Posted on

To Cork or Not to Cork?

Wine Collector - To Cork or Not to Cork

To Cork or Not to Cork?

Editor’s Note: The following article was written by my brother, the Wine Collector (his wine cellar is probably worth more than my garage). The Wine Collector is a bit of a car enthusiast himself and he has owned a Ferrari 430 Spider for many years.

Do screw cap wines and supercars go together?

You don’t buy a Ferrari or a McLaren to leave it in the garage. You buy them with the dream of driving them through the countryside with a lovely lady in the passenger seat on your way to a delightful afternoon picnic. Yes, I used the word delightful as some things in the world should be. If all goes well, this lovely lady will marvel at your ability to harness the athleticism of your car and enjoy the wonderful picnic you’ve packed. However, will she marvel at your ability to choose a wine if you pull a screw capped bottle out of the trunk for the picnic?
When you go to the wine store these days, you’ll notice an ever increasing lineup of wines with non-traditional enclosures, which is the $5 lingo for screw caps, synthetic corks, and the like. In browsing the wines from New Zealand these days, you’d almost think that there was a law banning corks altogether. Either that, or Thunderbird and Night Train have left a lasting impression on the islanders. If you walk over to the Bordeaux section, you’ll see that nothing’s changed—wooden stoppers for everyone. The Bordelaise won’t even consider synthetic corks, which would be considered a baby step in the world of alternative wine enclosures.

So, who’s right? Wine Spectator, in its issue back on March 31, 2005 issue, held “The Great Cork Debate,” in which two of its senior editors James Suckling and James Laube debated the pros and cons of natural cork and screw caps. Why did they even consider debating the merits of age-old cork? Because natural cork can contain a chemical called TCA (2,4,6-trichloroanisole), which in a few parts per trillion (yeah, trillion) can impart a musty, moldy odor and taste to wine that makes your $400 bottle of Latour taste like, well, Latrash. And “corked” wine is everywhere, from the cheap stuff to the really good stuff. There are estimates that somewhere between 1% and 10% of wines are tainted by a bad cork. If you’ve ever had a wine that tasted musty and like a damp basement, chances are that it was corked. I wish that I could tell you that I am a master sommelier, able to taste blind and pick out the 2001 Peby Faugères from the 2004 Lynsolence, but alas, that is not my skill. And yes, I did throw out two lesser known Bordeaux to sound snooty, because if you can’t tell the difference then you should memorize it. My true wine tasting expertise is in detecting TCA, and if there is any of it in a bottle, it jumps right out at me and ruins the wine to the point where it is absolutely undrinkable. My superpower is in sniffing out the bad stuff.

How bad can TCA taint be? Cayuse Vineyards, an Oregon winery, pulled almost all of their 2015 vintage due to cork taint, and now the winery’s insurance company is suing the cork manufacturer for damages. $3.5m in damages according to Wine Spectator. This begs the question—is the value of having some wooden bark keeping a bottle stopped up worth risking the wine itself?

Back in 2005 the readers of Wine Spectator voted on the issue, and 80% of the readers chose natural corks as the only way to go, while 18% believed that screw caps were a viable alternative. The other 2% were likely too stewed after reading the articles and trying variously enclosed wines to make up their minds. While it would be easy to side with the 80% who turned a blind eye towards screw caps and rail against change, and while it would be fun to join the 18% that scoff at the wooden Luddites, I’m going to pull a John Kerry and vote both ways, or rather join the 2% who were a little too sloppy to make a clear choice. While it’s always nice to make clear cut decisions, I don’t believe that one can be made concerning how all your wines should be enclosed. In fact, I believe that the type of wine ultimately decides what types of enclosures are most appropriate for it.
In order to determine the best wine enclosure, we need to recognize that the overwhelming majority of wines that are made are meant to be drunk in the first few years of their release, which means that they are not meant to be cellared or aged. Do you cellar Yellow Tail? No. In fact, it’s illegal to do so (or should be). Most whites, and in fact most reds you buy are ready to drink and were not built with the structure to age, which in a nutshell requires the appropriate levels of acidity and fruit in whites, and the appropriate balance of fruit, acidity, and tannins in reds. We seal these ready-to-drink wines up so that they don’t oxidize, evaporate, or get affected by the elements. What we want from them is quality and predictability.

