Marcos into Administration
Discussion
Crying shame Marcos Engineering have called in the Administrators. I really did hope Tony Stelliga was prepared to pay his way through the 'lean' start-up period, but to be fair he always did say it was business to him.
Anyone on here have an order with them, or one of the latest cars being fettled by the factory?
Anyone on here have an order with them, or one of the latest cars being fettled by the factory?
Black & gold? Don't think I've ever seen a car in that combination before. Sounds tasty!!!
If you ever see/hear from the chap who has bought one of the new cars & lives in Cheshire then PLEASE get him to PM me or post on the Marcos Forum as I'm extremely keen to get one to either of the Tatton Park shows. (I think I've mentioned before that if you ever fancy a drive in yours...
)
If you ever see/hear from the chap who has bought one of the new cars & lives in Cheshire then PLEASE get him to PM me or post on the Marcos Forum as I'm extremely keen to get one to either of the Tatton Park shows. (I think I've mentioned before that if you ever fancy a drive in yours...
)
This is my first visit to Pistonheads & I wanted to say how sad I was too by Marcos being in Administration. I remember Jem Marsh being so excited when their first car was type approved & being very derogatory about our Chevron cars! But that was Jem & you 'loved' him for his forthrightness.
Reading all your comments gives me the jitters about our first Road Car (Chevron B1 Mk2)which hopefully will be starting to be road tested by the journalists very soon. Obviously I don't want Chevron to go the way of so many of our British Heritage marques we've worked too hard to keep it going for all these years. So the big question to you all is, tell me, do you want a small 2 seater British Sports car aimed at the 35+ age group? Will you buy it, or is the whole concept for British sports cars now dead in the water?
Reading all your comments gives me the jitters about our first Road Car (Chevron B1 Mk2)which hopefully will be starting to be road tested by the journalists very soon. Obviously I don't want Chevron to go the way of so many of our British Heritage marques we've worked too hard to keep it going for all these years. So the big question to you all is, tell me, do you want a small 2 seater British Sports car aimed at the 35+ age group? Will you buy it, or is the whole concept for British sports cars now dead in the water?
Helen if people know the heritage and history of Chevron then yes it should do well, if its what I expect the car to be, should make those other cars in its class look pretty poor (knowing what they are like to set up)
I personaly would be interesed in the car. what engine choices are there? Is ther talk of a club racing series for them? what dealer structure will there be? Im looking forward to seeing this car
Peter
I personaly would be interesed in the car. what engine choices are there? Is ther talk of a club racing series for them? what dealer structure will there be? Im looking forward to seeing this car
Peter
Are you aiming for well heeled people or the mass market? The niche is probably to replace tvr's etc with something around the £50k mark. You could do well to pm andymadmak. He gave Marcos a lot of really good advice and they ignored most of it. Had they listened they would probably have sold a lot of cars by now, imo.
Boosted.
Boosted.
Helen Chevron said:
Reading all your comments gives me the jitters about our first Road Car (Chevron B1 Mk2)which hopefully will be starting to be road tested by the journalists very soon. Obviously I don't want Chevron to go the way of so many of our British Heritage marques we've worked too hard to keep it going for all these years. So the big question to you all is, tell me, do you want a small 2 seater British Sports car aimed at the 35+ age group? Will you buy it, or is the whole concept for British sports cars now dead in the water?
If it was a roadcar styled on the B16, then yes (abso-bloody-lutely!). I'm sorry but the B1 Mk2 wouldn't appeal to me as a roadcar, nor would it appeal over a Cater-Field as a toy.Helen Chevron said:
Reading all your comments gives me the jitters about our first Road Car (Chevron B1 Mk2)which hopefully will be starting to be road tested by the journalists very soon. Obviously I don't want Chevron to go the way of so many of our British Heritage marques we've worked too hard to keep it going for all these years. So the big question to you all is, tell me, do you want a small 2 seater British Sports car aimed at the 35+ age group? Will you buy it, or is the whole concept for British sports cars now dead in the water?
