New RF Company Formation

Owen C · 06-06-06, 11:05 AM

Greetings all, I am one of the team that acquired the Australian assets of Roaring Forties.
Peter H is correct, we were advised that we should get setup before we went trumpeting the return of Roaring Forties. We have been very busy shifting everything we can as fast as we can to the new premises in Heidelberg and meeting with suppliers new an old so that we can continue to supply products.
"Young Engineers” very happy to have that stick if at all possible, but we are engineers, mostly Mechanical and with significant Auto manufacturing backgrounds.

Our intentions are very simple. We are here to continue what we believe is a very good product. We will develop the car further, and by that we mean we will take notice of all the feedback we receive and apply that to our development project and include anything we think will enhance the car, this isn't a sacred cow, it like my car (RF70) will always be a work in progress.

When we decided to bid on RF we made a decision to support the existing users and to that end we have committed to see the current 50 unfinished cars here in OZ registered as a matter of priority. This is mainly due to changes in Australian Design Rules which will make 302's un-registrable in this country after Dec '07. So between now and ...Sept next year we will have to manufacture every part required to complete a car from scratch, obviously we’ll use this opportunity to build our own inventory.
We have a great deal of Automotive Production experience and we will be leveraging this to build efficiencies into the manufacturing process.

We will be sending out customer surveys shortly so that we can make contact with our client base, and to find out what they didn’t like about the old RF and ensure we don’t make the same mistakes. We will also take this opportunity to find out where everyone is at in their build and notionally allocate them in our manufacture schedule according to their build speed and priority. This will help us build production runs to ensure people get the parts they need when they need them.
As I said earlier we have been silent whilst we shifted stock, set up inventory, and had endless meetings with suppliers. We are not yet fully setup, but we thought it best to make our selves known and silence the rumour mill. Understand also that there are still legal matters pending that we cannot be drawn into at this point.

We hope this sets peoples minds at rest, I’ll be updating the RF website again shortly with additional info as well as posting to the forum.

Ron I’d be grateful if you could send us a bill or whatever you need for manufacturer subscription and we can fix you up. (I’ll even throw in another key-chain; I know how much you like them!)
We look forward to catching up with everyone soon.

Kind regards to all
Owen Connolly
PS. If you are desperate for parts please email us at sales@roaringforties.com.au and we’ll see what can be done in the interim.

Pete. · 06-07-06, 01:15 AM

Good luck with your new challenge.

Jerry · 06-07-06, 04:18 AM

Hi Owen,
Best of luck with your new RF company! youve got a fantastic product and im glad to hear that its resurected. all the best, jerry.

Allan T Knight · 06-07-06, 07:25 AM

Congratulations on your acquisition of RF guys,I wish you all the best in your new endeavour,the feeling in Australia from those that I have spoken to is certainly one of excitement,well deserved IMHO based on your combined knowledge not only in the Automotive industry but your intimate knowledge of RFGT40S. I look forward to hearing more on your future plans and continued development of what is allready an outstanding product I'm sure there will be dozens of excited RF builders with many more questions when we all catch up at the GT40S BBQ being organised by Andrew East.

Regards Allan Knight

Mark Worthington · 06-07-06, 10:01 AM

Roaring Forties produced an excellent product. It seems you recognize that and intend to raise the bar even higher. I wish you the best success.

Ron Earp · 06-07-06, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by owenc

Ron I’d be grateful if you could send us a bill or whatever you need for manufacturer subscription and we can fix you up. (I’ll even throw in another key-chain; I know how much you like them!)
We look forward to catching up with everyone soon.

Will do. I think the manufactuer forums and advertising these days, with the special Roaring Forties Discount, is about $37,000 USD, payable to Ron Earp.

Sorry, couldn't resist!

I'll get something over to you in a few days, thanks much,

Ron

Pat Buckley · 06-07-06, 03:22 PM

Owen,

I do not have a dog in this race, but something occured to me that I thought you may want to consider....

As you are aware a lot of people got the shaft because of RF going bankrupt....would it be a good idea to try and salvage that business?

I was thinking some sort of deep (50 -70%) discount or even a subsidized deal that will allow those who have been affected to at least get something for the money they have lost?

I am not sure how many people would want to continue with you....but this may be a good faith effort on your part to re-establish in the USA.....

Pat

Jonathan S · 06-07-06, 03:53 PM

It would be nice if they could do that but way too much money was lost for a low volume business such as this to absorb a significant portion of the loss. If that were not the case Logan would probably have figured out a way to stay in business.

As one of the people who lost their deposit I do have a dog in the race. I only lost a small amount and the new company probably could absorb my loss if they choose to, but others lost a significant amount and there is no way a new company could absorb the loss for any of them.

In my case and many others this is a moot point anyway. For some they lost their dream. For others such as myself we have moved on to other manufacturers. My RCR should be delivered in a few weeks. That is about 12 weeks after I placed my order. That is the level of service that any company entering this business should be shooting for.

