HIQ, my view is the dealer network can be a good thing (localized support, more likely to facilitate an impulse buy, be able to touch and feel product), it can also be a not so good thing (manufacturer has to give up some margin to pay the "reseller", they cannot totally control the behavior of these resellers, you could have subpar resellers). On the other hand, you can do a direct model which is working well for many of the replica manufacturers (Kirkham, Unique are two that I know of personally). Once you have product out on the streets, your customers in essence are roaming "salespeople" if they are happy and expose their car to potential other replica buyers.
You control the sales message, more price flexibility if needed, customer can see assembly line if they visit. Airfare is fairly cheap nowadays. I want this to be non-brand specific, but there are certain cities that even incent airline travel so people can gamble
. Each has it's merits depending on how much scale the manufacturer needs and the size of market they want to serve. There are probably REAL Go to Market experts here, and certainly many people in the auto retail business, but I do not view the lack of a dealer network neccessarily as a disadvantage, especially IF you could create a product that is so competitively positioned, it is a no brainer for a buyer to choose over the competition.