Shelby Trust wins Eleanor Mustang copyright lawsuit

This finally puts an end to the long-standing legal concern of owners with a Shelby GT500 and others.

The iconic 1967 Mustang GT500, named 'Eleanor' from the movie 'Gone in 60 Seconds', has long been in the midst of a copyright lawsuit. Now, latest reports state that Shelby Trust has won the case, allowing them to license all Eleanor-style GT500 builds.

Denise Shakarian Halicki, the widow of HB Halicki - creator of Gone in 60 Seconds, had filed multiple lawsuits against any Eleanor replicas and had even gone as far as shutting down individual project builds. She also filed a lawsuit against Caroll Shelby, whose company, Shelby American, created the GT500 on which the custom Mustang was built around. She claimed that "Eleanor" was a character in its own right, and any build inspired by the car would be a commercial copy of the character.

However, the courts ruled against her, stating that the characterization of the car was "an invention of overzealous advocacy".

With the Shelby Trust now getting the freedom to license the Eleanor-inspired GT500 builds, the company released a statement confirming that Mrs Halicki now has no right to complain or file a lawsuit upon the looks of any car licensed by the company. This finally puts an end to the long-standing legal concern of owners with a Shelby GT500 and others.

Source: CarAndDriver