Back in November, we brought you the sordid saga of Farmers Branch-based Unique Performance, which had a deal with Carroll Shelby to manufacture "official" knock-offs of his immortal 1967 Shelby GT500E, pictured above. In short: Folks paid upwards of $200,000 for the cars, which they never received; and then Farmers Branch police and state authorities discovered in Unique's possession some 61 cars that appeared to have had their vehicle identification numbers altered -- which is highly illegal, almost as much as having to sit through Gone in 60 Seconds, in which the car should have gotten top billing over Nic Cage.
Well, a Friend of Unfair Park sends word that the great classic-car Web site Jalopnik brings much news this week concerning the case against Unique Performance and its owner, Doug Hasty, which is now in the hands of the Dallas County District Attorney's Office.
On Monday, the site reported that the U.S. Attorney's Office will not be bringing charges against Unique, even though it's "a felony knowingly to remove, obliterate, tamper with, or alter an identification number for a road motor vehicle," according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Then, yesterday, Jalopnik received word from "someone with ties to the company" who suggests why Craig Watkins will get the case rather than the feds: "The Dallas County D.A. ... would much prefer to have Doug in a nasty state prison somewhere in west Texas in the 100+ degree sun than in some Federal country club where he can get visits from his girlfriend." --Robert Wilonsky