For the much smaller group of cellar-worthy wines, the equation is more complex. As wines change, they go through a series of chemical changes that alters their character. With red wines, the tannin compounds first become more complex, linking themselves together to form ever longer chains, after which they begin to bind with the pigment of the wine and sediment out (which is why old wines have more sediment and less color than young wines, and why really, really old reds have little to no color). And this is just one of the myriad things that goes on in the bottle as the wine ages. For this long, complicated process, natural cork allows the bottle to “breathe”, slowly exchanging air with the outside world to aid the ageing process. We know that natural cork has worked extremely well in this regard, which is why the 1959 Chateau Margaux is so good, and why people will kill for ’47 Cheval Blanc. Who would want to tamper with this? Sure, screw caps may be better for this, but who’s willing to bet their wines and a big hunk of their life to find out? What happens if you open up your 2000 Chateau Lafite Rothschild that was closed with a screw cap thirty years from now to find out that it hasn’t really matured because the screw cap interfered with the ageing process by not allowing the wine to breathe?

In short, why risk tampering with an ageing process that we know works well? Furthermore, why risk paying $40 for a bottle of wine that you’re going to open next week to find out it’s corked? So, in my opinion, the stuff that’s going to be aged should get a very high quality natural cork that’s been checked, double checked, and triple checked for TCA, and the stuff that’s imminently going to be quaffed should get the screw cap. Sure, twisting off the screw cap is not as romantic as popping the cork, but if you’re really looking to be romantic, you should be breaking out the really good stuff anyway. After all, you are driving a Ferrari to this picnic. And if the lovely lady already knows that you are a man of substance as well as a man of style, don’t be afraid to bring a screw capped bottle and tell her all about the great cork debate.

Thoughts and comments? Please see the comments section below.

Also please share, buttons are below

 

Follow us on

Instagram Twitter
March 2020

Share Now

Recent Posts

Posted on

Supercar Market Update – Q4 2019

Supercar Market Update – Q4 2019

Supercar Market Update – Q4 2019

Following up on the Q3 car market article (Car Market Q3 2019), I’ve continued to track the Ferrari F355, Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona, and the Porsche Carrera GT, as I believe these are good bellwethers for the market in general.  On occasion, I also take a glance at Koenigseggs, the McLaren P1, and the Special Series Ferraris out of personal interest.  It’s wasn’t too long ago the F355 Spiders were regularly selling in the $90-100k range and market experts were predicting Daytona would be $1 mil cars.  The one car that has held steady in value is the Carrera GT.  CGTs have been rock solid in the $700k range for the past year.  

A few Q4 results of interest are:

NA Mile 1973 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona, Sold $484k

6k Mile 1970 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona, Not Sold at High Bid $700k

NA Mile 1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona, Not Sold at High Bid $500k

2k  Mile  2004 Porsche Carrera GT, Not Sold at High Bid of $735k

36k Mile 1995 Ferrari F355 GTS 6-Speed, Sold $48k 

33k Mile 1996 Ferrari F355 Spider 6-Speed, Sold $76k

26k Mile 1996 Ferrari F355 Spider 6-Speed, Not Sold at a High Bid $45k

600 Mile 2014 McLaren P1, Sold $1.27 mil

1,200 Mile 2015 McLaren P1, Sold $1.12 mil

175 Mile 2015 Porsche 918, Not Sold at a High Bid $1.05 mil

700 Mile 2015 Porsche 918, Not Sold at a High Bid $875k 

550 Mile 2015 Ferrari LaFerrari Sold $2.2 mil

1,200 Mile 2014 Ferrari LaFerrari, Sold $2.3 mil

2,700 Mile 2014 Koenigsegg Agera R Sold $1.35 mil

Which are very consistent with the trajectories seen in Q3.