Helen, I'm a few years shy of your target market, but yes - we do still want 2 seater British sportscars. 
However, a quick nose at your website doesn't illicit much information, except for the headline figure of £23,500 for a car with a somewhat measly 95bhp.
This makes me question what exactly is the target market here..? Are you trying to complete with the Westfield XI, or the myriad of Lotus 7 type cars..? or another niche..? (to which the price/bhp seems a tad steep to my mind).
I know this isn't the sort of respone you were hoping for - but I'm being honest. A road-going B16 in the 30-40k bracket would be sublime...
Edited to add - I was brought up on photos that my father had taken on racing cars in the 60s and 70s (including Chevron's) and really do not want to see another great name disappear...
Edited by Podie on Saturday 13th October 21:41
B16 is an awsome car, I thought I had heard that that was being re released.
Just checked out the site on the B1, not inspiring. I think you need to be careful here, sell it too cheap and it loses the clients that are interested based on company history, sell it too expensive and it won't compete with the likes of Caterham.
There are a lot more exciting cars around in this genre, and some you can build yourself for a fair bit less than 20k.
Good Luck
Just checked out the site on the B1, not inspiring. I think you need to be careful here, sell it too cheap and it loses the clients that are interested based on company history, sell it too expensive and it won't compete with the likes of Caterham.
There are a lot more exciting cars around in this genre, and some you can build yourself for a fair bit less than 20k.
Good Luck
Helen Chevron said:
This is my first visit to Pistonheads & I wanted to say how sad I was too by Marcos being in Administration. I remember Jem Marsh being so excited when their first car was type approved & being very derogatory about our Chevron cars! But that was Jem & you 'loved' him for his forthrightness.
Reading all your comments gives me the jitters about our first Road Car (Chevron B1 Mk2)which hopefully will be starting to be road tested by the journalists very soon. Obviously I don't want Chevron to go the way of so many of our British Heritage marques we've worked too hard to keep it going for all these years. So the big question to you all is, tell me, do you want a small 2 seater British Sports car aimed at the 35+ age group? Will you buy it, or is the whole concept for British sports cars now dead in the water?
SHAMELESS ADVERTISING!Reading all your comments gives me the jitters about our first Road Car (Chevron B1 Mk2)which hopefully will be starting to be road tested by the journalists very soon. Obviously I don't want Chevron to go the way of so many of our British Heritage marques we've worked too hard to keep it going for all these years. So the big question to you all is, tell me, do you want a small 2 seater British Sports car aimed at the 35+ age group? Will you buy it, or is the whole concept for British sports cars now dead in the water?
Thanks everyone for your constructive comments. I have had some really good e mails too. Thankyou Boosted I've spoken (via e mail) to andymadmak who was very helpful. Therefore you should see much improved photographs on the website as first initative, which I hope to get done asap.
Trying to answer all your questions:At the moment the engine option is the 1600 Ford Zetec Rocam engine which we will have chipped so you get a bit more performance, we are also looking into a different cam & eventually may even go the 2Litre route. Though having driven the car both on the road & track it is pretty quick & has no problems passing stuff & the engine sounds like (amazingly) a little Cobra.
Haven't any plans for a racing series more likely Chevron Club - perhaps driving to the races the Chevron Team are competing at, Track days et.etc Though have had some enquiries for cars to be made suitable for Hillclimbs.
Not planning a vast dealer network - depends on sales as would like to stay in close contact with every owner if poss & let them feel part of the whole Race Team thing.
This car aimed at reasonably well off people, can't see mass market, it's a great fun car. Though with the Finance in place a deposit doesn't cost much. Not trying to compete with Caterham - our car may not be as 'carbon fibre' & out & out quick but you can pull it out of the garge for the weekend, jump in & have a great time without having to compete with the car itself plus classic styling & kudos, Westfield I would think is for a younger market too.
