RE: Overfinch In Administration

[zebedee]

haven't followed them for a while, but they were reasonably tasteful weren't they, even in recent times compared with some of the atrocities that others are putting out. I could be wrong though. I suppose what was appealing about them was silly power in a 4x4, but that is a mainstream production line reality now, so maybe that is why they have lost appeal?

[Fetchez la vache]

Agent Orange said:

I'll be amazed if they aren't bought/recovered as if they dropped the bling and returned to tasteful updates I'm sure they could continue to be desirable.

Exactly. Back to shove a big lump in a tasteful exterior.
Obviously these days it'll have to be quite a big lump, and has been said, maybe they could do jags as well, given the connection... though I'm not sure shoving a big lump in a jag is really what I mean...

[DonkeyApple]

zebedee said:

haven't followed them for a while, but they were reasonably tasteful weren't they, even in recent times compared with some of the atrocities that others are putting out. I could be wrong though. I suppose what was appealing about them was silly power in a 4x4, but that is a mainstream production line reality now, so maybe that is why they have lost appeal?

Indeed. When they first came into being the RRC was just a more comfortable farm vehicle. However, in the last 25 years RR themselves have moved their product right up into the niche that Overfinch existed for.

Where Overfinch made their mistake was in their reaction to being pushed out by RR, they opted to stick to the brand but sell trim bits to people living on credit.

In hindsight, what they should have done is taken their quintessential English brand and applied it to other marques. The Mini being an extremely obvious target.

They could have done more with the 90 Defender as well as that has become more and more popular as a Townie car.

Pinning their business to a single marque which for 25 years had shown that it was heading directly for your space was foolish.

As for that HH wagon, no self respecting shot would have that. Absolutely bloody useless for shooting, just as my Overfinch is.

[anything fast]

havn't they been superseeded by all the Kahn abominations out there?

[The Wookie]

Fetchez la vache said:

Agent Orange said:

I'll be amazed if they aren't bought/recovered as if they dropped the bling and returned to tasteful updates I'm sure they could continue to be desirable.

Exactly. Back to shove a big lump in a tasteful exterior.
Obviously these days it'll have to be quite a big lump, and has been said, maybe they could do jags as well, given the connection... though I'm not sure shoving a big lump in a jag is really what I mean...

TBH, at the price they're likely to sell at, it wouldn't surprise me if JLR themselves bought it and used it as their own in house AMG/M-Sport style setup. After all, the Autobiography badge that used to be for custom projects is and has always been quite faceless.

Having said that, they've pretty much ditched their usable off road connotations with the Evoque, so they don't really need an 'excuse' brand anymore for better handling, faster Range Rovers that aren't as good in the rough stuff.

Also, I still think there would be a market for the 5.0 supercharged engine tweaked up to 600bhp (which Jag have done in a few demo models) setup to handle to try and take the challenge to the Cayenne Turbo. Arguably pointless, but they always have been really!

[Beefmeister]

IMO opinion they really needed to move away from this:



(Styling over substance)

And get back to this:


http://www.graemehunt.com/motor-cars/for-sale/1994...

(Classic RR, but with a fooking great engine, and nicer interior)

[monthefish]

Agent Orange said:

Twincam16 said:

So true. I used to see them as a kind of automotive Barbour jacket. Before long they became a kind of Home-Counties/Cheshire version of Mansory.

Back when my father had Land Rovers I used to drool over the Overfinch Rangies. I saw them as an AMG, Alpina or Brabus for the Barbour wearing wealthy British land owner. Something about them was quintessentially British.

But I guess since the advent of high end sports SUVs their original market became less relevant.

Can't say I'm a fan of their footballers wives conversions though I am rather partial to the Holland and Holland model.

I'll be amazed if they aren't bought/recovered as if they dropped the bling and returned to tasteful updates I'm sure they could continue to be desirable.

Yes (to both). I remeber an old Top Gear (I think) that featured an overfinch with a Chevvy V8 (or something), where it beat a Ford Focus in a drag race (whilst pulling a Ford Focus on a trailer!!)


ETA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ1SCNGO34c

(that noise )


This is also quite amusing...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFB-yfMb6ZA

(No real PH'er can say we are better off without this company.)




I think that even the stuff they do now can be tasteful, and it would be a shame to form an opinion of the company solely on the basis of their (amdmittedly plentiful) tasteless footballer customers.

I can gurantee that you can still specify an Overfinch product that would be acceptable to the PH taste police.

Edited by monthefish on Tuesday 16th November 11:15

Edited by monthefish on Tuesday 16th November 11:15

[Mikeyboy]

Didn't this happen last week? I saw an article about it then I'm sure.

