shell Valley rises again

[rustyBob]

It is truley a shame that Shell Valley has gone down hill like this and I hope the new owner has thick skin and deep pockets because I dont think he truley knows what a hornets nest he has a hold of. If you own a company and the bank closes it and sends your employes home THATS TROUBLE. Maybe this new owner will weed out the the problems but even so i think it will never be the same.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by rustyBob

Maybe this new owner will weed out the the problems but even so i think it will never be the same.

Only time will tell whether Shell Valley is indeed the Phoenix, or whether it's being piloted by the Colgan Air duo....

You'd think they'd at least make an appearance on this forum and introduce themselves though.

[compaq]

Well i bet most people who had any dealings or bought anything from them
recently like within the past five or six years won't be dealing with them anymore.
If they dealt with them like i did they won't and considering some of the things that Dana Dankert said to me over the phone like making remarks about me
having a five or six thousand dollar bill and not being able to pay it or wouldn't pay it.I was also told that he wanted to triple the price on parts that someone was going to buy versus what the guy was told to begin with when he got there to buy the stuff.He told the guy that i had parts that i didn't have or that
i didn't order.I know that i didn't get the certificate of origin for the body until
April of 2009 and the body was paid in full in 2006.I also asked Dana for a receipt for the body when it was paid in FULL and i never got it until this year.
He sent me a receipt that was printed out of the computer but wasn't marked paid.I didn't expect to receive it but i got the certificate of origin for the body and a tag and it indicated that i should have had one for the frame also.I received the paperwork this year for everything like the body.
I received a regular Shell Valley invoice that wasn't printed from the computer that is blue in color and has their address and it was marked paid with a rubber stamp.Due to the way they operate and among other things i wouldn't deal with them.

[Shell Valley]

Mr Johns (compaq) was NOT sold a damaged body, old body, used body or anything like that. What he was sold was a new body out of the old style mold, to match his old style frame.

Anyone that knows me knows that I may not always have the answer they want, but they will get an honest answer.

As for the status of the company, I just posted a press release in the Shell Valley forum.

Thanks to those who have wished us well and helped with the transition! We plan to be here for a long time!

Dana Dankert

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by Shell Valley

... I just posted a press release in the Shell Valley forum..

Dana, so they're excited, went to high school & college, got an architectural degree, kids, and ran an auto repair shop & speed parts store. What do they know about building Cobras?

[compaq]

One thing i know about building Cobras and that is by the time you pay someone
to put one together even if you don't build it in pieces and including all of the money that you have for the parts and labor you end up having way more money in these things then they are worth or what anyone is willing to pay you for one.The prices people want to paint these fiberglass bodies and do bodywork adds to it.Especially dealing with a Cobra Kit Car.These body shops want more money to even mess with these fiberglass bodies.These things are nothing but a money pit.It is hard to believe that anyone sells one of these
for what they have invested in one.Based on my experience with one i think
they are more of an investment and work then it is worthwhile.
I had $30,000.00 invested in the one i had and you can't even drive them at this price.Even if you do the assembly work or the most of the work yourself
you are still spending more money even by not paying the labor and the work
involved to build one is to time consuming i think and ends up being more then what you want to do.You can't also trust most people and like i was saying people don't want to give you anything for these at least not what you have invested in them.This Kirkham Motorsports has one that is $108,000.00 and it just makes me ask them is that car really worth it?
You can go pick up a car from the lot that has alot of comfort items for
$50,000.00 from a dealership like power windows,leather seats etc.
Most vehicles at that price you can get alot of things on them.
There isn't even any room in these at all.Vehicle prices are to much anyway
but the money invested in these things along with the time hardly makes it
worthwhile along with the people you deal with.They are not working on any low profit margin.They make money not only from the labor but also from the parts.

[TButtrick]

Originally Posted by compaq

It is hard to believe that anyone sells one of these
for what they have invested in one.Based on my experience with one i think
they are more of an investment and work then it is worthwhile.
I had $30,000.00 invested in the one i had and you can't even drive them at this price.Even if you do the assembly work or the most of the work yourself
you are still spending more money even by not paying the labor and the work
involved to build one is to time consuming i think and ends up being more then what you want to do.You can't also trust most people and like i was saying people don't want to give you anything for these at least not what you have invested in them.