Am more than inspired to make B16's for the road along the GT40 + size but this will depend on vast amounts of £'s & fantastic engine deal - what engine would you like to see in a B16? Probably will opt for the B8 styled route tho', eventually in several decades going for a new styled Chevron not based on Derek's Bennett's superb designs but could be retired (or jumped off a bridge!) by then.
Anyway enough of the advert - you've encouraged me to carry on, thanks. H
Trying to answer all your questions:At the moment the engine option is the 1600 Ford Zetec Rocam engine which we will have chipped so you get a bit more performance, we are also looking into a different cam & eventually may even go the 2Litre route. Though having driven the car both on the road & track it is pretty quick & has no problems passing stuff & the engine sounds like (amazingly) a little Cobra.
Haven't any plans for a racing series more likely Chevron Club - perhaps driving to the races the Chevron Team are competing at, Track days et.etc Though have had some enquiries for cars to be made suitable for Hillclimbs.
Not planning a vast dealer network - depends on sales as would like to stay in close contact with every owner if poss & let them feel part of the whole Race Team thing.
This car aimed at reasonably well off people, can't see mass market, it's a great fun car. Though with the Finance in place a deposit doesn't cost much. Not trying to compete with Caterham - our car may not be as 'carbon fibre' & out & out quick but you can pull it out of the garge for the weekend, jump in & have a great time without having to compete with the car itself plus classic styling & kudos, Westfield I would think is for a younger market too.
Am more than inspired to make B16's for the road along the GT40 + size but this will depend on vast amounts of £'s & fantastic engine deal - what engine would you like to see in a B16? Probably will opt for the B8 styled route tho', eventually in several decades going for a new styled Chevron not based on Derek's Bennett's superb designs but could be retired (or jumped off a bridge!) by then.
Anyway enough of the advert - you've encouraged me to carry on, thanks. H
Helen Chevron said:
Thanks everyone for your constructive comments. I have had some really good e mails too. Thankyou Boosted I've spoken (via e mail) to andymadmak who was very helpful. Therefore you should see much improved photographs on the website as first initative, which I hope to get done asap.
Trying to answer all your questions:At the moment the engine option is the 1600 Ford Zetec Rocam engine which we will have chipped so you get a bit more performance, we are also looking into a different cam & eventually may even go the 2Litre route. Though having driven the car both on the road & track it is pretty quick & has no problems passing stuff & the engine sounds like (amazingly) a little Cobra.
Haven't any plans for a racing series more likely Chevron Club - perhaps driving to the races the Chevron Team are competing at, Track days et.etc Though have had some enquiries for cars to be made suitable for Hillclimbs.
Not planning a vast dealer network - depends on sales as would like to stay in close contact with every owner if poss & let them feel part of the whole Race Team thing.
This car aimed at reasonably well off people, can't see mass market, it's a great fun car. Though with the Finance in place a deposit doesn't cost much. Not trying to compete with Caterham - our car may not be as 'carbon fibre' & out & out quick but you can pull it out of the garge for the weekend, jump in & have a great time without having to compete with the car itself plus classic styling & kudos, Westfield I would think is for a younger market too.
Am more than inspired to make B16's for the road along the GT40 + size but this will depend on vast amounts of £'s & fantastic engine deal - what engine would you like to see in a B16? Probably will opt for the B8 styled route tho', eventually in several decades going for a new styled Chevron not based on Derek's Bennett's superb designs but could be retired (or jumped off a bridge!) by then.
Anyway enough of the advert - you've encouraged me to carry on, thanks. H
The B8 is a beautiful design (IMO), and I am sure it would attract interest with the appropriate engine / bhp and price tag. I merely identified the B16 as an example of something that I felt was more typically regarded as being a Chevron design.Trying to answer all your questions:At the moment the engine option is the 1600 Ford Zetec Rocam engine which we will have chipped so you get a bit more performance, we are also looking into a different cam & eventually may even go the 2Litre route. Though having driven the car both on the road & track it is pretty quick & has no problems passing stuff & the engine sounds like (amazingly) a little Cobra.
