YouTuber B is for Build has his Eleanor Mustang taken away

Jeff Glucker

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Chris from the YouTube channel B is for Build has a great model. He finds wrecked cars at auction, typically Copart, and then rebuilds them in fun new ways. He started in his garage, moved to a bigger space, and has been cranking out content and cars for some time now. His current build involves a 2015 Ford Mustang GT which is getting a body swapped on from a 1967 Mustang fastback. Well, was his current build. Chris called this car an Eleanor clone and that caused the people who own the trademark and copyright of that car to take action. The build is finished.

Jalopnik has more info involving the people behind the Eleanor copyright ownership. And it’s clear they are not fucking around. The car is gone and this build will happen no longer. And that’s a shame because it was going to be a good one. Yes, the Eleanor Mustang idea may be overdone to some. But Chris was taking a flood-damaged modern car and giving it old style with a proper body kit. This could’ve made for a great driving classic with modern power and features under the skin. And Chris was doing the work himself which always makes builds like these more interesting to watch as they come together. He documents his wins and fails, so you get to see the whole process.

B is for Build finishes its BMW M5 V10-swapped Datsun 240Z

Chris was a guest on our podcast back in 2017. He and Freddy Tavarish Hernandez were on the show to talk about their cheap-car challenge. Since that build, which involved a Mad Maxian Infiniti G35, the B is for Build channel has been consistently putting out good DIY build content. I’m sure Chris will find a handful of new projects soon, it’s just a bummer this one has to end early.

Maybe his next one should be something similar. Call it Not Eleanor. Make it a Mustang in brighter colors. Have some fun with it while poking fun at the insanity of the prior build and its result.

[Lead image sourced from B is for Build via FordAuthority.com]

About

Jeff Glucker

Jeff Glucker

Jeff Glucker is the co-founder and Executive Editor of Hooniverse.com. He’s often seen getting passed as he hustles a 1991 Mitsubishi Montero up the 405 Freeway. IG: @HooniverseJeff

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22 responses to “YouTuber B is for Build has his Eleanor Mustang taken away”

  1. caltemus Avatar
    caltemus

    What I don’t understand is why he can’t remove the offending body panels and keep the vehicle. Maybe they gave him a choice of keeping the car or the royalties on the videos, and he chose the royalties. I can’t imagine another scenario where you relinquish something with so much work into it. Fuck Denise Halicki and the new gone in sixty seconds anyway, they took an amazing classic and smeared it with nicholas cage trash.

    Reply
    1. Zentropy Avatar
      Zentropy

      I agree– remove the Eleanor-specific pieces, pull the Eleanor-specific videos, and keep going with just a ’67-inspired build. The whole issue is stupid, but I get it. But in this case he loses both the videos and the car? That doesn’t seem reasonable at all.

      So, if I build an Eleanor clone for my own personal use, does that mean I can’t sell it? I assume the issue here isn’t building something that looks like Eleanor, but profiting off of it.

      Reply
      1. dead_elvis, inc. Avatar
        dead_elvis, inc.

        IANAL, but if you’re not doing so as a commercial enterprise, I think you’re in the clear.

        Reply
  2. William Byrd Avatar
    William Byrd

    That’s amazing. Wouldn’t this be a “cease and desist” scenario? They don’t own this car, they own the image. WTF?

    Reply
    1. 0A5599 Avatar
      0A5599

      I didn’t see the build videos before he pulled the down, but I suppose a Copart 2015 Mustang plus some 1967 Mustang bodywork cost him low five figures.

      He made a series of videos permanently connecting that particular chassis with the “Eleanor” brand, figuratively as well as literally. Many viewers have seen them, earning him money. How do you make the car “not Eleanor” after that? Some of his million-plus subscribers will continue to call it Eleanor, regardless.

      Getting a license for the Eleanor trademark wouldn’t be cheap, particularly under these circumstances. Legal fees would have been substantial to fight the trademark, and he probably would have lost anyway. Giving up the car was the cheap way out, and he looks like a good guy for doing it, which strengthens his own brand.

      Reply
      1. William Byrd Avatar
        William Byrd

        Great summary, still interesting that you can “repo” a car that you don’t own. I totally get the concept of the brand, but pulling down videos or modifying the car to remove the resemblance seems like a more reasonable end.

        Reply
        1. 0A5599 Avatar
          0A5599

          A shipment of fake Rolex watches is spotted by the port authority. Do you have a problem with the counterfeits being seized?

          Reply
          1. dead_elvis, inc. Avatar
            dead_elvis, inc.

            Is an homage/tribute vehicle – one that no one is attempting to pass off as the real thing – really comparable to something like a counterfeit Rolex, where defrauding the buyer is the entire point?

          2. 0A5599 Avatar
            0A5599

            A lot of counterfeits are not intended to defraud the buyer. They are for the buyer to defraud others into thinking they could afford the genuine article, while paying a fraction of the price because they aren’t paying for the intellectual property.

