For decades, the Eleanor Mustang from the Nic Cage remake of “Gone In 60 Seconds” has been copyrighted — its visage owned and controlled by the highly litigious Denise Halicki, widow of the writer/director/producer/star of the original 1974 film, and later by Shelby — under the reasoning that the car is a character unto itself. After years of legal battles, though, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled otherwise: Eleanor is a prop, like any other, and its design can’t be copyrighted the same way. Anyone is now free to free to make their own Eleanor replicas, which brings me to my plea: Please don’t.
I know you liked the movie where Nic Cage listened to Low Rider and drove a car real fast, but I need you to recognize Eleanor for what it is. This Chip Foose-designed bodykit is in no way better than the 1967 Shelby GT500 on which it’s based. It’s longer, flatter, and comes across more stodgy and old than the aggressive lines of the stock car. It’s time we all looked at Eleanor, realized it looks worse than a regular Mustang, and moved on with our lives.
This is the car under all those lights
Look at how good that Shelby looks! Look at the way the front juts out in the center, the angles of the recesses around the headlights, the small and aero-function chin. Now compare it to whatever is happening with the Eleanor up top, and tell me the movie car looks better. Tell me, stripped of each of their respective pedigrees, the gray one with even more lights is the one you’d rather own. I dare you. I triple-dog-dare you.
Do I realistically think we’re all going to get over the whole Eleanor thing and move on? Well, Ford keeps making Bullitt Mustangs, so I’d say chances are slim. That’s why this isn’t a prediction about the automotive world, but a desperate plea. Eleanors look like the garbage early-aughts-styled restomods they are, and I beg you all to stop making them — no matter how legal the Ninth Circuit decides they are to build.
