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Hurricane is ALIVE!
Hey all, if you haven't seen already - Hurricane Motorsports is now Hurricane Roadsters. Under new ownership and first build is in the house! We are ready for new orders if interested in discussing.
HurricaneRoadsters.com |
Wow, that's quite a surprise! Wishing you the best.
Link looks like old site? |
That's good. Now what's the new business plan that will keep the company afloat?:confused:
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Congrats, hope all goes well for you. Two questions I have are where will the new company be located, and what changes are in store for the car and in pricing?
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What that emphasizes, to me at least, is that this is about more than just making a good car. This is a competitive business and a Cobra manufacturing company needs to be run by people who realize that and have a plan to competently run the business. This is not a hobby. Manufacturing a nice car is simply not enough to ensure success. There has to be some business acumen involved in the process. |
I think "Eddie" (patrickt) was just giving "The Beaver." (767jockey) The Business ;) Cheers .
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I wish good fortune and success to the new owners of Hurricane Roadsters.
Not all business models are the same. Cases in point, Superformance and Unique Motorcars. There are also "bespoke" car builders who build each car to order and do only a few each year. The challenge for prospective buyers, IMHO, is that the smaller businesses seem at greater risk for collapsing midway through a build, leaving the buyer with a partially paid for but incomplete car. In each case the onus is on the buyer to evaluate the financial viability of the company and the integrity of its owner. . . . And if the company wants the buyer to put upfront money in a car that seems too good to be true, it likely is. |
In a retail sales competition being the best does not guarantee victory or even success. A very obvious example most of us can still remember is VHS and Sony Beta-Max.
Guess who was better. We already know who won ... |
And when you make your first post proudly announcing new ownership and that you're ready for new orders... you should probably check back on the thread to see if there are any responses. :rolleyes:
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Just an observation the prior owners were put to much energy trying to go after the Factory Five market, which is a totally different market and you will never change the mind of someone who has there there mind set on there product. It is a culture whether good bad or indifferent, concentraite on your own brand and build your own customer base and pray that the supply chain keeps up.
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Lots of clueless commentary from the cheep seats here.
The original company was owned by two brothers that also had a software company, and decided to sell after completing about 125 kits to focus on their primary business. They didn't leave any customers hung out to dry, holding on to their deposits. The second owners, McLaughlin Family Companies in Iowa, were not really 'car guys' and, even though they initially made great improvements to the product with input from key previous builders, they did very little to promote or market the product. Hurricane was a subsidiary of a much larger company, and in the end it was a business write off. https://mcfamco.com/product-lines/ They sold about 42 kits over about a dozen years. Thats hardly attempting to compete with Factory Five or Superformance. And, even after cutting off sales, they continued to provide parts and support to all current customers. I wish the new owners well, and all the success in the world. At least they seem very passionate about their venture, by their social media posts. |
Bob, I very intentionally and vigorusly avoid anything having to do with social media, so I have no idea what the new proprietors of Hurricane are saying on there. The Cobra community tends to trend toward an older demographic, with many of us in the age group having the same aversion to the social media cesspool. The new owners might do well to realize that and look for alternative methods of reaching their targeted audience. The first post here was a good step, not following it up was not wise. That goes back to my comment about knowing how to run a business.
As for the product, I have always believed that the Hurricane was a well designed and well built kit, with a good bang for the buck. I never understood why it didn't sell better, leaving a lack of business savvy as the only reason I can think of. I wish the new owners the best. |
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That's about 3 per year. I'd like to see the annual numbers though. My bet is it's front end loaded. But like it or not, that was the demand for this product. Now if the new owners can survive on 3 a year and still run it profitably, then more power to them. But don't look to double or triple that number any time soon. The whole Cobra market TAM is dropping every year, which is why the lowest volume and lowest quality suppliers are disappearing. Now there's been some consolidation in the past few years and there may be an opportunity to sustain a 3-4 car per year business. But don't look for it to grow to 20 or even 10 which is where the volume needs to be for a manufacturing business that is not a hobby. It's not a model for a business plan that I would invest in, so I too would like to see what business plan supports it. I still wish them good luck. PS. I would add with regards to updating the status on the forum that forums have been subsumed by places like Facebook. Shelby American has dropped their forum (it exists, but gets no traffic, even SAI doesn't post there any more, and only a few die hards even bother to log in, me included.) For all intents, all of Shelby (SAI, foundation, etc) are predominantly on facebook. Facebook is great for transient visitors but not for threaded or historical content where forums work best. But the days when the Shelby forum had any inkling of technical content go back to the early 2010s near the height of the GT500 when people were modding them like crazy. Now the drive-by style of Facebook suits the needs of most. |
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Unlike some others trying to pass themselves off as manufacturers Hurricane never took someone's money and failed to deliver or used Y's money to build X's car. There is a lot to be said for that. It does say that near the end it was a passionate hobby that wasn't making money. The same thing happened with HST. |
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FWIW, their fb page is https://www.facebook.com/HurricaneRoadsters if you want to peruse. Its public, signup not required. |
Have they mentioned how much a base kit is going to be?
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