A question on Foose cars...

A question on Foose cars...

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Discussion

GTO-3R

Original Poster:

7,649 posts

220 months

Tuesday 15th January 2008
quotequote all
Hi all!

I was watching an episode of Overhaullin yesterday and started to wonder if their was a market for his cars in the UK? Priced right it could be an alternative for someone who wants something different than his friends Ferrari's, Lambos etc...

What are your thoughts?

Roo.

11,503 posts

214 months

Tuesday 15th January 2008
quotequote all
There will always be a limited market over here for his cars but there are several restricting factors.

The people who can afford them aren't the sort of people who would buy them. There's very few people around with enough money to splash out on a car that hardly ever gets used.

You would struggle like mad to get them either SVA'd or MOT'd (depending on age) when they got to the UK without undoing a lot of his design work.

It's a shame because his work is stunning.

I'll ask him when I'm out there in the Summer if wants to sell a couple cheap to help with import/registration costs. hehe

evolutionvalet

907 posts

227 months

Tuesday 15th January 2008
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The whole Overhaulin remit is that the car/truck is done for someone as a personal thank you from a loved one. Due to this, I think it unlikely the vehicle would come up for sale. Then again you never know. The people who have their vehicles done by Overhaulin are taken into the Overhaulin family. I know it sounds cheesy and American but they do bond as a family when the cameras stop rolling.
I have knowledge due to my connection with Mother's waxes who sponsor the shows.

Other Foose designed Hot rods are designed for specific customers, many who 'bank roll' or finance the build up. These people then allow Foose to take the finished vehicle around the US doing the show tours before they get to use them. So its a long wait to get your Foose designed and built car. Those that do get sold go through auctions such as Barrett Jackson after they are offered back to Foose. In the auctions, they do go for serious money.

Here in the UK, I think the clientele that would be interested would be considerable smaller than in the US and whether it would be worth buying then paying Duty and VAT on something that has cost near £100,000 I would doubt.

I have been into the hot rod scene for many years and its still questionable whether 'chequebook' customs and rods are acceptable. Although it has changed in the last few years.

If you were looking to import a Foose car that you had fallen in love with and had no intention of selling then I would say go for it. If its to make money, it would be best to find a buyer first then find the car....

If you are serious about this though, I would sound out the guys over at www.nsra.org.uk/newforum . These guys are the hotrod culture in the UK and will tell you if there is a market for these cars.

Hope this helps

Kev

Marki

15,763 posts

277 months

Tuesday 15th January 2008
quotequote all
GTO-3R said:
Hi all!

I was watching an episode of Overhaullin yesterday and started to wonder if their was a market for his cars in the UK? Priced right it could be an alternative for someone who wants something different than his friends Ferrari's, Lambos etc...

What are your thoughts?
I love his work smile

aeropilot

36,576 posts

234 months

Tuesday 15th January 2008
quotequote all
Foose is a nice guy......met him back in May when I went over to the USA for the Paso Robles Kustom show.


Laird

39,731 posts

291 months

Tuesday 15th January 2008
quotequote all
There's another chap called Barry, based on Huntingdon Beach who buys old sheds and turns them into 'Super Muscle Cars' they are seriuosly tasty and sell at the auctions for anything between $35 and $60k.....not that expensive with the current exchange rates

dcl5ah

305 posts

248 months

Tuesday 15th January 2008
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Some of the Overhaulin cars have been on eBay most recently the Dodge Hemi Magnum.

Roo.

11,503 posts

214 months

Tuesday 15th January 2008
quotequote all
Laird said:
There's another chap called Barry, based on Huntingdon Beach who buys old sheds and turns them into 'Super Muscle Cars' they are seriuosly tasty and sell at the auctions for anything between $35 and $60k.....not that expensive with the current exchange rates
Any more details on him?

I might look him up.

dcl5ah

305 posts

248 months

Tuesday 15th January 2008
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Its Barry White, Street Rod Repair Company and also Barry Speedshop.

