Hurricane Motorsports Update

[Naumoff]

South Africa has 24% unemployment and 4.5 times less average income per house hold.
Very hard to compete with that.

[powerslide]

Agree with Tony, the South African government also offers big credits to exporters, that's what helped SPF penetrate the market in the first place. Also the cheap dollar has to be a consideration in any business plan; maybe a TKM using all American components might be competitive with an importer? And BDR has already indicated they are getting ready to raise their prices.

[TXWOOD]

I think the Hurrican Kit is/was an excellent value. "Was" if they go to turn key minus only. If they do, has anyone got any experience with Hunter's Cobra Kits? http://www.hunterscobrakits.com/

You can buy bare frame and body only, almost next to a scratch build

[capt.ericsmythe]

My wifes boss, his father, and myself were set to order three Hurricane kits in the next two weeks. I spoke to rich about two weeks ago and he stated that the company was re-structuring at that time and not taking any orders. I loved the hurricane kit and was looking forward to building three over the next several months, we were extremely bummed that they may not be carring the kits anymore. Our second choice was shell valley and we are currently working out what we want with the kits. We liked both manufacturers but were leaning to Hurricane because of the completeness of the kits and the aluminum fire wall. I looked at Bill Bess's hurricane in Lake Havasu, AZ and was blown away how nice the completed car was. It is an unfortunate loss of Hurricane, We really wanted to build their car.

Eric

[fsstnotch]

Guys, I hope you understand that they ARE restructuring. They are NOT out of the business and as far as I know they are NOT out of the kit business yet. At least I'd hope not!!! Especially since there are at LEAST 6 people who planned to order withing the next 4 or 5 months. Using the base price calc, thats $96,000 worth of business!!!! Of course that is not all profit, and I doubt many people order a "basic kit" with no options, but still!!!

Don't get discouraged by the latest events of Hurricane. They were absolutely fantastic for everyone up until about a month ago when the "restructuring" started. Give them a break! Hopefully they'll be back up and ready to take some more orders shortly!

SAVE THE HURRICANE!!!!!!!!!!

[Bill Bess]

Mike/Rich....hope all is going well and your decisions will be what is best for you guys and the business.
I feel a "turn-key Minus" approach might be a good thing too. There are a lot of people I talk too that would like to have a Hurricane but can't, or don't have the place, skills, time, and tools to build one. This approach might be a good one to keep things moving along in the future and keep your business manageable.
You guys might also consider producing a "modified kit" that offers everything except the parts that can be purchased directly from outside suppliers that you currently use. This would still meet the needs of the home builder along with reducing your need to manage, store and ship some of the materials. I know from experience that I spent a lot of additional money on special products to complete my car (my choice), but the car turned out better for me.
Anyway, most home builders would welcome the chance to get into a Hurricane at a slightly reduced price if all he had to do was order the remaining materials and parts from a supplied list of vendors.


There are many ways to "skin a cat" so they say, so hopefully you guys will come up with some customer options that add value to the customer and to Hurricane motorsports.

Best Regards to you and the folks at Hurricane Motorsports, Bill

[crawleyscobra]

Has anyone other than a Hurricane owner been able to post to Hurricane's public forum?

[JoshBiz]

I'm not an owner and I Can Not post!!

[Tallguy]

Originally Posted by crawleyscobra

Has anyone other than a Hurricane owner been able to post to Hurricane's public forum?

I am not an owner and can not post either.

[fsstnotch]

I don't believe that any non owner can post at this time.

[jshel1]

Anyone see these threads regarding Classic Roadsters ?

about to buy
http://www.clubcobra.com/forums/clas...could-bad.html

[Tallguy]

With the recent rumblings from Hurricane, Classic Roadster II, and a few months ago Everett Morrison (they sort of closed and then sold, but may be wrong on this), I am getting a bit nervous about dropping a deposit with anyone. The market just seems so shaky.

After I went to Run-n-Gun in 2007 and had a great chat/butt fit with an EM owner, I was pretty settled on the Everett Morrison, but then their website went dead for a while and I wrote them off.

