sgraber
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| posted on 15/6/07 at 02:30 PM |
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La Bala in the 2007 Paris Autoshow... possible!
Gentlemen, I am in a real quandry.
It's looking like a real possibility that a german engine manufacturer (Weber Motor AG) will officially ask me to provide them with a La
Bala-Track (sans drivetrain) for use as a technology demonstrator for their V4, 200+hp automotive engine in their booth at the upcoming Paris
International Auto show in September! The idea being that I would complete the car and ship to germany with time for them to install their drivetrain
before the show.
The trouble is I am so new into my business and have so little money resources available to me to do this project correctly in the time allotted. My
fear is that I will have to pass on this once in a lifetime chance...
My wife has never even heard of the Paris Auto show (SACRE BLEU!) and so I get no mercy points from "she who holds the purse strings" and
that is a big strike against me as I don't have enough company money to blast this thing out in time. My business plan does not take into
account the Paris Auto show and may have to be modified slightly upward...
Just thinking out loud and putting this forth for comments: What I need is someone in Europe who would like to be the first to own a La Bala-Track
spec car and who would be willing to front me the money (contractually of course) to have the car built by me, shipped to Germany for engine
installation, have their car in the Paris auto show and then receive transfer of ownership to them after the show is over. This person may also have a
shot at becoming the Europe based distributor for Grabercars products.
With the short timeframe I would need to research this a lot further to see if it's even possible to accomplish. I have my chassis plans almost
completed, the bodywork is already pulled from the moulds for the 2nd car and what I need most are funds to purchase all of the high-spec components
that comprise the track version of my car.
It remains to be seen if Weber AG is going to want the car at all, and hopefully I'll find out soon, but the first communications have been
quite positive. Even if I can't make the Paris Show and Europe launch, there may be a deal brewing to use Weber V4 as the engine for La
Bala-Track cars. It's a great engine IMO.
Steve Graber
http://www.grabercars.com/
"Quickness through lightness"
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nib1980
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| posted on 15/6/07 at 02:46 PM |
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so we all know what sort of figure are you looking for?
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sgraber
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| posted on 15/6/07 at 05:53 PM |
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I don't have confirmation from Weber yet that they want to go through with this, and I don't even know if I can make the car that quickly!
I do have a team of about 5 people on standby who will be willing to work long hours to make this happen.
I am talking about the $25,000 la Bala-Track car with the high-end components such as Koni shocks, wilwood brakes and rotors, Aim Mychron auto
digi-dash, full-rose jointed suspension, custom uprights, kirkey aluminum race seats with 5-point camlock harness', quick-rack, quick-release
momo wheel, powdercoated spaceframe and suspension, aluminum riveted and bonded chassis panels, fuel cell, Team Dynamics rims with Falken Azenis, 5
piece hinged body with grille vents, custom tail lights, headlamps and more.
So you can see however that this is merely a preliminary investigation into feasibility. My main goal with this post is to find out if there is
support available in Europe so that IF the following conditions need to be met, I can meet them with a well formulated plan.
Condition 1 - I need to provide Weber AG with a complete show quality La bala car without drivetrain.
Condition 2 - I need to ship said car to Europe in time for their people to install their engine/drivetrain into the car and make the September
deadline.
Condition 3 - Assume Weber don't want to pay for manufacturing or shipping the car.
Condition 4 - I don't want to ship the car back to the USA.
Result to satisfy conditions - Find an EU buyer willing to front the money (with contract of course) for this show car and shipping. This EU
person/company will then be given option on setting up Europe based sales network of Grabercars. If there is more than one interested person/company
then the most qualified person/group would have the advantage.
I will post more information about this deal as soon as I know more.
This is the only place I am talking about this since it is so unknown to me if it can even happen. It could end up being DOA. But they contacted
me....
Steve Graber
http://www.grabercars.com/
"Quickness through lightness"
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nib1980
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| posted on 15/6/07 at 05:58 PM |
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hmm sounds interesting, please do keep us informed, this could be a nice little start for some one. I am intrigued to see how this turns out for
you!¬Best of luck!
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