If the speculators weren’t gone before, they have certainly left the building now. The last generation of limited edition hypercars (No Longer the New New Thing) are yesterday’s news.  In fact, both the McLaren P1 and Porsche 918 are now changing hands below their original list prices.  The people buying supercars today are collectors and enthusiasts.  The collectors only want the best low mileage examples and the enthusiasts want cars they can actually use, enjoy, and afford to keep on the road.  For this second group maintenance and running costs do matter.  A $120K+ battery replacement on a McLaren P1 or a $8k cambelt change on a Ferrari F355 are significant expenses that impact values.  Demographic shifts are also playing a role as the younger generation entering the market has been raised on cars with plenty of driver’s aids and only two pedals to navigate.  It’s pretty easy to put in an impressive lap time in a Ferrari 488 Pista after just a couple of hours out on a track.  Try pushing an F40 to the limits after just a few laps behind the wheel and it is likely to end in (expensive) tears.   

When looking at the each of these cars, different factors are impacting values.  Of all the cars listed above, the Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona wins the award for most demanding to drive, by a considerable margin.  If many of the 50’s classics can be described as “tractors to drive”, by the late 60’s they had evolved to slightly more driver friendly “trucks”.  If trying to navigate a Daytona around town is a full upper body work out, getting a Daytona to slow down sufficiently when entering that town can be an underwear soiling experience ( Driving a Daytona ).  Not too long ago a lot of speculators scooped up Daytona’s expecting them to be the next $ 1million Ferrari.  When that didn’t happen, a lot of these cars started reappearing on the market with the odometer having barely, if at all, moved.  Sellers outnumbered buyers and prices started dropping.  The number of Daytona “no sales” at auctions over the last several years is exceptional high and that trend has continued in the last several quarters.  For today’s coming of age enthusiast, the Daytona is ancient history and not the car they lusted after in their youth.  About two years ago I expected Daytona’s to retreat back from $700k to $500k.  Recent results are already under the $500k level and I would not be surprised if Daytona’s drop to $400k in 2020.  

Much to my chagrin, as the Carrera GT has been high on my bucket list for several years now (Garage Goals), Carrera GT values are holding steady.  Many of the same factors that have been driving Daytona prices south, have been supporting Carrera GT values so far.  CGTs are the cars that the new generation of buyers lusted after in their youth.  New tire technology has made CGTs significantly more drivable and a track outing is far less likely now to end in a life insurance payout.  Where I do see a bit of a disconnect with the CGT though is between its reputation as being one of the greatest driver’s cars and the fact that of the 11 CGTs currently listed for sale in the US, 4 have under 1,000 miles on the odometer and only one has more than 5k miles.  Even the highest mileage car listed, at 7,134 miles works out to an average of under 500 miles per year.  If I look at Ferrari Enzos, which are a similar age, 3 out of the 5 sold at auction this year are well over 5k miles. Whereas many Ferrari owners are very sensitive about putting miles on their cars, Porsche owners tend to be the opposite.  The question therefore is why, if CGTs are such great driver’s cars, are so many not getting driven?  My guess is these ultra-low mileage CGTs were purchased as investments and now that it’s clear that prices have stabilized, those owners want out.  Question is are these owner’s patient enough to ensure that demand and supply stay balanced or do a flood of low mile CGTs now hit the market driving price back to 2014 levels?

I believe the Ferrari F355 is today’s “starter” Ferrari (Our 1st Ferrari).  With prices continuing to slowly recede into the $40-50k range, the F355 is just a bit over half the price of a new Porsche 718 Boxster.  The F355 is modern enough so the learning curve is short, and it’s got enough drivers aids to provide a decent level of comfort for the less experienced supercar driver.  The F355 is usable car by supercar standards with enough luggage room for a multiday trip which certainly aids in its appeal.  It doesn’t hurt that the F355 is one of the prettiest Ferraris to ever emerge from Pininfarina’s pen.  Given Ferrari built over 10,000 F355s there are always plenty for sale and a strong community of owners who can be called upon for support.  F355 prices will also be held down by very high maintenance costs.  Cambelt changes every four years and a long list of known issues will always make this an expensive Ferrari to own. My guess is F355s are now well priced and will hold around current prices.

