RE: Melling Moves Wildcat To Portugal
Friday 23rd October 2009
The saga of the Wildcat took its intriguing latest twist this summer, when the move to the Technology Park at the new Portuguese race track got underway. The deal was finalised by company owner Al Melling through his long standing business links in Portugal, it seems, and is believed to have stemmed from an initial interest the circuit had in developing a one make series for the Wildcat along the lines of the Tuscan Challenge.
Melling Moves Wildcat To Portugal
Melling Sportscars Ltd dissolved, as a fresh start is planned at the Autodromo do Algarve
Melling Sportscars Ltd has been dissolved by Companies House, and the Wildcat production tooling moved lock, stock and barrel to a new factory at the Autodromo do Algarve.
Transporters containing the Wildcat production jigs left Rochdale for the Algarve in August, after just seven Wildcats were built there. This number does not include any of the three Wildcats won in well-publicised prize draws this year. The fourth draw was cancelled as insufficient tickets were sold, and participants have been told to expect refunds.
We've not yet been able to make contact with the new operation (but we are trying!), so we're not sure whether the new Al Melling Sports Cars Portugal intends to supply these cars to the UK winners or not.
In fact, pretty much the only hard fact we have about the new operation is that a website exists here www.almellingsportscarsportugal.com although its content seems to be little more than a re-hash of the old www.almellingsportscars.com - on which at the time of writing we can find no mention of the dissolution of Melling Sportscars Ltd.
The Melling Wildcat Wikipedia entry also mentions the move to Portugal.
More when we have it...
Discussion
Funny how the engine spec page talks about his AJPv8 but shows a small block chevy in the photo
http://www.almellingsportscarsportugal.com/html/sp...
http://www.almellingsportscarsportugal.com/html/sp...
Beefmeister said:
Hmmm, company dissolved whilst owing money (and cars!) to draw participants, new one opens in Portugal.
Dodgy as a Chinese E-Type copy.
Credibility just went from 2/10 to minus values in one fell swoop.
There is nothing adverse in dissolving a business. It is simply a way of closing a business that is no longer needed. Melling Sportcars Ltd is shown as dissolved as of 17/02/2009 and dormant prior to that.Dodgy as a Chinese E-Type copy.
Credibility just went from 2/10 to minus values in one fell swoop.
Edited by Beefmeister on Friday 23 October 12:38
This is not an alternative to formal insolvency. As i understand it, you cannot apply to disolve a company if there are creditors outstanding. Dissolution is an orderly wind down of a business.
Why does everyone on here always make such negative and misinformed comments about this guy/company. Give the man a break. I wish him all the best with his sportscar business.
jsr said:
Beefmeister said:
Hmmm, company dissolved whilst owing money (and cars!) to draw participants, new one opens in Portugal.
Dodgy as a Chinese E-Type copy.
Credibility just went from 2/10 to minus values in one fell swoop.
There is nothing adverse in dissolving a business. It is simply a way of closing a business that is no longer needed. Melling Sportcars Ltd is shown as dissolved as of 17/02/2009 and dormant prior to that.Dodgy as a Chinese E-Type copy.
Credibility just went from 2/10 to minus values in one fell swoop.
Edited by Beefmeister on Friday 23 October 12:38
This is not an alternative to formal insolvency. As i understand it, you cannot apply to disolve a company if there are creditors outstanding. Dissolution is an orderly wind down of a business.
Why does everyone on here always make such negative and misinformed comments about this guy/company. Give the man a break. I wish him all the best with his sportscar business.
I wish the man all the very best, too.
To be fair the man is a good businessman and a good engineer (just a shame TVR thought they were better).
In a way I think its a shame that he was never aloud to purchase TVR I think he could have kept that company alive although the story might be that he knew it was going under and thats why he didnt purchase it (I am not sure on the facts).
One thing though I cant see his speed 6 rebuild service working out in Portugal, would be an awesome drive down there but I fear it might prove to be a little more expensive than UK based specialists
In a way I think its a shame that he was never aloud to purchase TVR I think he could have kept that company alive although the story might be that he knew it was going under and thats why he didnt purchase it (I am not sure on the facts).
One thing though I cant see his speed 6 rebuild service working out in Portugal, would be an awesome drive down there but I fear it might prove to be a little more expensive than UK based specialists
I have been waiting, for two months, for a refund of £20
entry fee for the cancelled fourth competition.
