Kirkham Marketing Experiment

[David Kirkham]

Fellow Car Nuts:

We were very interested in the poll we last conducted on the site here so we decided to conduct an experiment. This is just an experiment.

We have placed this Hybrid on eBay as an experiment. (We are always trying new things to see what works.)

The car is placed on eBay with a "BUY IT NOW" price of $39,900. The opening bid is for $39,900 so whoever bids first will win the auction.

The car is almost a complete roller. We left the radiator, differential, and 1/2 shafts out of the car because someone has to choose which radiator they want (289 or 427) and which differential they want (so people could decide Jaguar or aluminum). That should get us to the 42K price we talked about a week or so about on another thread.

What do you guys think?

Here is the link to the ebay auction.

Hybrid eBay Experiment

Good luck 1st guy wins.

David

[mrmustang]

OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


If I only had the cash.................


Bill S.

[Bill Wells]

uhhh david, an oops in your adv. while the text prominently says NO drivetrain, the description at the top of the listing says "8 - cyl " for "engine", inferring it has one...just so ya know, ya might want to delete that top of the adv reference due to our litigous society :

Description

Replica/Kit Makes : Modified Hybrid
Kirkham Aluminum Modified Hybrid


Miles: 0 Doors: 2 doors
Transmission: Manual Interior: Black
Engine: 8 - Cyl. Year: 1965
Warranty: No Title: Other
Exterior: Other Color Condition: New

[David Kirkham]

Bill,

Many thanks for your comments.

In order to put a car on eBay, you have to list the number of cylinders the car has. All of our adds thus for for all of the cars we have put on eBay have listed the car as 8 cylinder. The text of the ad says there is no engine/transmission/differential in the car.

Unfortunately, the only options eBay allows you to choose are

4 cylinder
6 cylinder
8 cylinder
10 cylinder
12 cylinder

I guess whoever finally puts an engine in it will undoubtedly put in an 8 cylinder. I am sure there are people who have sold cars on eBay before without engines in them. I wonder what they do.

Also, eBay does not allow you to leave the option blank. I guess we will have to put a disclaimer note on the bottom of all of our future sales. Thanks for looking out for us.

Bill,

Let's make a deal; there must be something we can work out!

David

[CSX 4039]

Are the front fender flairs bigger than usual?
Interesting idea. Congrats.

Quote-
"Take a look under that breath-taking, hand-sculpted, aluminum body, and you'll find nothing but the internals of the legendary Kirkham 427. This frame will take all the power you can feed it and stay rock solid as you dance through the slalom course".

Legendary already? Wow. Lets not get TOO carried away....

[Bill Wells]

david. ah so...a victim of someone else's rules ! as i said before, at least the NO DRIVETRAIN detail was prominent in the listing. i have never listed a car on ebay so have not gone thru the prompts and choices. bill.

[David Kirkham]

Brett,

Yes, I did proof read the description...but I didn't write it. Oh well, my brother, Steve, does get colorful sometimes. Nevertheless, the suspension is quite cool.

Yes, the front flares are quite a bit bigger than the original car. Everyone just seems to want bigger and bigger and bigger tires. The car looks really nice with the really big flares in the rear end. I wanted to try a bigger gas tank because there are LONG stretches out here without a gas station. I was just wondering what everyone thought of this model.

I personally like the looks of the 289 forward-facing roll bar and the welded in hood scoop.

As for the idea...it is just an idea. We don't know where this will take us--I guess we will see.

David

[CSX 4039]

what do the front flares look like in person?

BTW- thanks for laughing with me, not attacking. Heck, you may yet reach legendary!

Did you ever come out with the spoke wheel 289 street car with bumpers and no roll bar I remember reading about once?

bb

[Tom Decker]

David, Need to know what other options are available. Is this a real basic unit. tdecker1@insight.rr.com Thanks

[David Kirkham]

Brett,

Brett--attacking takes too much energy. I would rather spend my energy making "legendary" suspensions

The front flares are not too noticable to the average guy; but most here on the site would notice they looked a little bigger. But, if you were to park the car next to an original you would notice a difference.

289 Street car...We NEVER comment about works in progress Patience please.

Tom,

The car is really already almost done. You will need to figure out what gauges you want to put in the car and install them...no big deal. Get a differential, not too expensive from a junk yard, and install it. Install the radiator 289 or 427--depends on what engine you plan on putting in. Put in your engine, exhaust, and transmission and drive away.

I will forward you some of the options, but I will have to do it tomorrow, (that is, IF I get a kitchen pass from the boss). If you have any specific questions, you can always drop me an email or I will be happy to talk with you personally.

davidkirkham at comcast dot net

(you really should NEVER post your email address on the web as web crawlers will pick them up and before you know it you will have offers for...lots of things you probably don't want.)

Thanks,

David

[tcolley1]

The car is almost a complete roller. We left the radiator, differential, and 1/2 shafts out of the car because someone has to choose which radiator they want (289 or 427) and which differential they want (so people could decide Jaguar or aluminum). That should get us to the 42K price we talked about a week or so about on another thread.

