Jim Kirby's 1968 Harrell Funny Car for Sale!

[396L35]

Maurice, I think your right about the ad that was on Ebay, it is confusing but what he was trying to say is that it was sponsored by Harrell and the car is still in the Harrell paint. As for the daughter of Dick Harrell I wanted to say that I was sorry for being so harsh towards you because I recieved a phone call this morning telling me the reasons for the money to advertise your fathers name. If anybody should get money from his name it should be the family first. Thanks, Mark [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/flag.gif[/img]

[sYc]

Mark, nice post. Glad you, the owner and the family were able to work things out. A really neat car, where ever it ends up, and with whatever paint scheme. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beers.gif[/img]

[sYc]

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I would put Dick's name back on the car and let the attorneys try and catch me to try and take it off.

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Matt, the very reason folks assoicated with supercar families at times seem cold and/or hard to deal with. Often times they feel used and abused, simply over a few $$$. Following Vettefset last year, the Gibb family was drawn into a mud slinging affair over a "proposed" Gibb funnycar. Just recently Mr. Motion had to resort to legal actions to try and clear up a matter he was drawn into, and now the Harrell family. At least get both sides of the story (speak with Valerie), as Mark did, before going off on one of your rants. IMO, these familes deserve our respect, not our bashing.

[copolocater]

Tom just so theres no missunderstanding the "proposed" 1969 Gibb funnycar was for sale at Vettefest for what I considered a fair price of $25,000.There was no name attached to that car whatsoever and being that price i was not taking advantage of anybodys name.What transpired at the show is over and done with.I get along with the Gibb family and respect them as great people.Just clarifying.I do agree with Tom in one aspect Hope Yenko deserves respect for not charging to put the Yenko name on the Yenko cars.

[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,
Motown [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/flag.gif[/img]

[sYc]

Let me see if I understand what you are saying. If the family gives us what we want, which is use of the name for free, that is great, we respect them. But, if they try to profit from the name, then we should say the hell with them and just do it anyway. Sorry, I respectfully disagree. I guess that is why I am the only one who ever went to the trouble to ask/recieve permission from the Yenko family/estate to use the Yenko name. And, why I helped both the Harrell and Gibb families trade mark their logos, when I could have done it myself, and generated a lot of $$. Sorry, but to me, there are right ways and wrong ways of doing things.

[whitetop]

Tom Clary

Through a nice windfall I just bought the following companies: Cragar, Don Hardy and B&M. Effective immediately remove the above mentioned names & logos from the side of your '68 F/C or we will pursue this matter in court.

Motown your last post is the most common sense I've heard on this site in along time and I agree 100%.

[menmyfcs]

I have just looked on this site after being away from it for a while.
To Motown Madman, 396L35 and others who don't know jack about things you speak so knowledgeable of.
Valerie DID not ask the owner of the Kirby car or any others for money to use the DH name. If you boneheads had any balls at all you would have asked Valerie her side of the story. Read the eBay ad a few times. THE WHOLE AD. It says, ìOriginal Dick Harrell #3 car.î Under Vehicle condition it says ìAn all original DICK HARRELL 68 Funny Carî. It is not, was not and would never be a DH original car. It also says "own a piece of history"; racing history comes from wins and famous owners. The DH name is a good piece of Jim Kirby history. What major event did this car ever win? It was painted Harrell colors so he could fill in for Dick. The name Jim Kirby was not one everyone went to pay and see. As for Dick switching to a Hemi and Kirby not wanting to. I raced against Dick and Clyde Morgan who was replacing Kirby in late summer of 70.
Both cars still had a Chevrolet in them.
Valerie asked Kevin who had the eBay auction for NOTHING other than to advertise the truth.
Porterfield was a personality situation. Late 80s, he was denied the approval of Elaine and Valerie both, to use Dickís name and signature. He has since used and abused it.
Think about it, T-shirts, mugs, hats and any other thing he could profit from, including appearance money. Now that diecast cars and other things are out he wanted in on that also. Seems Valerie hasnít asked Tom Clary to take the name off his car. Tom has been a true gentleman to the Harrell family, unlike others. GO FIGURE! This also brings up another issue. Tomís car indeed is a REAL Dick Harrell car and the other does detract from the value of there being more than just a few originals. I have the Emails from Valerie and Kevin in front of me. Kevin understood and writes that he should have written it differently. Please make no mistake Kevins car is a good find and a nice one.Just not a Harrell car as advertised
This sounds like the same group that so called heard Nancy Gibb talk about another car, when in fact this same group had that wrong as well. Yep, it was Candy red and thatís all you needed to say it was a Harrell funny car. It wasnít even a funny car! This kind of talk is not fair or good for anyone. I see several names on this subject that call or Email Valerie and act buddy buddy then post crap to stir the pot. She has taken along with the grief of her dads death and losing everything to all the whores, including family and tried to salvage her fathers past for herself, her children and her grandchildren. It was said that Dick Harrell would be proud to hear his name of the loud speaker and to see his cars out there. 1st of all I knew Dick Harrell. He would not charge you people for information about your cars like Porterfield who had it all given to him. Dick would go out of his way to make building your car a dream come true. Therefore he would not be pleased to have people like Porterfield running his name.
Motown Madman quit hiding behind your keyboard and step up to the plate.
Dale Pulde aka Menmyfcs

[copolocater]

I would suggest you remove the referance to the red funnycar and the issues that took place.You never called me to get my side.I think that sounds familiar!!!

[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]