Koenigseggs have operated in a very different value universe for multiple years now.  In less than a decade Koenigseggs have gone from little known to quite famous.  Prices on their new cars have risen astronomically and they have developed quite a following.  In the recent past, Koenigesgg has gone to considerable lengths to make sure it’s cars sold at or above estimates (Car Market Q3 2019) when one has shown up at auction.  I’ve also seen a number of used Koenigseggs move from dealer to dealer with ever inflating prices so what they are really worth to a buyer who actually is interested in owning and driving one, is hard to tell.  However, recently a 2,700 mile 2014 Koenigsegg Agera R was sold at auction for $1.35 mil. (vs. an estimate of $2-2.5 mil).  The original list price on an Agera R was $2.1 mil. Assuming this car was still owned by the first owner and with a few options thrown in he paid around $2.2 – $2.4 mil, each of the 2,700 miles driven came at a cost of $315.  In terms of depreciation percentage, not only has my McLaren 650S Spider done better but when compared to other similar age hypercars (P1, 918, LaFerrari), this Agera R is by far the worst performer in terms of holding value.  The question is does this result finally pop the bubble and put Koenigsegg’s whole inflationary pricing strategy at risk.  

In summary, the Porsche Carrera GT is at a potentially interesting inflection point. Prices may continue to hold, or a modest drop may be in the not too distant future if many of the “investment” acquisitions of the 2012-2016 era are dropped back into the market. Both the Ferrari 365 GTB/4 “Daytona” and the F355 rode the market up in 2013-2016 and while the F355 has more or less settled, the Daytona will likely still fall further. Koenigseggs prices might have just had their Titanic moment, with a large hole now ripped in the side of their pricing strategy. 2020 will certainly be an interesting year.

Thoughts and comments? Please see the comments section below.

Also please share, buttons are below.

 

Follow us on

Instagram Twitter
December 2019

Share Now

Recent Posts

Posted on

McLaren 720S Spider vs. the McLaren Senna

Wine Collector McLaren 720S Spider vs. the Senna

McLaren 720S Spider vs. the McLaren Senna

Editor’s Note: The following article was written by my brother, the Wine Collector (his high security well armored wine cellar is probably worth more than my garage), after our annual Thanksgiving gathering.  Every year our families get together, and when we are hosting it, the festivities always include a number of drives.  The Wine Collector is a bit of a car enthusiast himself and he has owned a Ferrari 430 Spider for many years.

Siblings have hobbies. Some collect stamps. Others collect wine, or even worse, vinyl. I am fortunate that my brother, the Secret Supercar Owner (yes, that is his given name) is a car enthusiast, and he likes to share. Over the Thanksgiving holiday we enjoyed a number of drives on windy country roads and I was fortunate to have the opportunity to spend time in the McLaren 720S Spider as well as the Senna, and my impressions of these cars follows.

First, let’s start with the720S Spider, which makes sense given that the Senna evolved from the 720S platform. With a twin-turbo 4.0 liter v8 engine that delivers 710 horsepower and 568 pound-feet of torque, the 720S Spider has more than enough oomph to get you there, wherever that there may be. In fact, if “there” just happens to be 60 mph, it will get you there in 2.8 seconds. Its 7 gears are accessible through a smooth-as-silk and lightning fast dual clutch transmission. In fact, you will cycle up and down through the gears without reason just to feel how fast and smooth they are. The transmission is a masterpiece. And the brakes? Big. These carbon ceramic bad boys are big and bitey, just like you want them to be. As a driver, your sight lines are full and generous, the heated seats welcoming (especially on the cold November days I drove it), and I love that the face that McLaren has always separated transmission responsiveness from suspension responsiveness through separate controls so that you can dial in the perfect combination for your drive. While driving, the ambient light moon roof glazed in a lovely blue makes you feel like you stole an alien space ship and are driving it around earth on “blend in with humans” mode. And yes, there is carbon fiber everywhere, which is what you expect with all McLarens.

