My source was Bob Wood himself who spoke at the banquet
about this very subject. The magazine article you quoted left
a few facts out. Yes Bob demanded $40M but only after the
insulting $10K plus free car show tickets. Bob said what he
wanted is the same deal Ford demands for a license to use
their name. He was not interested in selling the name as this
would put his own business at risk. He wanted to license the
use of the name. Ford replied at 3% that'd be $3000 per car
and for 1000 cars that would be $3 million. They declined and
chose the route of trying to get their media friends to influence
the issue and change Bob's mind.
Bob has kept the GT40 alive for years on his own as a labor of love
and service to enthusiasts. He is not inclined to screw his loyal owners
just because Ford wants the GT40 name all to itself.
So he keeps the GT40 name and his business and is happy. Ford get
to use GT or perhaps GT42 (since the car is 40 inches high) and
they aren't quite as happy. To me the little guy won.
Dave (cocky for sure)
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