[anonymous-user]

I wonder if it would be worth Jag/Landrover taking them over and making Overfinch the top spec/customised trim level of Landrover range. Kind of an offroad Aston Martin!

[Stu R]

Yet another once decent (under different ownership), now chavilicious fukkerupper of previously nice luxury cars struggling to get by.
They used to do some pretty fruity things, though the standard of their work was appauling if the chevy engined rangie classic I saw was anything to go by.
I'm neither surprised nor bothered frankly. If it was 15 years ago I might have thought there was some hope for them, but they're a totally different company these days, and they've gone down a road I've no interest in and dislike very much.

Edited by Stu R on Tuesday 16th November 11:24

[Dunk76]

Tricky one really - They're arguably as irrelevant as old school engine tuners (those that used to port heads and understand how to balance carbs); an increasingly niche market because the raw material they're working with is so good it's entirely debatable if improvements are worthwhile.

Shame to see them go, and I doubt the name will live on because almost nobody knows what Overfinch are (or were).

[Denorth]

considering the general mood of many forums on PH there is actually a market for someone to take a standard RR, to stiff the suspension, not sure about increasing the output (probably re-mapping only), and REDUCE that bling of the standard model.
Creating a perfect 'slipper'

[pSyCoSiS]

Shame to see this compnay go under.

A true British outfit.

Loved the stuff they did to the P38 Range Rovers.

But, agree, the later models have lost some of the class they once had.

[DonkeyApple]

Beefmeister said:

IMO opinion they really needed to move away from this:



(Styling over substance)

And get back to this:


http://www.graemehunt.com/motor-cars/for-sale/1994...

(Classic RR, but with a fooking great engine, and nicer interior)

Or these full conversions, the last ones done back in 2005:


















To be honest though, there is no market for these any longer. The engine in a RR is perfectly good as is the interior and the body trim. There isn't really anything more to add to a modern RR without going 'footballer'.

[g3org3y]

Incredibly Alpina still seem to have survived. I suppoose that's because they decided to stick to engine and suspension tuning as opposed to wacking in some wood and guns in the back of the car and charging ridiculous amounts.

Whereas Overfinch used to stand for luxury and crazy power (with very subtle styling), it it now nothing more than bling and style over substance targetting individuals with more money than taste/sense. In its current state, no great loss imo.

[Martial Arts Man]

tom scott said:

They haven't produced anything of any real value since the 5.7 litre corvette engined classic.

My mum had one of these for the school run back in the late 80s; awesome beast.

Didn't half like a drink though!

Their current offerings are tasteless yuk!

Still a shame though...

[Beefmeister]

Denorth said:

considering the general mood of many forums on PH there is actually a market for someone to take a standard RR, to stiff the suspension, not sure about increasing the output (probably re-mapping only), and REDUCE that bling of the standard model.
Creating a perfect 'slipper'

You have a point. JLR could buy it and offer the 'Overfinch' as a spec level.

I'd love a new 4.4 TDV8 RR, but they are way too over-blinged. Lets have one with nice wheels, de-chromed, even more upmarket leather interior, and a subtle Overfinch badge.

[Dunk76]

g3org3y said:

Incredibly Alpina still seem to have survived. I suppoose that's because they decided to stick to engine and suspension tuning as opposed to wacking in some wood and guns in the back of the car and charging ridiculous amounts.

There's very little similarity between Alpina and Overfinch - Alpina are factory supported, work very closely with BMW, are supported by all BMW dealers, can only be bought through BMW dealers (theoretically) and have a large model range to work from.

A closer statement would be 'Incredibly Hartge still seem to have survived'

[Denorth]

Beefmeister said:

Denorth said:

considering the general mood of many forums on PH there is actually a market for someone to take a standard RR, to stiff the suspension, not sure about increasing the output (probably re-mapping only), and REDUCE that bling of the standard model.
Creating a perfect 'slipper'

You have a point. JLR could buy it and offer the 'Overfinch' as a spec level.

I'd love a new 4.4 TDV8 RR, but they are way too over-blinged. Lets have one with nice wheels, de-chromed, even more upmarket leather interior, and a subtle Overfinch badge.

Yeap. a lot of people like 'traditions' and reasonable amount of rich are ready to pay for British heritage, not bling only.

[ts86net]

sprinter1050 said:

Mrlol said:

This is down to "significant one-off non-trading costs"

A bit of a euphemism there I suspect. Exactly how do you define "one-off non-trading costs" ?

Directors' bonus? Pension contributions? Redundancy payments?
Most other costs e.g. interest on borrowings, corporation tax, materials etc would hardly be "one-off" or "non-trading".

One way to find out - request the accounts as a potential buyer.