Jim Kirby's 1968 Harrell Funny Car for Sale!

[396L35]

Dale, I'm so happy that you made that all clear to everyone on this site that the Kirby car is not a Harrell car???? Yes, Kevin should have worded his ad differently and we all agree on that. When Kevin and I looked at the car for the first time we asked a lot of questions, and I can remember Kirby telling us that he raced for Harrell when Dick had other races to attend. Kirby also told us that Dick used his car as a back up car when Dick's car needed to be repaired. You are also right about Val not asking for money from Kevin to use the DH name but in fact she told him to reword the ad, and he did so. Kevin asked her why, and Val said that he would have to pay her money because she owned the rights to the name. As for the royalties to the name, didn't Tom have to pay to use the Harrell name on his car??? I think he did and in fact he admited to doing so. I understand the reason asking for the money and I am glad you are protecting the DH name. But I don't understand is you wanting to take this piece of history away from future generations. Just answer a few questions for me and I will leave it alone??? If this is not a DH car or a sponsored DH car why is his name still inbeded on the quarters of this funny car?? Also why does Kevin have all these pictures of Jim and Dick together at dealership shows and races??? And finally, did the spectators that went to the track to see Jim Kirby not have to pay to see the races that day because Dick wasn't there??? I just don't understand???? It looks like all the answer that we are looking for come down to this: Yes; Kevin has a Dick Harrell sponsored funny car. Yes; Dick Harrell race Jim Kirbys car as a back up when needed. And yesssss; people did have to pay to go see the races that Jim Kirby raced at for Dick Harrell. Thank you for listening to my thoughts, Mark [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beers.gif[/img]

[MotownMadman]

Dale,
I made no statements that were rude to anyone, I was asking a question. I agree the Ebay ad should have been worded differently, but as I do not know the person who ran the ad I had no input as to what the ad said. My opinions on the legal and ethical issues of restoring an original race car to the way it was built and raced stay the same, no matter who's name is on the car, my thoughts were across the board for all cars in the hobby, not just DH cars. I dont know Porterfield or what he has or has not done so I can not comment on that. As for me Dale, I hide from nothing or no-one, the organization I belong to is world wide, and I am more then willing to step up to your plate. Email me for my address, you are more then welcome to stop by for a visit or if you prefer I can have some of my family members who are close to you stop by for a chat. This board among other things is a place for expressing opinions, which we all have, but it is not for personal attacks. I personally attacked no one, you have chose to personally attack me. This board is not the place for this type of behavior, so if you wish to continue take it to an email box so we can arrange a visit.
Motown [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]

[copolocater]

Motown Matt I think if you want to be civilized about this whole matter I have an answer for you.Excert some anxiety and help me find the 1969 camaro DH 1970 AHRA championship Funnycar body.Let me know.

[Charley Lillard]

Can you Guys Please tone it down a Bit so I don't have the Release my Dogs...We really do want to try and keep it Civil. I think these are the type of threads that are the reason we now have Moderators..... [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/Charley.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[JoeG]

You'd better release the dog Charlie----GO GET THEM FIDO-- tear them apart [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]------------- web page

[ORIGLS6]

OK, I've held off as long as I can waiting for someone else to use this line:

Charles In Charge [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/worship.gif[/img]

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Thank you for the explanation Dale, well said.

Who's 'copolocater', I thought that guy took his ball and went home - again [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]

[MotownMadman]

OK Charlie,
I will behave, I dont think my attack cat would stand a chance against your mean dog BelAir. I have been bit before, my wife gets jealous over her territory.
Motown. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beers.gif[/img]

[menmyfcs]

OK, now that I seem to have gotten your attention and for sure P.O.ed a few of you. Matt you are very correct. This is not the place to air our laundry. Then again if this is where they are being soiled so it is the best place to start. Now you all can understand how it feels to be judged and talked about with out knowing what all the facts are.
If you read this subject from start to finish you would more than likely felt as Valerie and I did. By the end of what I read, it sounded as Valerie put a gun to peopleís heads for money. Not one time did Kevin ever speak up. His talking was all done on hearsay from someone else. Some of you may not have seen it this way, however, you are not looking at it from our point of view.

To start with, Valerie never asked for a penny. She did however tell Kevin if who ever bought it wanted to use the Dick Harrell name they had to sign an agreement would be necessary as more than likely the car owner would also want to produce DH merchandise. She was trying to explain this to Kevin so the new buyer(s) did not have big merchandising ideas. Some of you are stating that she wanted money for using the DH name on original cars, this is not true. Porterfield being spiteful, took the DH name off the 69 ZL1 on his own. After telling Valerie she should be paying HIM. In fact, Porterfield ran the DH name for years & Valerie never protested this. Due to his merchandising it became a legal issue.

