Jim Kirby's 1968 Harrell Funny Car for Sale!

[MotownMadman]

Tom,
Obviously I wasnt serious about letting the attorneys chase the car, and I dont agree with using anyones name for the purposes of making a copy/clone or whatever the politically correct name may be these days, or using a family name for the purposes of profit. However, to use the name in a non-profit and non-malicious way in the course of preserving history should not be a problem. Obviously this type of situation is something that has to be a case by case basis to be overseen by family, but if the car came originally with a certain name or design it should be allowed to be restored to original. For example, suppose the Yenko family decided to protect their name to the point that if you were to restore your Yenko no stripes were available due to family rights, so then you have a set made to bring your car back to original and the family takes you to court to make you remove them. Now you have a Yenko which could never be original again. That does not seem fair, and yes this is an extreme example, but if history shows through photographs or documents that a car had certain designs or names when initially built then that car should be allowed under law to retain it's originality thereby preserving it's history. The new ZL-1 with the Harrell name on the side is a different matter. That is an after the fact situation that would certainly require permission from the family or rights holder, I am in complete agreement, but a car that obviously at some point had the permission to use that name should be allowed to do so in the absence of a document from Mr. Harrell to Mr. Kirby from that initial time period stating the rights were withdrawn. In the course of restoring a famous Rembrandt the signature requires to be gone over and repaired, suppose the Rembrandt family came forward and said "No, permission is not allocated for the Rembrandt name to be used" So all Rembrandt works have to have the signatures removed because the family requests it? I do believe the families in these type of collector car situations should pay close attention and be treated with respect over the name, but at the same time the advocate of preserving the history of these cars and the hobby in general should be allowed to preserve and maintain the history of these vehicles. If the car had that name when built, then it should be allowed to keep the name to maintain it's originality. IMO
Thanks,
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