These items include "approximately 40-Mustang fastback shells, body parts, tools, lifts." This is going to be another online auction currently scheduled for June 24, 2008 at 10:00 am. We're waiting for full details to be released, but in the meantime check out the auction website for more information. (Thanks Cameron!) [67MustangBlog.com]

From what we have heard from the Dallas County D.A. they 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. Plus Governor Perry would surely prefer to have him under his control since he was made to look like an ass on TV by Stephanie Lucerio asking him why they were having his prisoners cutting VIN plates off cars inside the prison.

Just a quick recap for those who haven't been following this, Eleanor-duplicate maker Unique Performance was raided after customer complaints. During the raid police noticed missing VIN numbers on many cars, indicating title washing. The company then filed for bankruptcy so it wouldn't have to pay employees or customers. And they may have also used prison labor illegally. So, yeah, we still think someone is going to jail.

[CBS-11 via 67mustangblog]

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We don't have a final tally on how much the lawyers get, or if there are other ways to recoup the money (maybe not). Either way, it doesn't look like those on the wrong end of this are going to get justice from this particular auction. Though, as one former employee told us "I guess we have the memories... and the hope to see [owner Doug] Hasty behind bars!" More when we get additional information.

Employees hope that the sale will cover the back-taxes so that they can get their back-pay. You'll remember one employee told us that Unique Performance lied about paychecks to get people to continue working. Details below:

Unique Performance/Unique Motorcars Auction

Bankruptcy Case No. 07-36211-BJH-7, Vintage Automotive Restoration. Moved for convenience of sale: Bankruptcy Case No.07-31392-BJH-7 Secure Car Armour Corp., armored luxury cars and bankruptcy case no. 07-45584-DML-7, Thomas Estate, 2005 Hummer
DATE:
March 27th, 2008, 10:00 AM
LOCATION:
13950 Senlac Drive, Farmers Branch, TX 75234
INSPECTION:
Tuesday, March 25, 2008 from 9 am until 4 pm (CDT)
STYLE:
Online Only

[Rosen Online Auction]

There have been a lot of claims made back and forth, including the recent news about Unique Performance using prison labor to possibly replace valid VIN numbers. It's unclear what the 25 charges are, but the DA is going to have to determine what is worth taking to a grand jury (though grand juries have a habit of voting in the affirmative) and what's worth starting a case over.

We can debate whether using 13 gallons of Bondo, Taiwanese parts and prison labor is a normal or abnormal practice when building $200,000 cars, but there has to be legal merit to the case. Where this case may have merit is that, in addition to taking people's money and not delivering cars, certain promises or advertisements were likely made about the quality and hand-built nature of the cars. If that's the case, and we assume it is since people forked over all that dough, the DA might have an easy way of proving fraud and deceptive business practices. The prison labor and suspected title washing is a bonus, as there's likely a trail of evidence if it turns out that what they did was in violation of existing Texas laws.

Federal investigators have also submitted cases to the US Attorney's office, giving this case a federal aspect. What federal laws were violated are unclear, though we do know the cars were sourced from other states and brought into Texas, which likely plays into it. The Secret Service involvement, and the claim of three suspects, is interesting. The Secret Service is the law enforcement arm of the Dept. of the Treasury and also has jurisdiction over certain types of fraud, mostly involving the transfer of money.

Either way, there are still many questions to be answered. If we were Unique Performance owner Doug Hasty we'd be worried. We see it as likely that Hasty may be pressured into some kind of plea bargain unless he's 100% convinced of his own innocence or the DA's case is so strong they don't feel like they need to do it. Of course, settling on charges with the Dallas County DA doesn't create an exemption from federal charges.

We'll let you know when the parties involved are formally charged.

[CBS-11 via 67 Mustang Blog]

History

After the success of Gone In 60 Seconds, Unique Performance with the blessing of Carroll Shelby started building "Eleanor" replicas. Turns out that most of those replicas may have been built with salvage or otherwise questionably titled Mustangs and, despite taking huge deposits, weren't being delivered. After being raided by police and shut down, the company filed for bankruptcy and refused to pay Unique Performance employees. That's where we stood before these latest revelations.