As to license agreements, they can cost from one dollar to one million dollars. In these agreements, there are limitations of use. Moreover, if a DH car is started or run anywhere and a person gets injured, they can and do sue all parties on the car. It has been going on since the 60s when Houston Platt had an accident in the south and is still done that way today. There was a die cast car made a few years ago with Fred Gibb and Dick Harrell on it. No one ever contacted Valerie on this. Helen had her contract; Valerie had to fight for herís. How would you feel? She has never interfered with any of the Novas, Camaros or any of the true cars that were built at the Dick Harrell shop. She has been more than cordial and helpful to anyone that has called or emailed her.

Copolocater, I emailed you off line, and as of last month I am still tracking where your car came from. I used your car as a reference. FYI, you may not remember, but 2 years ago that same car was offered to Valerie as her fatherís old car for about $150,000.00. When we told the guy it wasnít close, the seller still offered it as maybe an old DH car on many different sites. I guess this should be known as buyers beware. As far as Matt releasing any anxiety by finding the 69 car, from the past experience he could sell you any 69 funny car and you would believe it to be. There is a nostalgia funny car class coming about this next year at the Good Guys races. It could show up there.
This brings me to the Kirby car. For all of you that do not know how race operations work I will explain it as best I can. Jim Kirby would race this car painted and looking like Dickís car. Clyde Morgan and Larry Christopherson did the same thing. Lets say Kirby had 10 bookings all year and Harrell had 50. Kirby running for Harrell could get more bookings. What was here for Dick Harrell? I am just going to make up numbers, but I bet they would be close. Kirby could only get $700.00 a race where with Dickís name he would get $1000.00 and Dick would get 10 to 20%. If Dick drove the car it could get another $200 to $300. In most cases, the ads would read Dick Harrellís Camaro. I did this with a few owners myself and almost with Dick. A few years back when teams still match raced, John Force would get less money with Tony going to a race than if he was there. I hope this helps on the sponsor ideas. Seeing as one of you know Kevin and has posted he was selling the car to buy another and his wife wanted him to. Someone is not telling the truth. He told Val a different story.
I hope all will take notice when you are buying a racecar and the owner is telling you a story check it out with others involved with the story. As we get older we see our past sometimes as being different than it may have been. There may be a lot of pictures and papers. I am sure Bojie can tell you we have more than the average Harrell collector and he only saw a bit of them.
Dave Libby posted on the www.dickharrell.com site some of the past of the Kirby car (as he remembers it), which is very close to the way two others explained it also.
Matt, I have to come back to Lansing I think next month. Are you near there? Maybe we can do lunch. If youíre near Pontiac we could go to Foxes. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] What I said was uncalled for and I hope you can now see why.
Sincerely,
Dale Pulde aka Menmyfcs

[MotownMadman]

Dale,
A much more civilized and informative post. As years may pass I am certain you still have the skills to do a 200+ MPH pass in a nitro rocket, as I still have the Neandrethal skills to be called out for a brawl. I prefer these days to excersize my mind vs my body, the latter hurts to much the following day, as well as the fact I have my name carved in one to many jail cells already. You did the best thing you could do with your last post, you beat me up with your mind as I finished your post with learning something. Touche'.

I live about forty minutes from Lansing and would be more then happy to meet you for lunch, if you have time I can take you to have a look at a old Candies and Hughes funny car. Possibly a few people around Detroit you would like to meet if you havent already.

It seems as if there are a lot of politics surrounding the vintage funny car hobby, I can certainly understand as I was slammed into a similar situation about a year back when I located a lost Team Shelby Trans Am car. Everyone has a different sandbox and not everyone is invited to play.

I am not much on politics but I am determined to protect the history of this hobby as a whole across the board. I am still of the opinion that if a car was introduced to the public eye a certain way then it deserves to be restored to original condition no matter who owned it. If a name appears on a car, at some point permission was given to wear that name. That is not to say it allows a vintage car owner to start marketing other items using whatever name may be on the side of the car they currently have in there possession, with a vintage race car the actual "owner" will always be whoever owned or raced the car when it was in the spotlight. Discussions like this sometimes end up hurting the car, politics should be kept from public discussion as the private lives of our current politicians are a good example. Maybe every Ebay auction or advertisment for a vintage car should not be picked apart in public, but left to the parties it concerns.

Email me if you want to meet for lunch.
Motown [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beers.gif[/img]