PROGRESS REPORT ROARING FORTIES, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

PROGRESS REPORT ROARING FORTIES, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA


When Robert Logan took the monumental decision to ship the Roaring Forties production from Melbourne, Australia to distant Cape Town, South Africa it was inevitable that there would be some teething troubles, delays and communication problems given that car building is a complex business and accepting the fact that a new factory had to be leased, painted, wired and that new jigs, etc, had to be made.

Robert is here for two weeks to assist with his wide knowledge of his own car and it goes without saying that he found some faults and glitches, but luckily minor and I think the term ‘fine tuning’ is appropriate.

Robert is neither a partner in nor a director of Robbie Senekal and his partner’s company, the Classic Auto Manufacturing Company (CAMCO) but has commissioned the company to build his car on a sub-contract basis.

I have joined the company on a mornings only basis, for now, and will assist Robbie with setting up the parts department, parts sourcing, cost control and assisting him with general administration and streamlining production. I’m employed directly by Robert and he will be paying my salary from Australia. On a weekly basis I’ll be E-mailing him reports and pics of progress.

Yesterday was my first day and I really enjoyed working with Robert when we started setting up the spares department and packing parts into the sealable plastic sleeves. I was amazed at how well he knows his car, in fact every nut bolt, part, procedure, etc. I say this because bosses often rely on their technical staff to know all the technical details. His build manual is the best I’ve ever seen (even better than mine, he he, he!)

Roaring Forties customers who have ordered cars can rest assured that all is now up and running smoothly. An advantage is that both Robbie and I as well as Norman Lewis who is heading up the electrical department and Keith Bright who is making the fiberglass bodies as well as all of Robbie’s staff have been around the GT40 block before with GTD/CAV space (tube) frame and non-authentic stainless steel monocoque and the Superformance authentic MK11 monocoque.

An interesting common denominator is the forces background. Robert, Royal Navy; Robbie, an RSM is the South African Defence Force; Norman Lewis, RAF; US distributor, Hershal Byrd, US Army (Vietnam vet) and police and UK distributor, Rick Chattell, is also ex-services. I’m in the petty cash league having been a police reservist (hobby bobby) in the 1980s. A most noticeable feature of people with this background is the importance of discipline, respect and punctuality.

Robert is a dead honest straight shooter who speaks his mind when he has to and for that reason it’ll be a pleasure working with him as it will be an open and transparent relationship with RF customers benefitting by purchasing high quality cars built by the Australian/South African ‘partnership.’

When I signed up on www.GT40s.com over two years ago who would ever have imagined all this, starting CAV in 1999 and ending up with a deal with the very man who motivated the creation of the website. They say that truth is often stranger than fiction!

Greetings,
Andre 40
 

Alex Hirsbrunner

Lifetime Supporter
Hello Andre, Robert & Hershal,

It would be wonderful if those weekly progress pics mentioned above (that don't expose any RF or CAMCO intellectual property) could be emailed to those of us with cars (like RF #129 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif ) currently being built in SA if our cars happen to appear in the photos.

What do you think, is this a possibility?

Thanks & Best Regards,

Al H.

P.S. That's only a suggestion. Messing with combined forces of the Royal Navy, US Army, RAF and South African Defense Force etc. is not my thing /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Thanks Andre for the post. Not that it's important, I was a Marine. AS they say once a Marine always a Marine. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Al,
Robert has told me that he will be bringing photos when he arrives here to attend Run & Gun. I will try and send out these photos to all the customers when I get them.

Hersh /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
"A most noticeable feature of people with this background is the importance of discipline, respect and punctuality."

This is VERY important to me. Lets make sure all information is disseminated to customers in a timely manner.

Ben
 

Robert Logan

Defunct Manufactuer - Old RF Company
Ben, Bill, Brad, Al, and all,

I to was not happy with the transfer of information from Cape Town to Australia. This was because they were up to their buts in alligators as I believe you say in the US (please correct me if I am wrong). I asked Andre to help with this matter and those who have been regulars on this forum will have enjoyed the many and varied posts Andre has made. Andre is a highly respected journalist in his native South Africa and is also very well known worldwide for his motor journalistic work. I also believe that he is one of the true GT40 replica "family" who has interests for the wellbeing of our industry. Last weekend I asked him to help me with the flowing of information to Australia and to put him on the Australian payroll. Andre has to send me a weekly report , with photographs, to Australia and this will be then passed on to the "expectany fathers" of the new cars. Andre was also the MD of CAV in their early days and left while that company when they were still producing the spaceframe cars. He has a great deal of experience to offer the team in Cape Town and I for one am extremely happy that he has agreed to join our team.

