YouTuber Gets ‘Redacted,’ Mustang Tribute Confiscated
Copyright violation makes for a sad, abrupt end to an extremely promising Eleanor Mustang project by B is for Build.
In Greek mythology, unfortunate souls who looked into the eyes of Medusa would would turn to stone. In the modern automotive universe, builders who dare utter the name Eleanor could find their beloved rides confiscated — and that’s exactly what happened to Chris Steinbacher of B is for Build. Back in April, we posted about how Steinbacher and his team were grafting a Shelby GT500 Mustang body onto a flood-totaled S550 Mustang GT, and the progress they’d made was amazing.
Unfortunately, the body they were using was modeled after the Eleanor Mustang of Gone in 60 Seconds fame, and recently, the nearly complete classic-modern mashup was seized by the holder of the Eleanor copyright.
Now, when you think of Gone in 60 Seconds, you likely think of the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced action flick starring Nicolas Cage, Angelina Jolie, Robert Duvall, and a slew of sexy sheet metal. If for some reason you haven’t seen it? Stop what you’re doing and fix that right now, as it’s a super-fun popcorn movie that any gearhead will love. It’s also not the Gone in 60 Seconds which caused Steinbacher and his friends so much trouble.
You see, the film that was released in 2000 was a remake of a 1974 car heist film of the same name. While the stories are different, the two versions do share some key plot points, chiefly among them a GT500 Mustang named Eleanor. Another key difference between the movies is that while one is awesome, the other is an unwatchable pile of garbage, with production values somewhere south of a first-time Twitch streamer. Seriously, the original is a dead horrible, excruciating mess of a film.
Unfortunately, though original director H. B. Halicki might have lacked creative vision and technical dexterity, his widow Denice Shakarian Halicki has proven a virtuoso at enforcing the Eleanor Mustang trademark she holds. The past two decades have seen her file suits against several companies — including Carroll Shelby’s — over the use of the Eleanor name, and she plays hardball. Here’s what Steinbacher told out friends at The Drive about having to deal with her legal eagles:
“I do know that I can give my opinion on the team at gonein60seconds.com and tell you they are terrible people, parading around as car people, [with] a history of being lawsuit-happy d-ckheads. Just the most unpleasant, terrible people I’ve ever had the misfortune to have to deal with in my life,” he said. “And that’s not just me being mad about what happened, it’s just the way these people decided to handle themselves.”
Obviously, there were tons of challenges when it came to splicing together cars from different decades, but no finesse with an angle grinder was going to solve this one.
While we understand the need to protect a copyright, and that people should be compensated for their artistic endeavors, we think it feels like overreach here. Particularly because the Eleanor that all Mustang fans know, and the one Steinbacher and his crew were building, looks nothing like the hero car from the original Gone in 60 Seconds.
In past filings, Shakarian Halicki’s lawyers have been clear that the case is mostly about the Eleanor name. So, if you want to make a clone of this big-screen star, you should probably consult a baby book before you turn a single wrench.
We can’t imagine how frustrating it must be to have such an amazing project snatched from our hands, and wonder what, if anything, the new owner will do with it. That said, the folks at B is for Build have taken their lumps and moved forward. The next videos they’re working on will feature apocalypse-themed machines, and we can’t wait to see what they come up with.
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