Haven't any plans for a racing series more likely Chevron Club - perhaps driving to the races the Chevron Team are competing at, Track days et.etc Though have had some enquiries for cars to be made suitable for Hillclimbs.
Not planning a vast dealer network - depends on sales as would like to stay in close contact with every owner if poss & let them feel part of the whole Race Team thing.
This car aimed at reasonably well off people, can't see mass market, it's a great fun car. Though with the Finance in place a deposit doesn't cost much. Not trying to compete with Caterham - our car may not be as 'carbon fibre' & out & out quick but you can pull it out of the garge for the weekend, jump in & have a great time without having to compete with the car itself plus classic styling & kudos, Westfield I would think is for a younger market too.
Am more than inspired to make B16's for the road along the GT40 + size but this will depend on vast amounts of £'s & fantastic engine deal - what engine would you like to see in a B16? Probably will opt for the B8 styled route tho', eventually in several decades going for a new styled Chevron not based on Derek's Bennett's superb designs but could be retired (or jumped off a bridge!) by then.
Anyway enough of the advert - you've encouraged me to carry on, thanks. H
From what I’ve read in these hallowed pages, you’ll want a V8 in either car – whether it’s a modern unit like BMW’s engine as used in the Morgan Aero 8, or one of the LS engines. The other thing that owners like is an obvious upgrade path. For example, there is a well trodden path with the old Rover V8 units, and of course the LS engines. In fact, should there be a B8 or B16 with a V8 engine, pushing at least 280-300bhp for 30-40k you’d certainly get some interest…
Although the 1600 RoCam is a buzzy little unit (I seem to recall this is the pushrod unit?), even with a chip and some induction / exhaust modifications I’d be surprised if you got around the 125bhp mark (happy to be proved wrong
) – but what I am curious about is the weight of the B1 Mk2..? I think the 2 litre powerplant would make the whole proposition a tad more interesting, but I can’t help but feel that you’re aiming at an already saturated market with the Lotus 7-esque concept.I’d agree that better, larger photographs on the website would help considerably, as would greater information about the car – and an indication of projected performance.
TheQuiffster said:
Black & gold? Don't think I've ever seen a car in that combination before. Sounds tasty!!!
If you ever see/hear from the chap who has bought one of the new cars & lives in Cheshire then PLEASE get him to PM me or post on the Marcos Forum as I'm extremely keen to get one to either of the Tatton Park shows. (I think I've mentioned before that if you ever fancy a drive in yours... )
I promise at the first opertunity you can have a go- You will be very impressedIf you ever see/hear from the chap who has bought one of the new cars & lives in Cheshire then PLEASE get him to PM me or post on the Marcos Forum as I'm extremely keen to get one to either of the Tatton Park shows. (I think I've mentioned before that if you ever fancy a drive in yours...
)I have no desire to be a naysayer but that's how this is going to appear I'm afraid, but please go with it because it's intended as constructive and built on quite a lot of (B2B) experience. Can I just suggest that you think a bit about the following points. I've changed the order of your comments a little in order to make my responses a bit more concise.
Maybe, but you might inadvertently find yourself in competition (and at a disadvantage) with them.
By the way, it's great to see someone reflecting on what their customers want. It would be nice to have a bit more of a challenge as to what to buy next. The very best of luck to you.
Helen Chevron said:
Anyway enough of the advert - you've encouraged me to carry on, thanks.
Please be careful - almost every post on this thread has said 'no I wouldn't buy' (which takes some guts because it's not nice to give negative news) - hopefully your private mails have been different. Please remember that an expression of interest doesn't mean that the potential customer necessarily has either the intention or the wherewithal to buy.Helen Chevron said:
This car aimed at reasonably well off people, can't see mass market, it's a great fun car.