Factory Five based their entire business plan on the fact that their customers would find the building experience worthwhile and know they wouldn't be making money on their investment. Now they sell more Cobras than all other manufactures combined. That doesn't make them the best Cobras out there but it really contradicts your perspective of the industry.

[macloft]

For 99% its a hobby. A way to release some other frustrations/ tensions or even boredom and to express ourselves. If you go into this wanting to make money you are going to be sadley dissapointed (most of the time). I love my car, I am proud of what I have achieved but it is the most impractical thing I have (other than the dog). But it doesnt half put a grin on my face.
Go Shell Valley Cobra
To each his own that is the beauty of the western world.
Bruce

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by TButtrick

Factory Five based their entire business plan...

TButtrick makes the point that FF had a well thought out business plan... and it has worked. Remember, this is a "Shell Valley" thread, and was spawned by the fact that SV has apparently skirted the chopping block, for now at least. Hopefully they have a business plan. I posted that question on the Shell Valley sister thread last night and got a gratuitous kick in the a$$ from GotTheBug. Why, I have no idea -- I'll chalk it up to a bad day at work and just turn the other cheek. You might ask, "patrickt, don't you support Shell Valley?" Well, yes... in the same fashion that I support the guy that just opened up a dry cleaners across town. But if dry cleaning was indeed my hobby, I would also tell him "The last dry cleaners that was here went out of business -- what are you going to do different? And by the way, we have half a dozen other dry cleaners in this town, why shouldn't I go to them?" Of course, the dry cleaner might tell me "patrick, I'm not doing this to make money -- I just love dry cleaning, have all my life, I remember the first time I saw a pleated cuff...." C'mon, let's be real... for SV to stay in business, the new owners are going to have to treat the company like a business... a real business. So far, there hasn't been a single post with meat in it that would point to the fact that they are, in fact, doing just that.

And btw, here's the gratuitous kick in the a$$ thread: http://clubcobra.com/forums/showthre...threadid=96940

[compaq]

I was talking mainly about the money you have in it and not any profit.
If you completely put something together and it doesn't have any
driving miles such as in the case of what i had.It hasn't even been driven.
When someone wants to give you $7500.00 less then what it even took to
put together and it still isn't completely drivable or done then that basically tells you something right there about the value of these.Of course a new vehicle
will lose value or any vehicle after it is driven away but when something hasn't even been driven or is drivable and hasn't been titled yet because it isn't completely drivable due to the lack of seats,steering column etc.
If car dealers took 14,000.00 dollars less for a vehicle that was just driven
off a car hauler straight from the factory then they would probably be taking
a loss on alot and just mainly the labor and parts involved and not any profit
over what it cost to build including labor and parts.Basically the cars aren't worth what it takes to put then together in a nutshell.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by compaq

Basically the cars aren't worth what it takes to put them together, in a nutshell.

I generally agree with that statement (not always, but most of the time). The new SV should add a page to their business plan that says "we will strive to deliver a car that is worth more than what it costs to put it all together."

[compaq]

One thing i know about building Cobras and that is by the time you pay someone
to put one together even if you don't build it in pieces and including all of the money that you have for the parts and labor you end up having way more money in these things then they are worth or what anyone is willing to pay you for one.The prices people want to paint these fiberglass bodies and do bodywork adds to it.Especially dealing with a Cobra Kit Car.These body shops want more money to even mess with these fiberglass bodies.These things are nothing but a money pit.It is hard to believe that anyone sells one of these
for what they have invested in one.Based on my experience with one i think
they are more of an investment and work then it is worthwhile.
I had $30,000.00 invested in the one i had and you can't even drive them at this price.Even if you do the assembly work or the most of the work yourself
you are still spending more money even by not paying the labor and the work
involved to build one is to time consuming i think and ends up being more then what you want to do.You can't also trust most people and like i was saying people don't want to give you anything for these at least not what you have invested in them.This Kirkham Motorsports has one that is $108,000.00 and it just makes me ask them is that car really worth it?
You can go pick up a car from the lot that has alot of comfort items for
$50,000.00 from a dealership like power windows,leather seats etc.
Most vehicles at that price you can get alot of things on them.
There isn't even any room in these at all.Vehicle prices are to much anyway
but the money invested in these things along with the time hardly makes it
worthwhile along with the people you deal with.They are not working on any low profit margin.They make money not only from the labor but also from the parts.