Wheels331 · 06-07-06, 07:27 PM

After getting screwed by Robert Logan once, do you really think anybody will send their hard earned money out of the country again? I would think everybody interested in these cars knows what happened,and the new company will probably hope to live off the Aus. business because that's probably all they will ever get,probably for 5-10 years,as people remember when they get the shaft for a long time.To get any US customers they will have to have a lot of foolproof methods to prove to people they will actually get a car.The only way I see ,is to take no money until the car is delivered to the buyer in what ever country it's going to.Just my biased thoughts.

Alex Hirsbrunner · 06-07-06, 09:16 PM

When I initially ordered my RF, I was apprehensive about sending what to me was a large sum of money out of the country. And that was to a company that had already produced dozens of cars. Even without the recent "Robert Logan experience", I doubt I would have considered ordering a car from a new manufacturer in Australia from the US. Now it would simply be out of the question for me.

I do hope the "New RF" is successful as it will help re-establish the reputation of the entire GT40 industry, and I don't believe they owe me a single cent of the $32K of my family's money that went to Robert Logan (that is unless Robert or his wife all of a sudden show up as a previously undisclosed owner of the new company).

My "new" car was delivered yesterday by RCR in 12 weeks - that's from writing the check to it being in my garage (and includes a week of waiting for the transport company to be able to get a truck allocated for shipping). That alone is going to be tough to beat for US customers.

Al

Dave S · 06-08-06, 06:43 AM

Owen IMHO I can't help but think your first post was a little
insensative to those that lost a lot of money.

I will probably get flammed but thats the way I read it.

Jonathan S · 06-08-06, 07:21 AM

Dave, I'm not flaming you but I did not feel like Owen was being insensitive and I am someone who lost money. They are a new group trying to start a business. They have every right to try and make money by selling cars. I wish them luck.

In a way we those of us who lost money benefit from them purchasing RF. The proceeds from the sale go to paying off RF creditors. The only problem is that the assets may not go to anyone but the lawyers since the debt far exceeded the value of the assets. I personally doubt that I will see much more than a few cents on the dollar returned.

40 Bud · 06-08-06, 02:44 PM

Owen, all the best in getting The company up and running. I own a 17 year old GTD and almost sold it to buy an RF40 when Robert was in the process of setting up in South Africa. I love my GTD and enjoy it on the race track and touring. When I twice visited Dromana, I was very impressed with the product quality. The old RF customers should be very happy that the line will continue and that they will have support. I feel sorry for those who lost their money. Bad things happen - however it has nothing to do with you or the product and I am glad to see it continued.

Owen C · 06-08-06, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ron Earp

Will do. I think the manufactuer forums and advertising these days, with the special Roaring Forties Discount, is about $37,000 USD, payable to Ron Earp.

Sorry, couldn't resist!

I'll get something over to you in a few days, thanks much,

Ron

Ok , how about 2 key chains and Ford GT pin!

Ron Earp · 06-08-06, 08:55 PM

Let's see, that would probably cover it! The last keychain I got was worth about $17,000, have two of them, so yeah, that would add up.

Mitch D · 06-09-06, 12:33 AM

Welcome to the forum, Owen.

I have a direct question - Do you or your colleagues have any relationship with Robert Logan and/or his wife?

Mitch D

JackW · 06-09-06, 02:14 AM

I can't imagine they would admit to being associated with Robert Logan. None the less Owen, it is great to see the Roaring Forties product back out there. Good luck in the future. You might here from me in the next year or 2 when the MBA is complete.

Some suggestions for improvement - having the LeMans style grills embedded into the body a'la Bob Childress 's CAV instead of screwed in. Same goes for the headlight covers and side windows. If they could be placed on without the need to have screws showing it would give the car a much more professional look. Alternatively, I could just bugger off until i am ready to make a purchase.

Once again, best of luck.

Jack

Jim c · 06-09-06, 04:50 AM

Owen

I own an RF & feel it is a good product.
I wish the new RF all the best for the future.

Jim C

Owen C · 06-09-06, 06:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdemyanek

Welcome to the forum, Owen.

I have a direct question - Do you or your colleagues have any relationship with Robert Logan and/or his wife?

Mitch D

Direct Answer - No!

ChrisL · 06-09-06, 07:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JackW

Same goes for the headlight covers and side windows. If they could be placed on without the need to have screws showing it would give the car a much more professional look. Jack

Jack, far from looking unprofessional, I think that the exposed screw look is quite desirable. If you look at the headlight surrounds of the earlier Pagani Zonda you'll find that they agree with me too. You’ll also find them surrounding the fuel filler of the Elise and Audi TT, the Merc SLK bumpers (actually they are fakes), the driving lights of the Falcon GT, endless steering wheel and gauge surrounds... its just a great look on a sports car when done properly in my opinion.

Sorry to Hijack your thread Owen... back to you.