Being from South Africa doesn't make someone Superformance

[Mike Stenhouse]

I can wear tights and a cape, but that doesn’t make me Superman. Being from South Africa doesn’t make someone Superformance.

A number of replica manufacturers have sprung up in South Africa recently, hoping I suspect to imitate the success of Superformance. Even Carroll Shelby has turned to South Africa. An interesting concept isn't it. Carroll Shelby copying Superformance.

And while imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, it is not always an easy road. Thomas Edison said that, "Genius is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration." And so it is with success. The imitators will first have to copy Superformance's game plan. Then they will have to do the hard part - the work. The game plan is easy to get. It is published in Superformance advertising. Build what the customers want - a product of superior quality delivered complete and on time at a fair price. Maintain honest and fair dealings with customers and suppliers alike. Simple, just not the norm.

The hard part is that perspiration part. Superformance has been executing their plan for ten years now. It takes a long time and a considerable investment in time and money to put the infrastructure in place to design, manufacture, distribute, sell, and service 700 complete rolling chassis a year. Superformance has done it and done it well. They have the right plan and they have consistently executed well against that plan year in and year out. They have built a substantial manufacturing capability - a 240,000 square feet facility with 630 employees - trained, skilled, and dedicated employees with an established track record for producing quality products on spec and on time. They have a worldwide network of dedicated full time single product dealers who provide both sales and service. They have a factory sponsored dealer support organization backing the dealers up with a parts warehouse and technical support. And best of all they have a substantial customer base of enthusiastic and loyal customers who love their cars and don’t mind saying so.

How do I know this? I have seen the results. I own a Superformance and have the great pleasure of living with the quality of their work for six years now. My car has 30,000+ miles on it, including 1,500+ track miles and several trips to the drags. I don’t own a trailer. I drive to the track, run it, and drive it home. I run the same stock setup on the track that I run on the street. No special tires, no special suspension pieces or settings. It is always at the head of the pack. I know it isn’t the driver so it must be the car.

Even with long miles and hard driving, the car remains as solid, tight, and reliable as the day I bought it. My wife Pat and routinely take our car on vacation, weekend road trips, and day trips. I have so much confidence in it that I would not hesitate to drive it across the country this afternoon. It is everything I could ask for - strikingly beautiful, exceptional quality and attention to detail, stunningly quick, as solid and reliable as a block of steel. Best car I have ever owned, and I’ve had some nice ones.

Having seen the factory where it was made, I can understand why. I spent two weeks in South Africa this spring with Jim Price, founder and president of Hi-Tech Automotive, the manufacturer of Superformance. I had full access to every area of the facility from design to shipping and free access to all personnel. These guys are for real. And man, are they good. No one else has had the vision to do what they have done. And no one has come anywhere close on execution. They are successful for one reason. They have earned it.

So if these imitators can find the will and the sweat and the money to spend the next ten years getting to where Superformance is today, they will still be ten years behind. Because Superformance is on the move. In terms of manufacturing capabilities, number of employees, and cars produced, the factory is three times as big as it was when I first met Jim Price in 1998. And the pace is picking up.