

    This action comes after the conclusion of legal proceedings in 1997 in Los
Angeles Federal Court, in which Ford obtained a judgment, which recognized the
Cobra trademark as the sole and exclusive property of Ford Motor Company.  As
part of the final resolution of the case, Ford granted Shelby an exclusive
worldwide license to use the Cobra trademark and snake designs in connection
with all 1960s Cobra vehicles, which Ford acknowledged were created by Carroll
Shelby and manufactured by Shelby American, Inc. -- the world recognized
Manufacturer of Record.  The Shelby(R) and 427S/C(R) trademarks are the
exclusive property of Carroll Shelby and his licensing company, Carroll Shelby
Licensing, Inc., whose offices are located in Los Angeles, California.