Regarding the progress of the cars in Cape Town, we have had a few hold-ups, in particular with the glass work. The original company tasked with producing our bodies was headed up by a guy who was one of the key personnel from CAV. He opened his own glass company and agreed to do our work. Like all new ventures he took on MORE work than he could handle (scared to say no and never get another job). This is a very common problem that many of us have experienced in our working life but it has caused me great worries. The decission to remove the work was made and now the company that do our bodies is recoginised as one of the top three in the whole of South Africa. I have spent a lot of time with the owner of the company over the last ten days and from day one he has had at least THREE of his staff on our work. The progress is great but I still do not expect the first body to appear for at least two weeks. I firmly believe that although this has been a set back regarding time , the quality of his work is nothing short of EXCEPTIONAL and all our customers will be very happy with the finished article and overall the movement of the body work is very much a positive step for Roaring Forties South Africa.

There has also been some other small areas of concern with regards to some of the work carried out on the cars under construction and ALL these matters have been corrected and I supose these can only be regarded as "fine tuning". This is my forth trip into Cape Town, my parts guy Sam has made his first trip to South Africa a month ago and will be returning here two days after I return from this trip. I hope you all can see the commitment that Roaring Forties is showing.

To Robbies credit he is proving literly everything on the cars by hand. What I mean by this is that ALL parts are being hand made to prove that they are correct and only then can they be forwarded to an outside contractor for mass production. This is the correct way of doing things engineering and again it takes time, but as I have always said "it must be right".

Regarding the company structure in South Africa, I was asked to be a partener in the venture but declined. This was done because I wanted the South African company to stand alone, for their management team to be allowed to manage without outside interference and for the company to take the profits they earned. The intelectual property and all the jigs and fittings to manufacture the RF's in South Africa belong to Roaring Forties in Australia and almost 2,000,000 Rand of my monies (including customers deposits) has already been invested in this project.

How are we going !!!!!!!

As soon as the first cars finally leave for the shores of both the UK and the US than the rest will follow on in our expected delivery of up to four cars a month but the first cars are taking the time. The critical path is now definately the delivery of the body parts and as soon as they arrive the cars will leave a few days later (kits) and a week to ten days later for the turn key cars (we have to fit and spray). We are having the dashes delivered first to get them upholstered so there are no other hold ups.

Lastly, please let me thank all those "expectant fathers" for their patience. The savings to you our customers for Roaring Forties coming to South Africa are without a doubt worth it. Things are taking a little longer than I expected and the set up costs are a lot more than I expected but the end is in sight and our prices are right.

Best wishes to you all,

Robert
 
Robert & Andre,

Thank you for the reports. You build credibility in my eyes.

I look forward to the weekly updates.

Ben
 

Alex Hirsbrunner

Lifetime Supporter
I too appreciate the update. Quality is much more important to me then a quick delivery so I couldn't agree more with Robert especially regarding patience.

BTW - It's "up to their asses in alligators" /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Al
 
This post reminds me of a visit to the factory during the build of my turnkey. The spaceframe had just arrived back from the powder coating and Robert pointed out a tiny part not done well. As this was going to be covered with paneling I told Robert not to worry as it would never be seen. No said Robert "it is going back". Thinking back I realise that what was finally delivered was as good a quality item as can be produced, and that it can take time. Be patient... Regards Norman
 

Alex Hirsbrunner

Lifetime Supporter
Hello Robert, Andre & Hershal,

I was wondering if you are able share any photos from Robert's last visit to South Africa (or newer photos)? I understand of course, that you are all surely very busy getting the first cars completed and shipped. As such, I completely understand if this is not a practical request at this time.

Thanks & Best Regards,

Al
 
It won't be long guys, I promise. I have asked Robert to come onto the forum here and give a more detailed response than I could. I do know that the ball is rolling well and there has been no setbacks since the fiberglasser change.
I believe the photos of the first two cars being fitted will be along soon.
I am greatful for your patience and I do know your wait will be worth every second.

Hersh /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 

Robert Logan

Defunct Manufactuer - Old RF Company
Hershal, and all our SA built car Owners,

I have GOOD news to pass on regarding the completion of our South African cars.

The bodywork is now being made and all moulds finished. This has taken much longer than I expected but the quality is exceptional. There were a few blemishes and other small errors that are on our moulds in Australia. These have been removed / repaired before the new moulds were made. The major problem with the GRP was that our initial company doing our work took on to much other work and the progress on Roaring Forties work slowed down to a unacceptable level. This ment that a suitable company with the correctly skilled staff with the capacity to do our work was to be found. This was imposible to find (spare capacity part anyway). The company we chose to use have a wealth of experience in the car area and associated work but their owner insisted that he prepare all the moulds . This ment that a substancial ammount of work was wasted and had to be started again. More bills !!!!!

