Tuesday 16th November 2010

Overfinch In Administration

Luxury performance Range Rover specialist calls in the receivers

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Range Rover tuner Overfinch has gone bust.

Overfinch Bespoke Vehicles Limited, which has been building go-faster Rangies since 1975, has been placed into administration due to cash flow problems.

According to administrators Wilson Field, "significant one-off non-trading costs," have hit the company in tha past 18 months, which have "severely affected cash flow."

But Overfinch, which makes the super-luxurious Holland & Holland version of the Range Rover as well as providing a range of performance and other tweaks of less dubious taste, isn't dead just yet.

It's continuing to trade while the receivers look for a new owner for it - and the administrators seem confident they can find one.

"Given Overfinch's position as a world leader in its field and with its valuable intellectual property rights, we are confident that the business will be sold within the next few weeks, securing the future of its 20 staff." Roger Hutton, legal adviser to the administrators, told business-sale.com.

Overfinch, which is based in Farnham, Surrey, currently distributes its products to 15 countries, including markets in North America, Africa and Asia.

[R66STU]

Such a shame, I hope we don't see another British company be taken down by the credit crunch.

On the other hand why are overfinch accessories an option in range rover dealerships.. im sure they could work a deal with dealers.

[k-ink]

Maybe the country is finally developing some taste?

[Mrlol]

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

They will find a buyer to inject some cash no problem i reckon.

[Twincam16]

The Crack Fox said:

A shame, didn't they shift their market focus from the 'tally-ho shotgun what-ho Tabitha' crowd to the footballers ? Some of their later stuff was a bit 'Preston North End' as I recall...

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.

Conspicuous tastelessness was 'so noughties'. I'm not surprised they're finished.

[Steff]

k-ink said:

Maybe the country is finally developing some taste?

are you sure you're not thinking of Khan?

[T.K]

Gutting. Used to be cool.. but what he said.

[Oddball RS]

"Range Rover tuner Overfinch has gone bust."

Didn't think they had tuned anything for years.

[Triple7]

Overfinch seem to go bust on a regular basis............

[Blown2CV]

The Crack Fox said:

A shame, didn't they shift their market focus from the 'tally-ho shotgun what-ho Tabitha' crowd to the footballers ? Some of their later stuff was a bit 'Preston North End' as I recall...

My thoughts. The market is flooded with 'halfords tat for posh cars' vendors. They used to engine-swap and bespoke re-trim rangies, but moved away from performance IIRC. Maybe the big issue is the people that have money now, rather than the things people sell to them. Diversify or die though.

[sprinter1050]

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".

[The Wookie]

Not really a shame they've gone, but it was a shame when they stopping doing proper tuning stuff, I'm sure they could have found a market applying performance upgrades for the Jag engines, they wouldn't have even needed to develop anything themselves.

To be brutally honest though, even 'back in the day' they weren't the nicest company to deal with.

[huge]

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".

Surely an unpaid tax bill.....?...along the lines of the "one-off, non-trading" costs that plague football clubs.

[jdw1234]

Did the full fat supercharged factory standard r(R)ange not kill them off?

[Hendry]

This is a shame. They had quite a history of mad cars along the way.

Something is nagging me that the guy who owns Overfinch also owns Bristol (Toby Silverton). I hope this issue is specific to a trading situation at Overfinch and not that Mr Silverton has found himself on his uppers as this could have other implications if so.

[anonymous-user]

As sad as it is that a British company is going down, I've only ever seen them tailgating people. I won't miss OVERFINCH all over my rear view mirror...

[V8s ONLY]

You can buy tart up tat for Range Rovers anywhere and at significantly less cost.Overfinch used to put fantastic SB Chevys in RR Classics and sort the suspension so you could harass badly driven 911s or Ferraris,but those days are long gone,and Wookies right,a load of aggro to deal with.

[tom scott]

I agree with the post above - Overfinch was not the nicest company to deal with. They haven't produced anything of any real value since the 5.7 litre corvette engined classic. Since then they have just been selling very expensive retrims.

[S3_Graham]

said:

The WookieTo be brutally honest though, even 'back in the day' they weren't the nicest company to deal with.

As i live 5mins from the base, i tried to get some work experience there back in 2000-2001. Met the GM who was really nice and seemed really up beat, took me to see the Workshop manager who was a complete tosser and kept promising to call me... but never did.

On the plus side i did get to have a look around the old range that Clarkson had in his video with the Vette engine.

Shame as the engine conversion stuff they used to do was awesome!

Edited by S3_Graham on Tuesday 16th November 10:16

[Agent Orange]

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.

[The Curn]

V8s ONLY said:

You can buy tart up tat for Range Rovers anywhere and at significantly less cost.Overfinch used to put fantastic SB Chevys in RR Classics and sort the suspension so you could harass badly driven 911s or Ferraris,but those days are long gone,and Wookies right,a load of aggro to deal with.

Agree with this entirely.

Along with this they were killed of by the s/c and TDV8 Range Rovers. What more do you need in terms of performance.

Shame to see a British brand go under, but it hasn't been what it was for a long time.