And driving the 720S Spider is a blast. Stomp on the gas and you feel the car quickly rev to about 4500 rpm and then launch as it hits the sweet spot of the engine’s power. At this point you involuntarily bark out words of excitement, joy, and trepidation as you now know what it feels like to be a fighter pilot. “Holy sh!t,” Top Gun baby. While the engine gives you the ride of your life, the suspension provides a beautiful balance of road feel and smoothness that makes you feel that you are master of the asphalt. New England’s blacktop surface variations are ironed out just enough by the suspension’s Comfort setting that you can really focus on driving. It enters turns beautifully and balanced between front and rear axles even after a short pump on the brakes. The 720S Spider is fun as hell to drive, but easy to drive at the same time. It excites, but not exhausts.

If I were to nitpick the car, I would say that the digital dashboard, which is angled away from the driver, requires an additional lens for those of us who wear bifocals as the control displays are just out of reading range but too close for far-away vision. Who cares? Well, I’m guessing most folks who can afford this car are not in their 20s and likely utilize some vision assistance. But as a counterpoint, forget about the dashboard because this car has cyborg mode straight out of Battlestar Galactica. I’m sure that’s not what they call it, but I’m not one to read the manual. However I’m sure this name is better than whatever they came up with. Hit the cyborg button to the left of the dash and the whole dash pivots on a 90 degree axis to present you with what you really need—speed, tach, and little else. And it’s readable! Cyborg mode is what this car’s all about.

Another nitpick would be that it’s almost a travesty that the 720S Spider has an automatic mode. In fact, the first thing you should do when entering the car is hit the Active button and switch the gearbox to manual. The first time driving the car I couldn’t get the car into manual mode and called my brother in a panic. The car had me in 5th gear at 30 mph and it was about to make me cry. This car wants to be at 4500 rpm, and you’ll want it there too. After all, you’ll still have 3000 rpm to go have fun with. Also, why did they ever make a coupe version of this car? This Spider is everything you want in a car, and McLaren’s carbon fiber tubs give you all the rigidity needed, with nothing but the sky above to boot. Perhaps McLaren’s thing should be to make only Spiders.

Despite its power and performance, the 720S Spider would make a wonderful daily driver. An expensive one, but a wonderful one at that. Its performance exhilarates, but its refined nature does not scream, “take me to the track where I can punish you.” That’s what the Senna is for.

The McLaren Senna, with its modified version of the 720s’s engine, produces 789 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque. It also has 7 gears with a beautiful dual-clutch transmission, but this is where the similarities end. Whereas the 720S Spider is a beautiful car to drive in a whole variety of conditions (and thus is a candidate for the daily driver), the Senna is a cat on meth.

As to first impressions, the front windshield provides ample views of your surroundings. The side windows only open with the bottom 1/3rd, letting you know that this car is not really a road car. It is a racecar draped in carbon fiber with a license plate attached. Tinted glass covering the bottom half of the doors graciously shows you how fast you are going at street level, and what the road rash would feel like. The rearview mirror provides a tunnel vision of what’s going on behind you, with the engine cover being the most prominent feature you see when you look behind. It’s McLaren’s way of saying, “why are you looking behind when you can pass everything on the road? And why are you on a road anyway?” The harness fastener tucked into the center of the carbon fiber seat reads, “for track use only,” but perhaps instead the standard seatbelt should display the warning, “only for use when on a road.”

Driving the Senna is different. Speed metal vs. hard rock different. The taught steering of the Senna leaves you feeling every part of the road, and this high-strung attitude delivers the feeling that minor swales in the New England roadscape could fling you off road. Yes, the downforce of this beast leaves you confident that this won’t happen, but the driving experience of the Senna is the most visceral experience you will have on the road. Ever. Punch through 4500 rpm and all hell breaks loose. You feel the tires bite into the road and every pebble kicked into the wheel wells sounds like you’re taking on fire. The Senna is a track car, plain and simple, and it begs to be there with every rev of its engine. I loved my time behind the wheel of this car but driving the Senna on a road is merely aspirational and will never let you experience what this car truly is about. For that you need a racetrack. It demands to be let loose and scream like a Banshee as it hurtles down the blacktop.

