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Rally sport replicas closed
undecided - 29/7/05 at 04:16 PM

I heard that Rallysport replicas have laid all their people off and are closing their doors today. Now if only RH did the same we would be rid of the trash once and for all.


Triton - 29/7/05 at 04:26 PM

Won't comment but will say


phelpsa - 29/7/05 at 04:28 PM

Now now thats not very nice! Rallysport replicas had a couple of nice cars like the errrrrrr....... ok moving on, Robin Hood provide a cheap way into the Seven / Kit car scene. I know they arent renound for their quality but they do buisness their way, by using the pile em high sell em cheap technique, rather than the good quality good money techinique.


Brook_lands - 29/7/05 at 05:07 PM

Very Short sighted! Those who have observed the kit market for a number of years will realise that those were exactly the sort of comments that were levelled at the Locost book and the first cars that were built with calls for them to be banned and taken off the road. If these people had got their way we would have had none of the Locost derivatives such as the MK, MNR, Stuart Taylor, etc, etc nor this mailbase.

Similarly we would be paying a lot more for the kits and the bits we buy, look at the cost of seven style kits and the high cost items such as shock absorbers 8 years ago before Locost rocked the industry, price were considerably high in real terms than they are today, you only have to look at the reaction of the likes of Westfield and Tiger

Don’t knock what everyone on this mailbase has benefited from, you have a choice in what you buy but only if you can afford it, someone has got to be at the bottom the market and provide a price anchor otherwise we will be back to £5000+ build cost for a Seven type kit. Mind you I’m sure Messers Caterham, Westfield, et al would be happy.


mangogrooveworkshop - 29/7/05 at 05:50 PM

quote:

Now if only RH did the same we would be rid of the trash once and for all.

RH is a bigger player than they get credit for........now away and boil yer heid!


the_fbi - 29/7/05 at 06:54 PM

quote:
Originally posted by mangogrooveworkshop
RH is a bigger player than they get credit for........now away and boil yer heid!

Hm...

Whilst this may be true. I emailed them this week asking for the weights of their Road/Track (locost, ie. box section rather than their stainless round tube) chassis in both mild and stainless steel.

quote:
Email from "Jordan" @ RH
Unfortunatley we do not have this info yet, I will keep your details on record, so that I can email them over to you as soon as we have got them.

Best regards


You'd think they'd know this, or at the very least go grab one off the wall and stick it on some scales.

Not good imho.


phelpsa - 29/7/05 at 10:50 PM

Its better than ST motorsport who are unlikely to reply at all!

Adam


mangogrooveworkshop - 30/7/05 at 09:34 AM

The_fbi You are better asking the owners club about such things RH. Its more of a shadow of a seven rather than a trad seven spaceframe.


NS Dev - 30/7/05 at 09:40 AM

hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I think there are a number of issues here!

Undoubtedly there were a number of "locosts" that never should have gone on the road, but by and large the concept of the car in the modern sense is that the various companies now in existence fulfil a gap in the market where modern technology has meant that 90% of the "7" can be made EXTREMELY cheaply, but the remaining 10% (that bit that needs lots of labour) remains pricey.

The budget replica market is a very different animal. The main emphasis here is making something that looks right, and hang the engineering.

This is not correct, and leads to awful, poor to drive crap getting on the road by the skin of it's teeth.


the_fbi - 30/7/05 at 10:07 AM

quote:
Originally posted by mangogrooveworkshop
The_fbi You are better asking the owners club about such things RH. Its more of a shadow of a seven rather than a trad seven spaceframe.


Now I'm going bec I'm going MK Indy, but previously I was considering the RH Road/Track for a cheap Zetec based car.

The email to them was really a sort of test too as most people had poor opinions of RH. I can't understand how
a) a manufacturer doesn't know how much its products weigh
b) it doesn't take the time to go and weigh a couple to respond positively to a customer enquiry

I'm not quite sure about your "shadow of a 7" comment, I may have missunderstood, or you may not be aware of their R&T chassis. Their Road/Track chassis is a book chassis (rhs box) modifed to take IRS and an extra inch height. Their round tubular chassis I would agree is a "shadow" but the Road/Track is as traditional 7 as anybody elses.


wilkingj - 30/7/05 at 11:33 AM

As far as I can see, its all about one thing.

CHOICE!.

From RH to Cateringvans there is now a very wide choice to suit every pocket.

Personally speaking, I looked at RH, liked the price, and saw the Luego, and preferred their build quality.
At the end of the day its what your pocket / budget can afford that usually decides it for you!.

Dont knock the lower end of the market... everyone has their place in the market.

Just think, where we would be with PC's and the price, if it wasnt for the Likes of Alan Sugar and his Amstrad Clones... cheep and cheerful (Translation = Value for Money)... and they too had their place in the market for those who couldnt afford £3k for a IBM Machine that ran at half the speed of the Amstrad.
(remember I am talking PC's of nearly 20 years ago!)


Triton - 31/7/05 at 10:08 AM

Argh but the topic was about somebody else not RH.....like anything else in the kit car press adverts should be taken with a huge pinch of salt...


Dreckly - 31/7/05 at 11:40 AM

I find it very sad that in today's kit car industry we still have companies who, despite the current legislation, still insist on flaunting the SVA rules.
Unfortunately, according to their own adverts, it would appear that RSR were/are following this path.
The end result in this case is that the customer may well be a purchasing sub-standard product, that may not meet safety criteria, is subsequently unsafe as a motor vehicle and should certainly not be sold for use on the public highway.

Whilst I have no problem with inexpensive products of any description, these products MUST be of merchantable quality, MUST be fit for purpose and MUST comply with the current safety legislation.

I also find it very misleading when companies use vehicles built by previous owners of their project, or even buy customer built cars, and advertise said vehicles as their own workmanship and quality of merchandise.
This practice deceives the unsuspecting customer and will bring the industry into disrepute.
The stigma created by such companies will cast a shadow over all the reputeable manufacturers, be they High cost, Moderate cost or Low cost.
I just pray that no-one is killed before these forms of sharp practice can be eradicated and safety/manufacturing standards can be upheld.

Sorry to preach Chaps,
Best regards,

Ken.


Triton - 31/7/05 at 02:24 PM

Mr Dreckly,
How very very true.