            Somebody once told me the story of how he came to own one of the surviving General Lees from the DoH series. He owned a physical automobile. He did not own the intellectual property. There was a long list of what he could not do, including anything to exploit the car commercially. Driving to the supermarket was OK; displaying at a supermarket grand opening was not. Similarly, someone rebuilding a 2015 Mustang could not display it at a grocery store grand opening without the permission of Warner Bros. if they called it the General Lee in the advertising.

            I did not watch any of the videos that were taken down, but I would not be surprised, and do presume that on more than one occasion he called the car Eleanor, used #Eleanor hashtags on the video, etc, and did not have his lawyer write up a legal disclaimer running at the start of the episode.

            Eleanor Licensing LLC makes a LOT of money licensing the Eleanor name to builders of vehicles named Eleanor. t sucks that Chris is being held responsible for violations of rules he did not understand. But he generates a lot of traffic and made it easy for the enforcement team to find Maybe he would have gotten more of a slap on the wrist if he showed the car to 200 people at a supermarket instead of a seven-digit viewership. But what are the odds that after this, one of the other Youtube rebuilding channels will take on a project and call it Eleanor?

          3. Zentropy Avatar
            Zentropy

            Legal or not, it’s still fundamentally rather stupid. The original Eleanor (the one legitimately attributable to Halicki) was a ’71 Mustang and bears no resemblance to the “character” car (a 1967 model) from the 2000 film. The new Eleanor, as I understand it, was designed by Chip Foose, at least in part. To say the 2000 film is a very loose remake of the original is generous, and neither Denice Halicki nor even her late husband had creative influence on it. Regardless whether Mrs. Halicki operates within legal bounds as the owner of that concept, her Gollum-like behavior with “The One Eleanor” is pathetic.

          4. Zentropy Avatar
            Zentropy

            Legal or not, it’s still fundamentally rather stupid. The original Eleanor (the one legitimately attributable to Halicki) was a ’71 Mustang and bears no resemblance to the “character” car (a 1967 model) from the 2000 film. The new Eleanor, as I understand it, was designed by Chip Foose, at least in part. To say the 2000 film is a very loose remake of the original is generous, and neither Denice Halicki nor even her late husband had creative influence on it. Regardless whether Mrs. Halicki operates within legal bounds as the owner of that concept, her Gollum-like behavior with “The One Eleanor” is pathetic.

          5. William Byrd Avatar
            William Byrd

            Oh I like that one, and no, no problem there. The big difference is that DHS/ICE is seizing the Rolex watches in violation of international law, since they were created overseas in bulk and shipped here for profit. I’d have to research the conditions in which the car was taken to see if its similar, but I doubt it. Sure, what he was doing profited him, but it’s not like he’s creating an assembly line of Eleanor’s (can I use that word or will they take my Jeep if I use it? haha) to sell.

  3. Zentropy Avatar
    Zentropy

    Peter Holderith’s article over on The Drive has a quote from Steinbacher:

    “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 dickheads. Just the most unpleasant, terrible people I’ve ever had the misfortune to have to deal with in my life. And that’s not just me being mad about what happened, it’s just the way these people decided to handle themselves.”

    I think it’s a shame he was trying to emulate the Eleanor anyway, because it’s a hot mess of fake scoops and add-on fiberglass B.S. Personally, I think the ideal ’67 Mustang would have the front details of a Shelby GT500 and the rear of a fastback GT (I don’t care much for the Cougar tail lamp lenses).

    Reply
    1. Jeff Glucker Avatar
      Jeff Glucker

      https://www.thedrive.com/news/33801/youtubers-2015-ford-mustang-eleanor-tribute-build-seized-by-gone-in-60-seconds-trademark-holder

      Reply
      1. Zentropy Avatar
        Zentropy

        Thanks Jeff– I thought I had included the link, but obviously didn’t.

        Reply
  4. Maymar Avatar
    Maymar

    Take an already overdone Eleanor clone, make it trashier, and call it an Eleanor Shellstrop? Surely NBC’s lawyers are slightly less litigious than GiSS’s? Something Eleanor Rigby- inspired would be period-correct, although I doubt anyone associated with The Beatles being super permissive of that. What would an Eleanor Roosevelt-inspired Mustang look like?

    Reply
    1. Jeff Glucker Avatar
      Jeff Glucker

      Someone at Jalop said paint it Yellow and call it Eleanor Rigby. Make it more of a Mach 1 clone.

      Reply
      1. Zentropy Avatar
        Zentropy

        Would that just be a matte black hood with pins, maybe some side stripes and a wing? Never seen a pre-69 get the “Mach 1” treatment.

        Reply
    2. neight428 Avatar
      neight428

      Too bad Citroen is located just outside of Paris instead of Bordeaux, then you could swap the body on a DS and call it Eleanor of Aquitaine.

      Reply
    3. dead_elvis, inc. Avatar
      dead_elvis, inc.

      Have the horn play songs by Amy Rigby & tell the Beatles (Michael Jackson’s estate?) to get stuffed.

      Reply
  5. ptschett Avatar
    ptschett

    Denise Halicki : H.B. Halicki :: Teresa Earnhardt : Dale Earnhardt

    Reply
  6. Kaile Avatar
    Kaile

    How can I Get this?

    Reply