What do you guys think?

David,

I think this is a GREAT IDEA!

It is exactly what some of us have been asking for. You have listened to the comments from your last posting!

THANKS for hearing us!


Regards,

Terry

[David Kirkham]

Terry,

Many thanks for your kind words.

I guess it would be pretty dumb to not listen to your customers. We are kicking around all sorts of ideas here. Why not sell customers what they want?

David

[tcolley1]

Terry,

Many thanks for your kind words.

I guess it would be pretty dumb to not listen to your customers. We are kicking around all sorts of ideas here. Why not sell customers what they want?

David,

You are very welcome.

What a NOVEL IDEA...listening to your customers. It's too bad or maybe it isn't from your stand point, that other manufacturers do not share this same concept.

If you continue on with these type of offerings I plan on getting a Hybird from you as soon as possible.

Regards,

Terry

[CSX 4039]

Is this the same kind of suspension in a KMP 427? I'm thinking you're saying it is different? No? How, except for some different sources of equip is this suspesion different from say, a 'glass SAI or ERA?? Does it have the same kind of body roll when in a turn, etc.? Or, is it like JBL or something (in performance if not design)?
bb

[Edley Rondinone]

David: LOVE the welded-in hood scoop; gives the car a more "finished" look, IMHO! Also like the forward-facing rollbar; gives the passenger something to hold on to BESIDES ME!! Dont get me wrong, I enjoy the touch of a female's hands on my body, BUT NOT AT SPEEDS IN EXCESS OF 100 MPH!!!!

[Edley Rondinone]

OR carving the mountain curves of the Angeles Crest Highway!!!

[Lew Ledyard]

That is a seriously good deal. If I did not get the lecture about "no more cars until we buy baby formula" from the Mrs. tonight, I would ask you to add it to my tab. B/t/w, you could charge a whole lot more if the pedals had rubber grommets!

One other note: If you search under "Kirkham" on Ebay Motors, it does not come up.

[CSX 4039]

Originally posted by Edley Rondinone


OR carving the mountain curves of the Angeles Crest Highway!!!

Absent the mudslides, though.

[David Kirkham]

Brett,

The suspension on the ebay Hybrid car is the same billet aluminum design we currently use on our 427 cars--AND it is identical to the suspension that came on the SEMA car. Nevertheless, the suspension is constantly evolving as we find better methods for manufacture, weight control (don't we all need some of that--it's a lot easier on a control arm than on me) or geometrical improvements.

The geometry on our new billet suspension has been slightly modified from the original with beneficial effects. Nevertheless, the biggest effect on the handling of the car from our new suspension components is not from geometry changes, but from weight reduction. Our new suspension is over 60 lbs lighter than an original suspension--all unsrung mass. The original suspensions were amazingly heavy as they were made out of steel.

The body roll will be the same, (well, close), as a 427 car because we have not really modified the geometry that much. Much of the handling of the car depends on the engine you will be using. If you use a small block, I imagine (don't know, would have to ask Thomas) the CG of the car would be significantly different which would change the handleing of the car. In my experience with these cars, lighter is way better for the windy mountain roads. As you know, weight is critical to the handling of a car. The 289 car has a VERY primitave suspension, yet handled quite well despite the suspension problems. The same suspension with a 427 engine would have been an interesting ride.

I do know the small block cars do handle better in the 427 chassis than the big block cars. (No, that doesn't mean I would choose a BB over a SM--still love that torque).

The Shelby suspension, (from what I have seen in the past--they may have changed some things), is still a suspension based somewhat on the original. They have made some changes to the original, (whether or not they are significant depends on your point of view), but the suspension generally still looks and performs like the original. I believe they have changed the brakes away from the original Girlings as well.

(What I mean by significant is: Their suspensions wouldn't pass a concours test on an original Cobra, but geometrically they are still very close. I think one of the geometrical modifications they have made was to shorten the steering arm to quicken up the steering. Of course, they have also made the front, upper control arm adjustable which will have some effect on the geometry as well.) None of this should be taken as a negative comment on their suspensions--just giving you my opinion on what I see.

I am unfamiliar with the ERA suspensions. I believe they run upper and lower control arms in the front and use a Jag rear end in the rear--using the 1/2 shafts as the upper control arm. (Someone please correct me if I am wrong.)

Therefore, the rear suspensions of an ERA are quite different from ours--as ours (and Shelby's) has a true rear upper control arm with a plunging 1/2 shaft. If you use a Jaguar DIFFERENTIAL, (NOT JAGUAR REAR END) in our car, there is NO change to the geometry of the rear suspension. We ONLY use the differential. The suspension remains identical for the Jaguar differential cars as well as for the aluiminum differential cars.

As for the JBL, I really can't comment at all intelligently as I have never seen one in person. Also, I have not looked at the numbers, (geometry, roll centers, wheel rates, etc.), though I would like to.

Thanks for asking,

David

[ff2_emtb]

Very cool idea indeed!

I feel sorry for those people with a slow connection with all those pics tho!

t.