OK, well as a 41 year-old reasonably well-off person, I think I (and my peers) might be your target market. Where are you pitching your offering? Do you want this to be my second car (assuming first one is a motorway hack), or my third? The reason I ask is because we're in the market now for another car and the questions we're asking are 'shall we have one or two sports cars?' If it's second car, then the B1 doesn't tick the boxes because I couldn't stick a couple of bags in the boot, head to France for a weekend and bring back a case of Champagne. So to me you are competing with the caterfield market as our second sports car. And the problem there has already been discussed.Helen Chevron said:
Though with the Finance in place a deposit doesn't cost much.
In the over-35 'reasonably well off' market (I'm thinking low mortgage, double income of say 70-100k, no kids or grown-up kids?), finance isn't going to be an issue, bang-per-buck is. Helen Chevron said:
you can pull it out of the garge for the weekend, jump in & have a great time without having to compete with the car itself plus classic styling & kudos,
Helen Chevron said:
would like to stay in close contact with every owner if poss & let them feel part of the whole Race Team thing.
These statements are inconsistent - someone over 35 who associates themselves with the race team culture won't be worried about their car being easy to drive. Quite the opposite I'd say - I and all of my friends want to get a bit of raw power at a weekend Helen Chevron said:
Westfield I would think is for a younger market too.
Maybe, but you might inadvertently find yourself in competition (and at a disadvantage) with them.
Helen Chevron said:
Am more than inspired to make B16's for the road
Excellent - less competition here and you'd pick up the 'quirky money'Helen Chevron said:
what engine would you like to see in a B16?
I don't really care, but it needs to make a noise that turns my tummy, and the sort of performance (torque in particular) that makes me giggle and LibDems go white... By the way, it's great to see someone reflecting on what their customers want. It would be nice to have a bit more of a challenge as to what to buy next. The very best of luck to you.
Hallo to the Chevrons
Lovely cars :-)))I wouldn't mind about a Honda, Toyota, VW-Audi engine and
wouldn't go too up-market, the air is very thin there.
Just put a plainly affordable car on the market (ca. GBP 30,000) otherwise
the brand and the ego matters too highly. It should be simple and efficient, also security-wise. Today's speed-limits are unfortunately rather tight,
so very short gears up to say 100miles or maybe there could be a choice
of gearing/rear-axles?
Plus it should be watertight, too. ;-)
(But I would like a heated wind-screen and rear-mirrors, if possible, of
course agains some £'s ;-))
Good luck
Rainer-CH
Lovely cars :-)))I wouldn't mind about a Honda, Toyota, VW-Audi engine and
wouldn't go too up-market, the air is very thin there.
Just put a plainly affordable car on the market (ca. GBP 30,000) otherwise
the brand and the ego matters too highly. It should be simple and efficient, also security-wise. Today's speed-limits are unfortunately rather tight,
so very short gears up to say 100miles or maybe there could be a choice
of gearing/rear-axles?
Plus it should be watertight, too. ;-)
(But I would like a heated wind-screen and rear-mirrors, if possible, of
course agains some £'s ;-))
Good luck
Rainer-CH
Since this is taken over by 'all things Chevron':
Last Spa 6 Hrs:
Class Chevron B19: Schlessingers fast lap 2:44.
I think this one had a 2.0 Litre Cosworth BDG in. Fav slotracer!
Spa 6 Hrs 2006:
You can't beat those BMW 8's.
Wonderfull shape . . .
. . . gorgeous 240 brake 2 litre . . .
. . . unbelieveable agile . . .
. . . wonderfull little thingies.
Helen, pm me if you want these pics for your website.
Last Spa 6 Hrs:
Class Chevron B19: Schlessingers fast lap 2:44.
I think this one had a 2.0 Litre Cosworth BDG in. Fav slotracer!
Spa 6 Hrs 2006:
You can't beat those BMW 8's.
Wonderfull shape . . .
. . . gorgeous 240 brake 2 litre . . .
. . . unbelieveable agile . . .
. . . wonderfull little thingies.
Helen, pm me if you want these pics for your website.
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