ByronBayChris Posted 1February, 2014 Report Share Posted 1February, 2014 Ladies and Gentlemen Do you think the Australian market would accept an Australian-designed and built Porsche, in the same vein as the Magnum and Singers? Does a market exist? Would it just be purchased and shipped overseas? We would easily have the skills (not me of course) and raising some fubds would not be too hard. Is this a great idea, or an absurdly stupid thought (I know where my wife would stand) Bbc EDIT : The title should be "An Australian Magnus or Singer" (Damn my phone autocorrect) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GC9911 Posted 1February, 2014 Report Share Posted 1February, 2014 Chris, great idea. Build one & send it over & I will write a complete review for you, let's say six month trial, you stump up for the gas & I'll flog it to within an inch of its life so you can guarantee reliability. Of course I will come to your place to pick it up for the trial, let me me know the go date. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hugh Posted 1February, 2014 Report Share Posted 1February, 2014 I love the idea Chris, as like most things I guess it just comes down to numbers. Whilst I know a lot of us would love a Singer, the reality is very few of us could afford to buy one. The time and cost associated with building a car to that quality here in Aus I'm sure would be any cheaper either? There are many companies that have tried to successfully break into this market with mixed success. Singer is an exception that has had a huge investment and still only having built a single digit of sold cars. Not an easy road, love the idea though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tit Posted 1February, 2014 Report Share Posted 1February, 2014 There's a company in south Africa making a go of it.http://www.dutchmann.co.za/racer.php Zag is sort of doing it. Deus Ex Machina is doing it with bikes. Of you can make the numbers work it would be a dream business! PS: I think Singers success lies in Rob Dickinson's masterful exploitation of his location in California and his excellent marketing campaign... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hugh Posted 1February, 2014 Report Share Posted 1February, 2014 Zag is more or less backdated panels and a paint job, Singer's are more than just a marketing. Deus, now that's a marketing sensation! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tit Posted 1February, 2014 Report Share Posted 1February, 2014 Singer's are far more than just marketing. But they'd be bankrupt by now without it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hugh Posted 1February, 2014 Report Share Posted 1February, 2014 Singer's are far more than just marketing. But they'd be bankrupt by now without it... No doubt, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Man Posted 1February, 2014 Report Share Posted 1February, 2014 What a great achievement it would be..................to get around all the ADR, engineering and compliance requirements we have in this country!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sydr Posted 1February, 2014 Report Share Posted 1February, 2014 I love the idea Chris, as like most things I guess it just comes down to numbers. Whilst I know a lot of us would love a Singer, the reality is very few of us could afford to buy one. The time and cost associated with building a car to that quality here in Aus I'm sure would be any cheaper either? There are many companies that have tried to successfully break into this market with mixed success. Singer is an exception that has had a huge investment and still only having built a single digit of sold cars. Not an easy road, love the idea though! JustJames showed us the Aussie equivalent of a Singer recently; this is the Group 4 car built by AutoHaus Hamilton. He brought it along to Caver's drive day. It is a sensational piece of kit. If you have a car like that you would need to get used to a lot of attention and thumbs up! You are quite right Hugh, about the cost of development. The AutoHaus Hamilton car cost a tidal wave of money, far more than they are asking for in order to sell it. Bear in mind that AutoHaus has the expertise, trained personnel, access to information and suppliers all over the world and it still cost them a motza to develop. I think they are just having a lot of fun, are very on the ball and don't mind putting something back. I've driven the Group 4 car; although it is a monster it is tractable, easy to drive, has aircon, and is very, very quick. I'd rate it as a classic but with excellent mod cons, fantastic handling and brakes and easy to live with if you don't mind a firm ride. Since my personal preference is to have a car where the chassis tells me what it is doing, I prefer a firm ride to a marshmallow or sponge that cushions the road information at the expense of feedback. So I loved it, but I have my own extensively worked early 911. I haven't been on the AutoHaus Hamilton website but did see a facebook post about their very exciting next project. It will be a sensational car, and it represents very fresh thinking. Worth checking out. And way ahead of any concept that I've seen from Singer. And I really mean that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russ Posted 1February, 2014 Report Share Posted 1February, 2014 There's a company in south Africa making a go of it.http://www.dutchmann.co.za/racer.php Zag is sort of doing it. Deus Ex Machina is doing it with bikes. Of you can make the numbers work it would be a dream business! PS: I think Singers success lies in Rob Dickinson's masterful exploitation of his location in California and his excellent marketing campaign... a little bit of marketing, and the carbon fibre panels, Cosworth built GT3 cranked water cooled 'best of everything' engine, LMP headlights, custom dashboard, Learjet level of soundproofing, custom wheels, custom designed air conditioning, sound system, fuel tank flap/tank design, suspension components........ I don't know if there is a huge market in Australia for such things though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clutch-monkey Posted 1February, 2014 Report Share Posted 1February, 2014 the singer's price is already stratospheric, the cost of doing that level of work here would drive the price into low orbit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tit Posted 1February, 2014 Report Share Posted 1February, 2014 Yeah. That's partly my point. The product is great. But to reach the ($$$) target market he has to go global. He has used his Californian location to get lots of marketing across the web, TV and magazines. To get the same coverage out of Australia would be a lot more difficult. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tk111 Posted 2February, 2014 Report Share Posted 2February, 2014 A good example of how an Aussie specialist has been able to market his product internationally is Monty Mufflers. I am always very pleased to see his product mentioned on the international forums and held in high regard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stardust Posted 2February, 2014 Report Share Posted 2February, 2014 Australia currently does high-end, single-figure production, world recognised custom manufacturing in the area of cruising yachts (Buizen) at fairly gob-smacking prices so these things can be done, and it shows there is a market (yacht v sportscar could be argued to be similar in the area of discretionary spend for custom works). I like the idea of Deus, though. I've always wanted to take the old girl down there and ask them "so what do you think you could do?". I also like the Group 4 car from Autohaus. I've been asking for more detail on it since they first started posting about it, but there isn't much out there (but did find this video recently). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tit Posted 2February, 2014 Report Share Posted 2February, 2014 I'm a huge fan of Deus. They have done an excellent job of brand building and they do a good job of engaging with the culture. Bikes are cheaper and therefore generally more accessible. I think the model could be applied to classic cars too. I like the idea of multiple offerings. Life a cafe, books & clothing to support the core business. Some other models like Zen garage and classic throttle shop are out there too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harvs11 Posted 2February, 2014 Report Share Posted 2February, 2014 I think the ability to build modified Porsches in the same vein as Deus in Australia is limited by the cost and availability of local donor cars. In the US and even the UK they are much cheaper to start with. The stock pile of old Porsches and variety of aftermarket part suppliers is also much bigger in he US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg944 Posted 2February, 2014 Report Share Posted 2February, 2014 I agree with the above, the economics don't stack up. High entry price, high labour/parts/specialist costs in a tiny market. I am not saying it cannot be done, as someone mentioned, we have the specialist skills and vision etc, but who is going to pay >$250k for a backdated 964? Cheers Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stardust Posted 2February, 2014 Report Share Posted 2February, 2014 True, but I would have thought the same about paying AU$472,000 for a new Turbo S (without options). Apparently, however, people do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airhead Posted 2February, 2014 Report Share Posted 2February, 2014 Post the cheque now Chris and l'll start work tomorrow. Call me in a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russ Posted 2February, 2014 Report Share Posted 2February, 2014 I think you'll need to do something different too - Singer is already well established and appealing to people that want that sort of car, you'll need to differentiate yourself from that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tit Posted 2February, 2014 Report Share Posted 2February, 2014 I know this is a Porsche forum, but...erm....does it have to be Porsches? Australian classics? Air-cooled classics? re-imagined classics / coffee / merch / art / culture / events etc? etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harvs11 Posted 2February, 2014 Report Share Posted 2February, 2014 If Uncle can get eleventy million hits on his video, imagine what he could flog his black and blue creation for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Posted 2February, 2014 Report Share Posted 2February, 2014 I'm going to need to grow my hair and answer less questions before it really skyrockets in value Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coastr Posted 2February, 2014 Report Share Posted 2February, 2014 Not big enough thinking going on here... The market is there - why worry about just the Australian market? What about Japan and China, and even NZ for the odd sale? The key is quality in everything - from top to bottom, and having an edge of some sort. Magnus obviously has his, and Singer has theirs. Without an edge you're not in the game. But you've got to think beyond meat pies and kangaroos. Aussie kitsch can have it's appeal (see : Paul Hogan) but eventually people get bored and move on. It's a world market these days. That also means labour. Products can be developed here and built somewhere else. But you've got to look at building a brand profile, because that is what comes first. Can't be done? Look for shortcuts. There is a guy somewhere in Oz building Mad Max replicas. Can't build them fast enough. Few Australian buyers. What movies are getting filmed in Oz? Can the hero drive a classic modified Porsche? Can you invent the 21st Century Interceptor? What about motor racing? Bathurst is world-famous now, especially since going in driving sims....speaking of which...Porsche is coy about putting a brand into racing sims (well, they used to, anyway) - how about teaming with game developers to include the car. Anyway...seemed like a brainstorming thread so I thought I'd have a go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stardust Posted 2February, 2014 Report Share Posted 2February, 2014 Have you seen the Rauh Welt cars out of Japan? Big 964 modifier. Not to my taste but they now have a very strong following in Asia and the US - a bit cultish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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