Hurricane is ALIVE!

[bwcobra15]

Lots of clueless commentary from the cheep seats here.

The original company was owned by two brothers that also had a software company, and decided to sell after completing about 125 kits to focus on their primary business. They didn't leave any customers hung out to dry, holding on to their deposits.

The second owners, McLaughlin Family Companies in Iowa, were not really 'car guys' and, even though they initially made great improvements to the product with input from key previous builders, they did very little to promote or market the product. Hurricane was a subsidiary of a much larger company, and in the end it was a business write off. https://mcfamco.com/product-lines/ They sold about 42 kits over about a dozen years. Thats hardly attempting to compete with Factory Five or Superformance. And, even after cutting off sales, they continued to provide parts and support to all current customers.

I wish the new owners well, and all the success in the world. At least they seem very passionate about their venture, by their social media posts.

[twobjshelbys]

Originally Posted by bwcobra15

... They sold about 42 kits over about a dozen years. ....

That's about 3 per year. I'd like to see the annual numbers though. My bet is it's front end loaded.

But like it or not, that was the demand for this product. Now if the new owners can survive on 3 a year and still run it profitably, then more power to them. But don't look to double or triple that number any time soon. The whole Cobra market TAM is dropping every year, which is why the lowest volume and lowest quality suppliers are disappearing. Now there's been some consolidation in the past few years and there may be an opportunity to sustain a 3-4 car per year business. But don't look for it to grow to 20 or even 10 which is where the volume needs to be for a manufacturing business that is not a hobby.

It's not a model for a business plan that I would invest in, so I too would like to see what business plan supports it.

I still wish them good luck.

PS. I would add with regards to updating the status on the forum that forums have been subsumed by places like Facebook. Shelby American has dropped their forum (it exists, but gets no traffic, even SAI doesn't post there any more, and only a few die hards even bother to log in, me included.) For all intents, all of Shelby (SAI, foundation, etc) are predominantly on facebook. Facebook is great for transient visitors but not for threaded or historical content where forums work best. But the days when the Shelby forum had any inkling of technical content go back to the early 2010s near the height of the GT500 when people were modding them like crazy. Now the drive-by style of Facebook suits the needs of most.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by twobjshelbys

That's about 3 per year.

No, that's 3.5, which means somebody got half a kit. Bet that guy's pissed.

[twobjshelbys]

Originally Posted by patrickt

No, that's 3.5, which means somebody got half a kit. Bet that guy's pissed.

Well in cases like this we work with whole numbers so it's really 3 some years, 4 others, but like I said, more likely it's 6 at the beginning and 1 or 2 at the end. (I think their going out of business thread said they had two they were finishing.)

Unlike some others trying to pass themselves off as manufacturers Hurricane never took someone's money and failed to deliver or used Y's money to build X's car. There is a lot to be said for that. It does say that near the end it was a passionate hobby that wasn't making money. The same thing happened with HST.

[kanuck]

Originally Posted by bwcobra15

Lots of clueless commentary from the cheep seats here.

The original company was owned by two brothers that also had a software company, and decided to sell after completing about 125 kits to focus on their primary business. They didn't leave any customers hung out to dry, holding on to their deposits.

The second owners, McLaughlin Family Companies in Iowa, were not really 'car guys' and, even though they initially made great improvements to the product with input from key previous builders, they did very little to promote or market the product. Hurricane was a subsidiary of a much larger company, and in the end it was a business write off. https://mcfamco.com/product-lines/ They sold about 42 kits over about a dozen years. Thats hardly attempting to compete with Factory Five or Superformance. And, even after cutting off sales, they continued to provide parts and support to all current customers.

I wish the new owners well, and all the success in the world. At least they seem very passionate about their venture, by their social media posts.

I looked into buying a kit twice actually, the first time the delivery time was to long, and then the second time covid hit and both times Factory Five was compared and mentioned a lot in the conversations.

[FFR428]

Originally Posted by kanuck

I looked into buying a kit twice actually, the first time the delivery time was to long, and then the second time covid hit and both times Factory Five was compared and mentioned a lot in the conversations.

I bought HM-2027 during covid. This under the 2nd owners the McLaughlin family. Very sharp people they had in metal and glass. Alec and Jake were the 2 gents that handled my kit. It took a few extra months and back ordered/missing parts quickly followed. Didn't want a FFR, been there and done that. A street car was my choice. I didn't get lost in a sea of promises and missing parts. Quite the opposite. They had quite a boom on kits ordered. Guys sitting home during covid wanting to do something it seems. The last kit sent out was HM-2040 I believe. My wait time was about 7 months including Stewart who delivered it. Just my observations. Wish the new owners Nate and Shawn all the best.