The next major hurdle we had was that I insisted that we get 17" BRM pin drive wheels specially made for our cars. I originally intended to use the "Vintage Wheels" that you see on this forum (banners above) but they did not fit our cars and to my suprise they were unavailable for our cars. This ment that I would have to commission a new set of front and rear moulds to be made and at this point I decided that our wheels would look like the original as much as posible. This ment a lot of drawings to and from South Africa with amendment after amendment and eventually what I wanted. This takes time but I am very happy with the results (our first machined samples are to be delivered this week to Cape Town). The rest of the first four cars parts are more or less there so the hold up is bodies.

The first pair of cars are (my luck) a pair of Quick Build that are going to the UK. The reason I say my luck is that when we get the body parts (they have just started to flow), and they take a week for a car set to be made, we have to fit them. This process will take almost another week so and this is exactly where we are. The second pair of cars which are going to the USA are Turn Key cars and additional to the fitting of the bodies, they need painting and trimming. The trimmers have done the dashes and seats but need to fit carpets etc and the paint shop has been ready and waiting for weeks and weeks (as our first owners have). Once these first cars have been sent to the UK then the expected turn round time of our cars is the time to produce the bodywork. I expect to be able to send four cars from Cape Town every month.

I believe that my company has a reputation of supplying a good car. I take emense pride in that fact but I also refuse to send out a car that is not right. These first cars in South Africa have taken much longer and cost much more (never heard that before) but we are so close to the first cars leving and most importantly CORRECT.

I have some business (I am playing for my state at hockey (field) in the Australian Championships next week) and I will be in South Africa the week after that. I will be staying in South Africa for many weeks and this is to pack the first cars into the containers MYSELF. Over the last four to five months I have been breaking in a manager to run Roaring Forties Australia for me. I interviewed him in February this year but it took almost four month to get him here. Robert Sharples is his name and he has proved to be a great asset to the Australian part of our business and this has allowed me to get to South Africa to do what I need to do. To keep a close eye on what is going on over there. I have also been helped out by our friend on this forum, Andre (Andre40), who is my "eye and ears" in Cape Town while I am not there. Andre has reported on all aspects of the business and has sent me numereous photographs of the progress of all aspects. He is a great guy with a heart of gold. Andre is preparing a detailed report on the first cars and this is overdue to me and will be passed on as soon as I receive it.


The first TWELVE chassis have been built. Almost all the parts are in South Africa for the first EIGHT cars (4 in UK and 4 in USA) and the bottleneck of the bodies is all but broken.

Is this the last problem we will come across, never, I have problems appearing in Australia all to often. What we can do is ensure that we deal with the ones that come out of the blue and minimise the ones that we control.

Again I thank you all for you continued support of this VERY difficult task. The first cars are only days away and as much as all our new owners, I am also that expectant father waiting for the birth.

Best wishes to you all,

Robert
 

John B

Temp Selling Pass
Great!!! Great!!! GREAT!!!!. I'm glad my blues balls will be extinguished when I get my car. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
 

Robert Logan

Defunct Manufactuer - Old RF Company
Well, good progress over the last week. The first FIFTY wheels have been cast and photographs hopefully will be included. The first two are being sent to me , fully machined, for my comments and approval in the next few days and I will post photographs of them also.

The first body pieces are almost fitted but we are making a set of jigs to fit future cars. We were at the factory till almost midnight last evening (Friday) and I am back again today (Saturday). The quality of the body work just keeps on and on impressing me. There are many subtle differences between the South African bodies and those that we get in Australia. I am not saying that the FINISHED article differs from the Australian cars to the new South African cars but there is just so little work required to get to that standard with the South African bodies (my body guy in Australia , Jim, will be hanging out for the new moulds I have prommised him).

The main area I am working on is "processes and methods" to enable the cars to be produced at the correct time scale and to the correct quality. This is a great deal of work but in a sadistically way very rewarding !!!!!


Best wishes,

Robert
 

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John B

Temp Selling Pass
Robert,

Thanks for the update. The The little progress reports will yeild great rewards.
Looking foward to seeing the chassis photo's.

regards

Oliver/ John
 

Alex Hirsbrunner

Lifetime Supporter
Hello Robert,

Thanks very much for the photo. I'm wondering if the SA cars that are optioned with Gulf flares will receive a wider rear wheel or wider rear track to fill out the larger wheel wells. I only ask because you mentioned above that you had to commission a new set of front and rear wheel moulds, and I was not sure if that meant that a third, wider rear wheel for the Gulf cars is not (currently) available.

Thanks & Best Regards,

Al H.
 

John B

Temp Selling Pass
What ever happened to andre? The guy that was to be Roberts Eyes' and Ears.Is he still working for the company? He stated weekly progress reports and photo's? Robert just sent recent photo' but nothing....not even a thread! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/flamer.gif
 
just want to follow the thread.
BTW, it's summer holiday here now, nothing will happen until mid january.
enjoy the festive season.

dominik, cape town
 
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