Shelby Lawsuit Should Free Eleanor Owners, Alleviate Fear of Replica Car Repossession

In terms of some of the most iconic movie cars of all time, it’s hard to push back against the fact that Eleanor, the Shelby GT500 from Gone in 60 Seconds is one of the most iconic of all time. If you have any doubt just take a look at how the Hero car from the original movie fetched seven figures at auction.

Therefore, if you guessed that selling the rights to such a design might be a lucrative business, you guessed right. However, in this case, let’s just say that the process of holding the copyright for such a car hasn’t been as straightforward as it has been with some of our other favorite movie cars.

Instead, Denice Halicki, the widow of H.B. Halicki, the man behind the original Gone in 60 Seconds has taken protecting the copyright to an all-new level, swinging a hammer that hits anybody who even so much as tries to build their own replica of the car. Perhaps the most storied incident of this was when she chased after a YouTube channel called B is for Build when they attempted to create their own replica. The car ended up being seized because of this copyright issue.

Apparently, according to our host, Tony’s Fords and Mustangs on YouTube, Halicki even attempted to sue GT500 manufacturers, customers, and auction houses because some of their cars looked like the Eleanor used in the 2000 remake of Gone in 60 Seconds.

In an attempt to protect these interests, Shelby ended up suing the copyright holder back. It seems as if the US District Court for the Central District of California deemed that Halicki will no longer wield the same power as it relates to the car. In fact, our host informed us that the court said that Halicki and her legal team might have misled prior courts by embellishing facts.

Below, we get the full rundown of the lawsuit and what this means for Eleanor’s owners and those who wish to replicate the car in the future.