Aeon Epona

[GTRene]

for example, those ready G40 Ginetta's cost only 23K each...as good as new.
they look like road ready, though they are not made for the road I believe....
anyway, lights windows interior etc...
guess they can sell them for reasonable price because they do also race series etc?

http://www.racecarsdirect.com/listing/33327/Ginett...

[singlecoil]

GTRene said:

for example, those ready G40 Ginetta's cost only 23K each...as good as new.
they look like road ready, though they are not made for the road I believe....
anyway, lights windows interior etc...
guess they can sell them for reasonable price because they do also race series etc?

http://www.racecarsdirect.com/listing/33327/Ginett...

Thanks for the link, that's one car that had just passed me by, I know of Ginetta,of course, but not that particular model. I would have to say that is a much better (to my eyes) looking car that the Epona.

[tribbles]

singlecoil said:

tribbles said:

I don't see the Epona being any more expensive than an Aeon GT3 - which would probably put it at the 12K-15K range.

I can think of at least one owner who reckons his Aeon cost £26K.

Yeah - me

However, Aeon think you can build one for 17K - but I think that would only be possible excluding VAT and you happened to have a spare engine/gearbox kicking around, as well as some seats.

So, a good Aeon would be £26K, a good Epona I would guess nearer £20-22K.

[groomi]

Jerkins said:

If I was in Aeon's position I'd want to see at least a number of people showing keen interest, maybe with a significant deposit, before starting production.

Nobody is suggesting they start production without orders, but right now they haven't even built a prototype.

[singlecoil]

groomi said:

Jerkins said:

If I was in Aeon's position I'd want to see at least a number of people showing keen interest, maybe with a significant deposit, before starting production.

Nobody is suggesting they start production without orders, but right now they haven't even built a prototype.

Nor are they likely to, the cost will be completely out of context with what the project is worth, due mainly to the aforementioned cost of making the body pattern and the moulds.

[Steve_D]

Hands up anyone who would place an order and put money down for a car that does not even exist?

Even a company with existing sales and an ongoing product has to have a demonstrator.

From what I have seen so far the money they have spent on advertising could have produced a prototype or at the very least a full size body model and a chassis.

Can't see anyone commiting to a purchase against some CAD designs and desktop models.

Steve

[gaz 1977]

Im sure that the advertising budget for the project was about £90.

as for desk top models i have a bit of a soft spot for them.

www.flagmodelmaking.co.uk

Thanks.

[ezakimak]

If there are a number of people seriously interested in having one of these cars, and they are all in a reasonably close area, why dont they get to gether and build the first prototype them selves. would need someone to sponsor them in terms of a work space/shed and maybe some raw materials. however from what im hearing the big cost is labor so if people are willing to get to gether and have a bit of fun doing it then they can add there ideas to the prototype and get what they want and get it done in a quicker time. This is how the "social climbers" have been working with there hillclimb car and it has been heeps of fun.

DO IT.

[seansverige]

GTRene said:

for example, those ready G40 Ginetta's cost only 23K each...as good as new.
they look like road ready, though they are not made for the road I believe....
anyway, lights windows interior etc...
guess they can sell them for reasonable price because they do also race series etc?

http://www.racecarsdirect.com/listing/33327/Ginett...

Little misleading: it's 23k+VAT, and even though they're hardly used, they're not new: haven't checked recently, but new price was £24,950 (again +VAT) a year ago. A couple have been registered (well, they're wearing plates anyway), and a roadgoing version was supposed to go on sale last June, but I guess if the racing business is doing OK, why stage a potentially expensive launch against the current economic backdrop? (though the forthcoming G55 seems to indicate their R&D budget is healthy enough.)

Steve_D said:

...who would place an order and put money down for a car that does not even exist?

Ginetta customers. All you need is a race series and make the new car the only one eligible for it...

(sorry, couldn't resist)

[GTRene]

I think that lovely coupe version would cost in the 35K +vat with those lovely I guess gull-wing doors...(love that)



but this open version could be more in the 25K +vat I guess...
that open version could also be the next Caterham 21 (or dare I say TVR) also when you look at the interior.





to compare with that Caterham 21, though I could not find a picture in the same possition sadly...

Edited by GTRene on Tuesday 21st December 11:25

[seansverige]

?

[andygtt]

Russ Bost said:

I cannot possibly see how it could be built & on the road for anything like sub £10k - most halfway decent 7's cost around £10k to get on the road & you're going to have to find that extra 2.5-3k for the body you mention, plus trim, paint, presumably a heater, more costly seats, carpet, seals, window winders, don't know if you were including glass within the figure of 2.5-3k or not, but even if you were there's at least another £5k there

But now your upping the spec, Im betting I could spend 50k building a 7 if I went totally mad...
I had included the cost of the screen as a lot of 7's have screens and some kind of half resonable interior with a half baked heater.