It would be interesting to know if the first three
competition winners actually got the cars and if anyone
has received a refund from the fourth competition.
My emails to the company are ignored.
I note that the "new" website seems to be inviting
entries to win a car.
I think this is starting to smell a little.
entry fee for the cancelled fourth competition.
It would be interesting to know if the first three
competition winners actually got the cars and if anyone
has received a refund from the fourth competition.
My emails to the company are ignored.
I note that the "new" website seems to be inviting
entries to win a car.
I think this is starting to smell a little.
Edited by tvrtim on Friday 23 October 13:31
jsr said:
Beefmeister said:
Hmmm, company dissolved whilst owing money (and cars!) to draw participants, new one opens in Portugal.
Dodgy as a Chinese E-Type copy.
Credibility just went from 2/10 to minus values in one fell swoop.
There is nothing adverse in dissolving a business. It is simply a way of closing a business that is no longer needed. Melling Sportcars Ltd is shown as dissolved as of 17/02/2009 and dormant prior to that.Dodgy as a Chinese E-Type copy.
Credibility just went from 2/10 to minus values in one fell swoop.
Edited by Beefmeister on Friday 23 October 12:38
This is not an alternative to formal insolvency. As i understand it, you cannot apply to disolve a company if there are creditors outstanding. Dissolution is an orderly wind down of a business.
Why does everyone on here always make such negative and misinformed comments about this guy/company. Give the man a break. I wish him all the best with his sportscar business.
good lord... anything that man touches just stinks to high heaven...
Not saying he HAS done anything dodgy here, but he doesnt have a clue about public relations and how a move like this will be perceived by the people likely to buy one of his cars!
It just looks dodgy as hell, which normally indicates it is!
Not saying he HAS done anything dodgy here, but he doesnt have a clue about public relations and how a move like this will be perceived by the people likely to buy one of his cars!
It just looks dodgy as hell, which normally indicates it is!
tvrtim said:
It would be interesting to know if the first three
competition winners actually got the cars and if anyone
has received a refund from the fourth competition.
The article states that the 3 'winners' cars haven't been built yet...competition winners actually got the cars and if anyone
has received a refund from the fourth competition.
I'm not just bashing Melling for the sake of it - even if he's totally legit with this move, his PR indeed stinks and he certainly isn't going to win any friends acting like this.
tvrtim said:
The Terms and Conditions for the competitions were
always a little vague and seemed to change quite
often. Very amateurish effort.
Did you see the presentation ceremony for the first draw on the internet?always a little vague and seemed to change quite
often. Very amateurish effort.
"erm... shall we have some champagne"
Amateurish doesnt cover it, it was cringe worthy.
Beefmeister said:
jsr said:
Beefmeister said:
Hmmm, company dissolved whilst owing money (and cars!) to draw participants, new one opens in Portugal.
Dodgy as a Chinese E-Type copy.
Credibility just went from 2/10 to minus values in one fell swoop.
There is nothing adverse in dissolving a business. It is simply a way of closing a business that is no longer needed. Melling Sportcars Ltd is shown as dissolved as of 17/02/2009 and dormant prior to that.Dodgy as a Chinese E-Type copy.
Credibility just went from 2/10 to minus values in one fell swoop.
Edited by Beefmeister on Friday 23 October 12:38
This is not an alternative to formal insolvency. As i understand it, you cannot apply to disolve a company if there are creditors outstanding. Dissolution is an orderly wind down of a business.
Why does everyone on here always make such negative and misinformed comments about this guy/company. Give the man a break. I wish him all the best with his sportscar business.
As a senior financial analyst for the automotive sector for a leading credit insurance company, who deals with company insolvencies on a daily basis, i'm well placed to comment on this. Dissolution is not generally considered adverse.
I've checked our systems and it would appear this legal entity may never have traded. It could be that Melling Sportscars Ltd has been a dormant company, and therefore not a principal to contract. We have never received any requests for trade credit insurance despite the limited company existing since November 2005.
The company could have been trading as another limited company, or indeed as an unlimited business. ie. you could register a company as joe bloggs ltd just to control the name, but only file dormant accounts. The trading entity could be the proprietor trading as joe bloggs and be a separate unlimited company.
The whole issue with the competition does not sound great, but then the full details are not known.
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