Roo.

11,503 posts

214 months

Tuesday 15th January 2008
quotequote all
Cheers.

chevy-stu

5,392 posts

235 months

Wednesday 16th January 2008
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Surely if you like a Foose car enough, buy a good 69' camaro, chevelle, Hemi charger or whatever and get it built up a a replica over here. Most bits custom parts can be made in UK or anything 'off shelf' shipped over easily.

Twin Turbo

5,544 posts

273 months

Wednesday 16th January 2008
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dcl5ah said:
Its Barry White, Street Rod Repair Company and also Barry Speedshop.
Checkout "Wrecks to Riches USA" on Discovery Turbo. This is the programme where he takes a beaten up muscle car and rebuilds it into a Barry White Super Muscle Car. The idea is the car gets modern suspension/brakes/steering/aircon etc etc. This should not be mistaken for the UK version of Wrecks to Riches whereby some Cat C write-off is put back on the road hehe

He's made some stunners.

http://www.barrywhitesrrc.com/gallery.html



Sorry, got a bit off the topic of Mr Foose here!

Roo.

11,503 posts

214 months

Wednesday 16th January 2008
quotequote all
The other half suggested going to WCC, I've then put Foose down as another place to go.

I might be pushing my luck a bit with Barry White but I'll try.

GTO-3R

Original Poster:

7,649 posts

220 months

Wednesday 16th January 2008
quotequote all
Thanks for all your replies guy's. I watch all the American car shows including wrecks to riches and Barry is a serious alternate to Foose and his cars cost much less!

The idea was to have a small showroom with say three of his cars in and if a customer wanted something specific then we can liase with Foose and have their own custom built. Sort of be the UK arm for Foose design.

I'm just having a career change at the minute and want to do something in the motor industry. In particular custom/customising cars, so this is why i had this idea!

Gav..

Twin Turbo

5,544 posts

273 months

Wednesday 16th January 2008
quotequote all
Gav...that's the sort of thing I'd love to do if I had the time/money/skill biggrin

I'm not convinced there's a big market for high-end muscle cars in this country. Those will £100k plus to spend prefer to "invest" in European marques. rolleyes

Still, gotta have a dream, eh?

GTO-3R

Original Poster:

7,649 posts

220 months

Thursday 17th January 2008
quotequote all
Looking at many uk websites and forums there is hardly anything for american muscle/street rods etc etc. It's a shame really as the cars truely are beautiful!

It's not quite the same "Foosing" an austin mini is it really haha!!

Marki

15,763 posts

277 months

Thursday 17th January 2008
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Twin Turbo said:
I am loving that cloud9

chevy-stu

5,392 posts

235 months

Thursday 17th January 2008
quotequote all
GTO-3R said:
Looking at many uk websites and forums there is hardly anything for american muscle/street rods etc etc. It's a shame really as the cars truely are beautiful!

It's not quite the same "Foosing" an austin mini is it really haha!!
I think it's presumed that people will buy the car and get the restoration/modification work done that they personally want. There are some good custom workshops in UK but most won't build a car without a buyer first.

CraigMorrison

70 posts

209 months

Friday 18th January 2008
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We do have a few customers in the UK that we have shipped chassis to for modernizing their older cars whether it was an American or European vehicle. One of the biggest hurdles it seems is the MOT. When swapping out the chassis it can open a pandora's box of red tape....at least that's what I have been able to make of it.

But because of the dollar's weakness we have been getting more interest in chassis for older cars. In fact we are now doing RHD chassis to help our UK/Aussie/Kiwi customers build one of these cars.

There are two hot rods being built in San Francisco for an English collector that have our RHD chassis under them.

I will also agree that the kind of person that could afford a properly done hot rod / street rod would probably spend their money on a production sports car.....

GTO-3R

Original Poster:

7,649 posts

220 months

Friday 18th January 2008
quotequote all
Interesting stuff Craig. What company do you work for?