And yes the Ultima body was 4.5k when I bought mine including doors and a gel coat finish hence no requirement to paint and thus my 2.5-3k extra cost estimate.... if we choose to up the spec and build something more than a 7 then you are moving OUT of the gap in the market that I am refering to.

and i do know whats involved with making the buck and moulds as Ive been doing it.... BUT hundreds of other kit manufacturerers have done this kind of investment on quite frankly less attractive and conceptually smaller market volumes.

So again Im still at a loss as to why this hasn't been snapped up by a Kit car manufacturer.... definatelly a bigger market for this car than the 3 seater aeon! so please someone explain if you had the aeon 3GT and the Epona why the GT3 would be produced and the Epona wouldnt?

edited to add that only the first comment was refering to your comments Russ

Edited by andygtt on Tuesday 21st December 11:39

[GTRene]

indeed, also I find the Epona far more attractive...

but real buyers may be hard to find with so many cars on the road, also a lot people say...oh, for that kind of money I can buy say a second-hand Porsche or TVR or whatever.

maybe they can sell there "cars/models" to another brand ala Caterham/Ginetta
Ginetta seems pretty successful but they put in a race-series and have their heritage/name...
maybe Caterham can use something new (seen to many seven's)

[tribbles]

andygtt said:

so please someone explain if you had the aeon 3GT and the Epona why the GT3 would be produced and the Epona wouldnt?

I'm not quite sure what you mean by that point.

There is a market for both cars; and I would agree that the Epona would be larger than the GT3. But there isn't an Epona to market, so it's kind of a moot point (if it's the way I'm reading it).

[Yazza54]

If they make that, I'll start saving today

[andygtt]

tribbles said:

andygtt said:

so please someone explain if you had the aeon 3GT and the Epona why the GT3 would be produced and the Epona wouldnt?

I'm not quite sure what you mean by that point.

There is a market for both cars; and I would agree that the Epona would be larger than the GT3. But there isn't an Epona to market, so it's kind of a moot point (if it's the way I'm reading it).

What I mean is at some point the GT3 was a concept like the Epona, what does the GT3 have that made it worth the effort that the Epona doesnt?

[tribbles]

andygtt said:

tribbles said:

andygtt said:

so please someone explain if you had the aeon 3GT and the Epona why the GT3 would be produced and the Epona wouldnt?

I'm not quite sure what you mean by that point.

There is a market for both cars; and I would agree that the Epona would be larger than the GT3. But there isn't an Epona to market, so it's kind of a moot point (if it's the way I'm reading it).

What I mean is at some point the GT3 was a concept like the Epona, what does the GT3 have that made it worth the effort that the Epona doesnt?

Ahh - I understand.

Mainly the GT3 was developed way before the Epona was even a model (so there wasn't an Epona at the time) - the first time it was exhibited was at the Exeter show in 2003, and there would've been a couple of years of development beforehand.

If both cars had started off at the same point in time, then the Epona would probably have been chosen.

[simon3000]

the original story of the epona can be found here http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthread.php?tid... a very interesting read.thats the history behind the design,as for why it hasnt been put in production probably only the original designer and aeon know the real reasons.

[groomi]

singlecoil said:

groomi said:

Jerkins said:

If I was in Aeon's position I'd want to see at least a number of people showing keen interest, maybe with a significant deposit, before starting production.

Nobody is suggesting they start production without orders, but right now they haven't even built a prototype.

Nor are they likely to, the cost will be completely out of context with what the project is worth, due mainly to the aforementioned cost of making the body pattern and the moulds.

Well then they#ll never sell any, will they?

If they haven't got enough confidence in the car to actually build something resembling a real car, then why on earth will any potential customers?

Speculate to accumulate...

[jeffw]

Aeon Sportscars are one part of much larger engineering company who manufacture expensive, GPS guided, agriculture machinery. This larger company sells sprayers etc which cost £100K +. This part of the business is still very busy even in the recent recession. The Owner of Aeon Sportscars is, sensible, taking the view that investing significant capital, financially or in terms of time, in a kit car with a limited market potential is not a sound business decision at this moment.

Given the number of GT3s & GTRs that have been sold (20 maybe, not sure of the numbers) the cost of developing the Epona further (10K-20K to get to a completed body & interior?) would not seem to make financial sense unless you had 5+ substantial deposits.