Then it was ERA or Hurricane, and I had decided to go Hurricane due to the full "garage" build and great price, and a great visit with Mike Arps (on my way to Run n Gun).

Hopefully Hurricane will make a "Last Call" for those of us who are sort of in the pipe line, and see who makes the plunge and puts their money where their mouth is. I am not 100%, but given a last call, I could make my mind up fast.

Mark

[aks801]

Originally Posted by Tallguy

... I am getting a bit nervous about dropping a deposit with anyone. The market just seems so shaky....

It is just this kind of nervousness in the customer and potential-customer public that I would think any of the replica companies would jealously guard against. If folks get a whiff that they may put up hard-earned money and not come reasonably close to getting what they want when they expect it, they are out of there. These are toys, and while Cobra-lust runs deep, Vettes are nice too, as are any number of muscle cars, Porsches, and even other exotica.

I'm just getting the impression that the guys at Hurricane want the world to stop while they figure out where they're going. Problem is, the world may just woosh on by and might not make a stop at their door once they decide to re-surface.

Just my $.02

[madmaxx]

Buy a Backdraft or Superformance, I understand they are both back ordered on rollers. I do not think you have to worry about them going out of business. You own a car for 5-10 years? If you build it takes maybe a year, it appears you have to live the driving result (finished product) longer than the build so go for a known result. If if you must build go with the factory five. I agree I would have a difficult time putting money down not knowing how long the manufacturer is going to be in business.

[danc30]

Originally Posted by aks801

I'm just getting the impression that the guys at Hurricane want the world to stop while they figure out where they're going.

I feel Hurricane is doing the right thing and they will be an even better company after they re-do their busniess model.

By putting "on hold" any new orders, this will ensure all parties that have already put their $$ down will get what they ordered when they are supposed to. No "back-order" scenario like Backdraft and Superformance are doing now.

If I were looking to buy one "right now" I too would "woosh on by" and go with another company, but if you really feel that Hurricane is the better company for you and you have some time to wait, you might be better off. Hurricane may decide to keep the kit.

I truly hope they do as do many other current Hurricane owners as well as myself plan on building another kit and don't want one from another company, but if that's the case, so be it.

Just my $0.02

"Save the Hurricane Kit"
Dan

[Tallguy]

I am not trying to bash Hurricane in any way, it just seems the overall industry is unpredictable at best. They need to do what is right for them.

I am not really in a big rush, and will wait (at least for a little while) to see what Hurricane decides to do.

[Michael P. Wole]

As for the So Africa thing...maybe the manufacturers in the USA should bring an anti-dumping law suit and get tariffs or duties put on these imported cars. Level the playing field...

[khansmith]

Now that I think about it, I am impressed with Hurricane's business strategy planning. With a recession around the corner (kit car industry will most likely slump) and one of their main competitors (FFR) offering a complete kit like theirs (which you have to assume will take market share.....only reason I went to Hurricane instead of FFR when I bought), it's time to assess the viability of their current strategy especially when you are an early stage company vs more mature companies like FFR.

[jwd]

I agree with Khan 100%. Hurricane has not tried to deceive anyone or take orders they didn't intend to fill. With the state of the economy and the competition in this industry, they are doing the right thing. Step back, take a deep breath and try to move forward in a postive manner. I can only hope that the end result is that they decide to continue offering kits so I can buy another 1 or 2. I have been very happy with their customer service (the best in the industry). My relationship with Hurricane has been very positive and if I portrayed anything negative about them in my prior posts, it was not intentional.

Jim

[SLHetal]

Hurricane sounds like a nice group of people trying to make a go of a business in what's becoming an increasingly bad environment. Banks are harder to deal with for business loans (expansion, cash flow), customers are not always easy to deal with, suppliers are getting into difficult situations (Plastech, Chrysler's plastic supplier filed for bankruptcy on Friday...they employ 8000), and the Cobra (toys in general) market seems a little soft right now...what an understatement. To me, Hurricane is doing the right thing at the right time. If I were them I'd be running the hell out of various business models until I found the one that was double safe.
Sam