Jalopnik
unique performance
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custom cars
Foose Coupes Start Hitting The Road
After years of lusting for the shape he created as a student at Art Center College of Design in 1990, Chip Foose is finally selling his Hemisfear-inspired Foose Coupe to the public. This one is number 4, the second one on sale to Joe Public, and it's just been delivered to a buyer out Californee-way. You may be wondering why we're reporting on rich guys buying cars today. Well. Considering the massive meltdown of the US auto market, we're forced to actually tell you about every car sold in the US. Each one is big news. Press release below.
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unique performance
Unique Performance Assets Going Up For Auction, Again
Though Unique Performance the company may be dead, the drama lives on. At least until Doug Hasty goes to jail, if that's what ends up happening. We mentioned earlier that an auction of Unique Performance equipment netted more than a million dollars, which was unfortunately only enough to cover taxes and not screwed over employees. But wait, there's some hope. More items are going up for auction for a second round.
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unique performance
Unique Performance Federal Felony Update
Monday we reported that the feds weren't pursuing Unique Performance in the ongoing Unique Performance drama. We had some guesses for why federal prosecutors might pass on this particular case given the fact that a spokesperson said that federal crimes were obviously committed. Our best guess was that they looked at the 25 state felony charges against the company and decided it wasn't worth it. Our source sort of confirms this below the jump. More » -
unique performance
Unique Performance To Avoid Federal Prosecution, Local Authorities Still Building A Case
An update on the Unique Performance saga, it turns out that the U.S. Attorney's office in Dallas will not be prosecuting Doug Hasty or the company, saying "Even though federal crimes have been committed" they're not going to pursue them. Though they haven't given a reason why, we've got a couple of guesses. The most obvious is that it would be redundant given the 25 felony charges against Unique Performance submitted by local prosecutors, who are apparently still vigorously pursuing the cars. Slightly less likely, federal prosecutors agreed to back off if Hasty and company agreed to a plea bargain. Another real possibility is that the U.S. Attorneys office would rather be pursuing political corruption or terrorism cases than some crooked carmaker whose assets have been auctioned off.
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unique performance
Unique Performance Auction Nets More Than $1,000,000 Dollars, But That's Not Enough
Because Unique Performance declared bankruptcy and had debts outstanding, what was left in the UP warehouse was auctioned off this weekend. The hope was that, after the $900K went to the government there would be some left over for the 140 individuals with claims (including 40 employees owed back-pay). According to our source and records on the auction company's website, the auction netted approximately $1.037 million, leaving $137K after the IRS took their cut, which means $978 per person... before lawyers.
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unique performance
Unique Performance Employees Ask For Owed Wages
Many people have read All The President's Men, which covers the investigation into the Watergate scandal that eventually forced President Nixon to resign. Less people have read Final Days, the sequel, which chronicles the final months of the administration and the eventual decision to step down. But those who have read that novel will undoubtedly see similarities between that tale of executive confusion and misdirection and what's been going on at Unique Performance, which until recently was creating ersatz Elanores for wealthy car collectors. More » -
unique performance
Unique Performance Ex-Employee Alleges Company Holding Out on Employees
It's not a big surprise to us, but someone claiming to be a former employee of Unique Performance has said that employees that stuck around until the end haven't been paid yet. Given that Unique Performance filed for Bankruptcy, we're saying the odds aren't great that they're going to get what is owed them. Full email below the jump: More » -
media
NY Times Reports on Unique Performance... Finally
The Gray Lady finally catches on to something we've been reporting for more than two weeks and we learn absolutely nothing new. One thing the author focuses on is that the likelihood that the value of these cars, which was probably not going to increase anyways, could seriously decrease. What we know and what all of this means after the jump. More » -
news
Foose Cuts All Ties With Unique Performance
The ongoing Unique Performance saga continues, with Chip Foose and Foose Design joining Shelby as ex-partners. Not only is the company jumping ship, it's also considering legal action against Unique Performance. No one has gone to jail yet, but property has been seized and it looks like it's heading that way. Calls to Unique Performance Owner Doug Hasty (pictured here with Foose) have not been returned. Full release after the jump. More »
