Would you chip in $5,000 to buy Viper operations from Chrysler?

[Kayvan]

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/05/28/dodge-reportedly-gets-no-takers-for-10m-viper-franchise-will/


Saw this story that $10 Million will buy the Viper franchise; not sure what this # means. If its symbolic $1 (it includes $100 M in debt; then $90M after purchase); or truly includes everything including plant, real estate, parts inventory, long term supplier agreements, etc.

If one just reproduces the current Viper (like Lotus/Caterham 7) forever with no R&D; and outsources a new engine; it seems it could make sense.

I realize your working capital on this can reach in tons $ per month. But it still seems like an enthusiast group (us, the Viper Forum or VCA: 2000 x $5,000=$10M) could pool money or get seller financing (US Govt) or re-finance this in future.

Any guess on financial metrics?:

-Sales: ~1500 units/yr
-Invoice Cost: $78.5K
-Revenue: ~$125 Million? (break even)
-Employees: 115
-Plant/RE/equipment: ?

 

[spyder625]

I'm in....

 

[HiloDave]

Pending details, it sounds like a good deal to me.

 

[MK2_GT]

wow...

 

[gtjim]

Sounds like a fun investment! Of course it'd be much more fun if it'd actually reap returns. I'd be interested in hearing more, if for nothing else than the entertainment value.

 

[BlackICE]

You guys can't be serious. Don't confuse your passion for cars with a sound investment. These are rarely the same! I wouldn't want to be in the car business! Just think about the gov. regs coming down the pipeline. You cannot and won't be allow to sell a DOT approved car without any changes to the current design! Ford would still be selling the FGT if it wasn't for new Fed requirements. The powers in charge don't like high HP low mileage cars. Unlikely you would get anything from the Feds others than new regulations to guarantee a lost.

I am sure many on this board can easily top the current offer, but few if any could afford to run it for just one year.

 

[Cobrar]

You may not need $10M. Understand the bankruptcy court is currently considering a bid of $5.5M. ante up..........

 

[t32b]

You make many good points but I'd still like to hear the details if they're available. These are not so much bad times as they are interesting times for the auto business. Surely all of the historic players are facing the effects of failing the 'innovators dilemma'. Lots of other collateral reasons but as a silicon valley guy, that really is the core. And so the question is what new opportunities are going to back fill those that haven't or can't make the jump?
It's unlikely to be Viper 2.0, but always worth a look.

You guys can't be serious. Don't confuse your passion for cars with a sound investment. These are rarely the same! I wouldn't want to be in the car business! Just think about the gov. regs coming down the pipeline. You cannot and won't be allow to sell a DOT approved car without any changes to the current design! Ford would still be selling the FGT if it wasn't for new Fed requirements. The powers in charge don't like high HP low mileage cars. Unlikely you would get anything from the Feds others than new regulations to guarantee a lost.

I am sure many on this board can easily top the current offer, but few if any could afford to run it for just one year.

 

[ChipBeck]

CAFE, impact standards, emissions, etc.

Gentlemen,

I hate to throw cold water on another's pursuit but building sports cars and running an airline are the type of pursuits that draw in dreamers like moths to a light. As a manufacturer of nothing but ten cylinder super high performance automobiles, I seriously doubt that your fleets corporate average fuel economy could come anywhere close to the required standard. Your investment in plant and equipment is just the tip of the iceberg. Saleen has been in business for a long time but even they decided to throw in the towel by the requirement to crash a number of S7's to prove they met federal standards. The hoops one must jump through to be a certified vehicle manufacturer these days are so numerous and onerous than attempting it as a small player is suicidal folly. I believe the best a small player could hope to accomplish would be to put together a kit car like the current Shelby Cobras coming out of Las Vegas.

Chip

 

[BlackICE]

As usually Chips is on target!

Like I said "Unlikely you would get anything from the Feds other than new regulations to guarantee a lost."

 

[AJB]

DevonMotorWorks of Grand Rapids in the $5.5mil bidder for Viper. As you can see from my earlier post, it was reported last night in the WSJ. It is factual.
AJB

 

[GT38]

...building sports cars and running an airline are the type of pursuits that draw in dreamers like moths to a light.

Reminds me of the old adage - How do you become a millionaire in the aviation business? You start out with 10 million! :frown

 

[BlackICE]

Or, how do you make a small fortune in auto racing?



Start with a large one!

 

[Awsum GT]

Or, how do you make a small fortune in auto racing?



Start with a large one!

The answer is to start with a large fortune!

 

[UFO74]

The Wall Street Journal, Weekend Journal Section, Saturday/Sunday, May 30-31, 2009, lead article entitled "The End of the Affair" by P.J. O'Rourke is a good read, but a must read, for anybody seriously considering such an investment. Gentlemen, in my opinion, if the DC folks have their way autombiles like the GT, Viper, etc., may slowly but surely be legislated out of existence.

The following was extracted from the article:

"David Buick, Ransom E. Olds, Louis Chevrolet, Robert and Louis Hupp of the Hupmobile, the Dodge brothers, the Studebaker brothers, the Packard brothers, the Duesenberg brothers, Charles W. Nash, E.L. Cord, John North Willys, Preston Tucker and William H. Murphy, whose Cadillac cars were designed by the young Henry Ford, all went broke making cars."

 

[AJB]

thanks...will read.
AJB

 

[djs]

Also FTA, and IMHO, dead on...

"I don’t believe the pointy-heads give a damn about climate change or gas mileage, much less about whether I survive a head-on with one of their tax-sucking mass-transit projects. All they want to is to make me hate my car. How proud and handsome would Bucephalas look, or Traveler or Rachel Alexandra, with seat and shoulder belts, air bags, 5-mph bumpers and a maze of pollution-control equipment under the tail?"

Proof of his assertion? Ralph Nader on CNBC today that the Govt should have held hearings about the impact of bankruptcy on the individual dealers. What? That sanctimonius @$$hole was wishing for GM's downfall 40+ yrs ago and he never gave a moments thought to how if affected anyone associated either directly or indirectly with GM. Same thing with that fat @$$hole Michael Moore, who today is calling for mandatory bullet trains among major cities, especially in the Midwest. Yeah, right. Ever hear of the EPA? You think the Enviros will sign off on 200mph trains and all the new infrastructure to accomodate it? The problem with all these well meaning dip$h!ts is they never think of the Law of Unintended Consequences, until it destroys the guy next to them. Then they're all for a Govt hearing about what happened, never realizing or admitting they were a direct cause of the fiasco in the first place.

 

[silver1331]

Hummer was apparently sold to a chinese company today ...

 

[GT38]

Hummer was apparently sold to a chinese company today ...

Did anyone see the 1979 movie "Americathon"? I taped it off of TV years ago. I'm going to I'll watch it again - and substitute the Chinese for the Native Americans.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078766/

http://www.amazon.com/Americathon-V...=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=video&qid=1243961534&sr=8-2

 

[AlohaGT]

Hummer was apparently sold to a chinese company today ...

Not quite sold, yet; however, reportedly executed a MOU.