Thank you, I'd rather get something set up for the Alfa engine, I have a lot of experience with it and I'd imagine getting parts for that engine here in the states to be troublesome at a minimum. Out of curiosity do you know what he was asking?Originally Posted by hollytree
I went and saw it after him telling me at Hebden Bridge show he was going to sell it.
He showed me the car and the engine plus spare standard engine and gearbox.
Showed me spare panel molds, suspension spacers for different setups (gravel or tarmac), spare wheels etc etc.
Spent an hour or so on all this.
I then said "so how much". His answer was "I will put it back together for road use and then get Craig to sell it for me". On the basis the tuned engine and sequential box is too much for normal use.
I said "I will take it off you as it sits" and he was going to think and call
That was 5 months ago and not a peep.
Hmm, sounds like someone who maybe changed their mind. For me I'm looking to build a road car, so it sounds like too much for me, unless it was a killer deal. Sounds like that is an unknown at best.
Steve doesn't do anything quickly.
He invested a lot of thought time and money into that car.
I realize that the biggest appeal for Stratos replica buyers is a nice road going example to trail around the shows or even just go off for the weekend, but that car was built for competition and its MSA logbook was hard won.
It would be a real shame for it not to be used in competition again.
I agree I wouldn't want to do that to a provenanced race car unless it was just totally stripped down and I was buying a bucket of parts and a frame. Don't get me wrong I will drive the wheels off mine, but on the road and maybe for a track day. No intention of rally or any sort of real competition. I already have a race car I am way too neck deep into to let it sit for another.
The guy i was with wanted a car he could just get in and drive, If I could have sorted a deal where he bought mine and I took the Hebden Bridge car and bits (with maybe me paying some money but taking all the risk), I think I would have done it. But the conversation just stopped.
Last edited by hollytree; 14-02-2023 at 21:00.
Has it always been like this.... as in a very long wait for a kit, or is this more of a COVID, supply chain, late 70's-early 00's cars skyrocketing in demand, thing that is happening?
I'm assuming especially in the LB case where they seem to be moving complete cars mostly, its the latter quite a bit.
Last edited by Rogue Leader; 14-02-2023 at 21:07.
No, when I bought my kit it was about a 3 month wait back in 1988. I still have it! I think there is something about the Covid comment, prior to that order books were good and LB & Hawk were taking orders. Then nobody was spending cash for a couple of years on holidays, working from home and saving cash. Plus the manufacturers were struggling because of the isolation rules. Next is the SVA/IVA effect weeding out some of the poorer quality kits out there reducing choices to the better designed/made kits, some good publicity, people actually realising how good these cars can be on the road and everything just came to a head.
I think Gerry is talking to his chassis builder to sort out supply. Gerry owns the jigs. His builder makes both the Cobra and Stratos lines so there may be an opportunity to find a second fabricator. In the meantime, he'll still be taking orders for the "tin cars" but they're another league in terms of cost. Watch this space for developments
Guy
Ok great, will do that. At this point all I can do is look around a bit and wait.
Speaking on behalf of LB then it is a combination of all of the above.
The LB order list had got rather long before Covid ever came along and staff levels had also been increased accordingly to help cope with demand.
Then Covid came along and staff were put on furlough etc which clearly didn't help production.
Upon the return to work then half the staff then decided that they preferred to be paid to sit at home and do nothing and didn't actually need to work so that among with a few other staff scenarios halved the staff levels instantly.
New staff after covid were then hard to find partly because of our geographic location but also because no one wanted to actually work anymore. This seems to be a fairly common theme when you talk to other companies as well.
With less staff and still a significant order book, the new found supply chain issues & then Brexit thrown in to the mix as well has to have a negative affect on how things operate.
LB have always offered in house builds and because of some of the press received over the years then there has always been a strong demand for turn key or turn key minus projects, maybe from markets where kits aren't a familiar thing.
In reality some of the orders being processed currently are actually still kit based but the majority are now turn key or turn key minus.
There are arguments either way but because of the comprehensive nature of the LB kit mated to the supply chain issues brought about by Covid and Brexit then the parts availability for inhouse builds is currently more controllable than it is for kit supply. A prime example for us is wiring looms, since covid our previous supplier simply couldn't supply, we couldn't then find an alternative supplier who could get remotely near the price so we ended up tooling up & building the harnesses in house.
With the reduced staff levels we have we can make approx 10-12 looms a year when combined with other jobs which works well for inhouse builds but the demand for kits is much higher so we couldn't match those demands and also those of the inhouse builds as well. If we haven't got a wiring loom for an in house build we can simply move onto another element of the build or move on to a different car. The home builder cannot do this so his build would stall and that creates an issue.
With shipping costs having gone through the roof recently as well then it is also simply not viable to be posting follow on items out at a later date especially globally as parts then come back into stock.
Sorry for the essay
Craig
Last edited by Strat Fan; 14-02-2023 at 23:50.
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