Can you compare the 720S Spider and the Senna? Even though they are close cousins, I would say no. One went to Eaton, the other to gladiator school, and both graduated top of their class. I would happily drive the 720S Spider every day and relish in its outlandish yet balanced performance, and wish I had a track in my back yard to let off steam with the wild-child Senna when I got home from work. They are both masters of their respective domains.

Thoughts and comments? Please see the comments section below.

Also please share, buttons are below. 

Follow us on

Instagram Twitter
December 2019

Share Now

Recent Posts

Posted on

Micro Supercar & Hypercar Manufacturers

Views on the Micro Manufacture

Micro Supercar & Hypercar Manufacturers

About a month ago I posted an article on the saturation of the Hypercar Market (Too Much of a Good Thing).  In the article I mentioned a number of micro manufacturers who have jumped into the hypercar market recently including Apollo & De Tomaso, ATS, SCG, Brabham, and Gordon Murray Automotive.  In that article I picked the winners and losers in terms of the cars that had been announced.  Subsequent discussions with a number of friends moved the conversation from the specific cars to the Companies behind the announcements.  While it is all very subjective, we did agree for any of these to be successful it would take not only producing a great car but also having the right combination of financial backing, great marketing, service/ownership support, and a viable future vision.

Starting with Apollo & De Tomaso (both owned by the Hong Kong based investment fund Ideal Team Ventures) and looking at the above criteria, I would guess in term of finances, they do have the backing in place be successful.  The marketing behind the De Tomaso P72 launch has been impressive and the Apollo Intensa Emozione has recieved good press although I haven’t seen any reviews on how it actually drives.  Based on the AMG & SCG roots of the team that developed the Apollo IE, I would imagine it lives up to expectations, as it should given the $2.7 mil price tag.  While the Apollo IE likely is a great car, I was really disappointed by the De Tomaso P72 when I saw it up close.  I was expecting a modern version of the Dino, small light and sexy.  Instead it looked like the Dino’s supersized 2nd cousin twice removed.  While the IE is powered by a Ferrari V12, the P72 is getting a Supercharged Ford V8.  While I’m sure the Ford engine has impressive performance numbers, it’s just not what I want to see in a $850k car, regardless of whatever long dead legacy De Tomaso had of using Ford engines.  I haven’t heard anything about Apollo’s or De Tomaso’s future plans so I would guess its wait and see based on how the P72 sells.  While I can possibly see a future for Apollo as a very niche micro manufacturer of very limited edition hypercars that give’s Koenigsegg a run for its money, I don’t see much of a future for De Tomaso in what is becoming very crowded hypercar market selling what feels a bit like a budget P

Moving onto Brabham, in full disclosure, I do know and quite like David Brabham. He is a terrific gentleman and one of the finest race car drivers of his generation. Another race car driver that I have meet a few times, told me that David is one of those rare drivers who just makes everyone on the team that much better. All of this is reflected in both Brabham Automotive and their launch car, the BT62. The BT62 was launched as a track only car with a road conversion being offered only much later. Following that Brabham came back with a race ready BT62 Competition Spec which is not at all surprising as its competition that is Brabham’s main focus. Unlike the other small manufacturers, Brabham is really geared to be a race team that builds its own cars (and sells a few to clients) rather than a car manufacturer that happens to also go racing. This is very much in line with the same philosophy as the originally Brabham racing team where Jack Brabham both built, raced, and won in his own cars. As Brabham’s main marketing will come by “winning on Sunday”, the only question is do they have financial resources needed to be successful when the Brabham name returns to the grid at Le Mans in 2022?