Statement From Doug Hasty's Lawyer

Every customer that has received a car has ultimately been satisfied with the quality of the car they received. Farmers Branch Police are continuing their witch hunt. They continue to leak false accusations to the press knowing that we have not had an opportunity to have access to the cars to rebut their claims. There were no title issues or criminal problems with the titles and no one has been defrauded. We are eager to address these cases in a court of law, on the record, where people will have to be responsible for their conduct. And I'm referring specifically to the Farmers Branch Police Department.

Special thanks to 67Mustangblog for following the story so closely. [All information via CBS-11 TV]

"This shit is really outrageous to me, since I always detected that something was up when I'd show up at their shop/offices. Title washing? Yeah, normal people and drug dealers just call that money laundering."

Hasty is claiming that the problems originally sprang from bum engines delivered by Carroll Shelby's company in Las Vegas, which slowed down the process of producing the cars for delivery. He also claims Shelby delivered sheet metal and body work that were not up to UP's standards. Shelby, understandably, claims otherwise.

On the issue of title washing, whereby the VINs of the cars do not match or in some cases may not exist, Hasty claims that some paperwork may have not been filed properly but that he has records for every car.

As for the police investigation, no charges have been filed but the Farmers Branch Police Department, which led the raid last month, is claiming the issues that there's so much evidence needed to sort through in order to make one large case.

And as for the cars? Well. The lawsuit continues but most customers who commented seemed resigned to never getting them, despite the $15 million spent on deposits. It's a great, complete story worth reading. (h/t James) [Dallas Morning News]

"I was an employee of Unique Performance for about 3 years of and on. Just FYI the employee's that were there till the end still haven't been fully paid out, 2 full weeks of pay plus 401k, and whatever else they owe. I personally just wanted someone to know the inside story. Thanks, nice story to by the way."

This is horrible news for anyone waiting for a new car or, at least, hoping to get their deposit back. This development leaves some questions remaining, like what's going to happen to the seized cars and what, if any charges will be filed. There are also some new questions this raises, namely who does the company owe money to besides those who put deposits down for new cars? [AutoWeek]

After reading reports and following up with local police and former associates, here's what we've learned:

First, the owner of Unique Performance and everyone at the company (whoever is left, we hear most were laid off already) ain't talking. There are serious legal issues and the lack of attempts at saving face mean that UP probably isn't coming back.

Second, there have been no formal charges made by the Dallas County District Attorney. This doesn't mean anything because the DA isn't obligated to file charges yet and it's possible that part of the investigation continues.

Third, if you've given Unique Performance money and haven't gotten your car yet things aren't looking good. It's a little unclear what the end-game is here but the ability to get money back (probably punitively) is likely tied to there being money and significant assets at the end of the day.

Unfortunately, the behavior of this company is not indicative of a company awash in cash. If we're generous in our assumptions, Unique Performance got in this situation because they weren't able to generate enough revenue to cover expenses and accrued significant debt. But this is only speculation as we haven't seen the company's balance sheet yet (and probably won't until it becomes an exhibit for the prosecution).

The next move we expect to happen is that the Dallas DA will file charges and then UP will make some sort of statement... maybe. We'll keep you posted as we learn more. [NY Times]

When Farmers Branch, Texas police raided the place they found 61 vintage cars (the video report from the local CBS affiliate shows mostly Mustangs) in various levels of construction. After lifting the hoods, cops found VIN plates to be fake. And underneath? You guessed it. They found signs of significant scratching where the old ones were.

Title-washing seems like a good idea if there are a limited number of vintage Mustangs around and you want to pick up some salvage ones on the cheap. Unique Performance isn't a small operation (they also do work with Foose), so this could spell big problems for those who have already put down deposits when the Feds get involved. We'll follow this story as it develops. [CBS 11 TV]

What happens when you take a Smart Fortwo and cross it with Eleanor the Mustang from "Gone in 60 Seconds"? A question that needn't been asked, to be sure. But there's an answer. Whatever it is, it looks like something that emerge about six months after Eleanor's egg has been fertilized. Oh, gross. – Mike Spinelli

[More at Autoblog]

Related:
Whither, Eleanor? Ringbrothers to Bring Roush-Powered 1967 Mustang to SEMA [internal]