OLD CARS BECOME BIG BUSINESS; Unique Performance makes aging brutes (the cars, not you) young again.(Doug Hasty)

Byline: Mark Vaughn

In case you haven't noticed, muscle cars are now big business in America. And not just modern muscle cars like the Saleen and Roush Mustangs. The old originals are racking up big transaction prices at auctions, provided they're still stock, and they're commanding six-figure stickers at a company called Unique Performance in Farmers Branch, Texas, where they're definitely much better than stock.

If there is a Henry Ford of the re-engineered muscle car world, it is Doug Hasty. Hasty, along with partners Chris Layne and Richard Kearby, founded Unique Performance to re-engineer and restore long-neglected muscle car classics and, like Henry Ford, made a successful business of it in the process.

"The car thing was just a hobby,'' said Hasty. "We created [the first cars] for our personal use.''

Hasty built a re-creation of the Eleanor GT500E for his daughter, took it to the Shreveport Car Show and wound up getting a call from Carroll Shelby. Yes, that Carroll Shelby.

"Carroll wanted to put the car into a continuation program he was doing,'' said Hasty. "He called me a coupla' times.''

Hasty is an ol' Texas boy with a thick Texas accent. Sit with him long enough and you'll get a thick Texas accent, too. Yee-ha.