Of the five, the one I give the least chance of success to is ATS (Automobili Turismo e Sport). In its first life from 1962-1965, ATS built 12 poorly reviewed road cars, the 2500 GT, and one Formula 1 car that was referred to a “ghastly mess”. Why anyone would want to exhume this cold dead worm-eaten corpse is beyond me. However, in line with the brilliance of its first incarnation, for this 2nd go around for ATS is planning to build another 12 ATS GTs. The new ATS GT is basically a reskinned McLaren 650S for 4x the price. It’s akin to reviving Yugo and having them rebody VW Golfs and sell them for $120k each. Having seen pictures of the ATS GT, I would much rather have a base McLaren 650S. The only remaining question in my mind is if the 2ndincarnation of ATS will last as long as the first?

In terms of name recognition in the supercar world, Gordon Murray has to be in the top 3. If he never lifted a drafting pencil to paper again after the McLaren F1, he would still be worshipped as an automotive demi-god by just about all. With a legacy like that, I do find it surprising that he is putting it on the line for a second act. The first time around he had both the financial backing and technical resources of one of the most successful Formula 1 teams of that era. While I don’t know what his financial backing is, given the size of the deposit being requested on the $3.2 million T.50, it does seem like a lot of the car’s development costs will be covered by the eventual owners. While there is involvement of a Formula 1 Team in the T.50s development, Racing Point is not McLaren. In addition, other than a partnership announced with Canepa in California, customer support for the T.50 looks to be extremely limited and any major issues in markets ex US will likely involve having to ship the car back to the factory in the UK. What the future vision for Gordon Murray Design is also a question given Gordon is already 8 years older than most people when they hit mandatory retirement age. At the end of the day, do I believe Gordon Murray Design has the capabilities to produce a great car, probably but what the ownership support and experience will look like a few years down the road is very hazy.

Last but certainly not least is Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus (The Ambitious Plans of SCG).  To be honest, I do have a bit of a bias here as we have a SCG 004S on order.  However, if I try to be impartial and judge SCG on the criterial delivering a great car, strength of financial backing, great marketing, and a future vision I do believe they have a very strong case on all.  To start with SCG is the only one of the Micro Manufacturers that truly embraces the philosophy of “win on Sunday, sell on Monday” (where as Brabham is more “Win on Sunday, then Win again the following Sunday) as articulated in a recent tweet:

WHY WE RACE

Every model we build and sell has a road legal equivalent and Does, Has or Will race. Racing teaches us a lot. We also firmly believe, and evidence clearly confirms, that our racing sells our vehicles. We also race because we love racing and Glickenhaus does what it loves to do. @glickenhaus

As great cars are the ones that win on Sunday, and SCG has been racing its own cars since 2011 with multiple class wins, the models SCG produces should be excellent. “Winning on Sunday” also tics the highly effective marketing box. The final two criteria of financial backing and future vision are easy to answer in the case of SCG. SCG has already laid out a vision that includes five different models that will take them well into the next decade. The beginnings of a dealership network have been set up on the US East Coast so support should be in place when customer deliveries start in 2020. The factory in Danbury, Connecticut, which will produce these cars, is currently under construction. SCG is self-funded by the Glickenhaus’ so access to or dependency on outside financial backing is not an issue. SCG also already has a management succession plan in place as founder Jim Glickenhaus’ son Jesse, is the Managing Director of SCG.

As a firm believer that competition drives everyone to raise their game, all these new market entries should be great for the overall supercar & hypercar markets. However, the current oversaturation of the market, which will likely last for the next several years, making success and just basic survivability even more challenging. Of the five Micro Manufacturers reviewed, I would rate three: Brabham, Gordon Murray Design, and SCG, as likely to succeed. What all three have in common is a single visionary leader with a very clear idea of what they are trying to accomplish. In terms of the other two brand re-incarnations, I do believe they will find surviving a real challenge.

Thoughts and comments? Please see the comments section below.

Also please share, buttons are below.

 

Follow us on

Instagram Twitter
December 2019

Share Now

Recent Posts