BLOWING PAST THE 100 GRAND BAR. – Rants

Editor’s Be aware: Peter’s column talks about industry pricing, entire with an update from James “Jimmy” Fu and S.L. “Sonny” King as the Fu-King Motors boys deal with offer concerns like most people else. “On The Desk” features Mercedes-Benz legend Rudolph Uhlenaut’s outstanding 1955 300 SLR Coupe, which not long ago changed palms for the optimum selling price in automotive history. Peter talks about “America’s Cathedral of Pace” – the Indianapolis Motor Speedway – in Fumes. And glimpse for extensive coverage in both equally Fumes and The Line of the run-up to Sunday’s jogging of the Indianapolis 500. -WG

 

By Peter M. DeLorenzo

Detroit. Specified that all the things is nicely and truly out of sorts correct now (you signify flat-out crazy, ideal? -WG) or improved however, “Over Below Sideways Down” as The Yardbirds once famously sang, how did we arrive at this stage? Of course, there is the chip “thing,” the lingering supply chain “thing,” the scarcity of every thing “thing.” And then there is the burgeoning pricing “thing” as in, how did we arrive at this point in time in the car business enterprise, the place $60,000 is regarded as a mid-priced vehicle, and $100,000+ is now the recognized value of admission for the upper conclude of the market? 

Certainly, I get it, time marches on and all that, but was not it less than a 10 years ago when cars priced at $100,000 (and up) ended up reserved for the Aston Martins, Bentleys, Ferraris, Lamborghinis and other exotica of the automobile world? 

Now, the ordinary value of a loaded luxury pickup truck from Chevy, Ford, GMC or Ram is approaching $75,000. If you get a loaded Tremendous Obligation version of just one of these pickup vans, you’re conveniently pushing six figures, and much more. Or how about the $75,000 Ford Broncos and V8-powered 392 Jeep Wranglers?

The story is even much more so for luxurious SUVs in this industry. Let us facial area it, if a producer doesn’t have a high quality SUV that’s 100 Grand or above, it cannot be regarded as a really serious participant. The checklist of gamers in that arena incorporates Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Land Rover, Lincoln and Mercedes-Benz, and that’s just for starters. 

But then all over again, that 100 Grand plateau is quickly getting a stepping stone problem, as really hard as that is to understand, since the list of players with SUVs approaching $200,000 and over is rising exponentially. Lamborghini, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche are filling that place, with Aston Martin, Rolls-Royce and quickly-to-be Ferrari (ugh) blowing previous $200,000 and pushing $300,000+. As in, are you frickin’ kidding me?

Welcome to the new regular, seemingly. Yes, I have seen all of the figures – the advancement of personal prosperity and disposable income, alongside with the drive of affluent buyers to say “WTF?” and spend large revenue on their own transportation alternatives to “cocoon” in the course of and immediately after the pandemic (you know, that pandemic, which never ever appears to be to go away). And I applaud persons rediscovering the notion of hitting the road and embracing the plan of street outings they hardly ever took back again in the day, due to the fact hitting the highway is usually a superior factor. 

But 100 Grand becoming the new threshold for luxurious vehicle brands from listed here on out is nonetheless a very little really hard to swallow. Was not it just a couple of decades in the past when rates in the $80,000 array were being eye-opening? Sure, it was. But then yet again turning again the clock is not likely to materialize either. It would seem just a moment in the past when the plan of 100 Grand currently being the rate of entry for tremendous quality luxury was radically steep. Now? It’s feeling like a quaint idea at this position, for the reason that the market place has blown earlier that. 

Is it sustainable? That is a distinct dialogue fully. We are clearly teetering on the edge of a recessionary period, brought on by the ongoing source chain chaos and lingering COVID nightmare. Not to mention the systemic pressures getting fueled by the “Grand Transition” to BEVs. A huge “We’ll See” as we like to say all-around here, but I never see selling prices rolling again whenever soon, or at any time once again for that subject.

I’ve been immersed in all of this simply because I am in deep talks with my friends Mr. James “Jimmy” Fu and Mr. S. L. “Sonny” King, as they try out to identify pricing for their new merchandise line. 

As longtime AE viewers may perhaps remember from former columns, Jimmy and Sonny have operated in the shadows of the gigantic Chinese industrial machine for a long time. But for viewers new to AE, I will gladly lose some light-weight on these two flamboyant characters so they can have a more entire photo of who they are. 

Mr. Fu started production product automobiles in the late 70s, and it has now been confirmed that he controls every single toymaking concern in China through a labyrinthian network of mother-and-pop factories and a number of other significant conglomerates that he lords around. Mr. King grew to become companions with Mr. Fu soon after originally giving the elaborate wheels and carefully in-depth tires on Mr. Fu’s design automobiles. The two have been companions for a lengthy time in actuality, they’re entering their fifth decade together now.

I very first acquired to know Mr. Fu and Mr. King after they approached me at the Los Angeles Vehicle Display a long time ago. Evidently, they had stumbled on Autoextremist.com after they initial turned acquainted with the World-wide-web, and they regaled me with the simple fact that they both equally learned English by acquiring my ‘Rants’ columns translated for them. 

When I initial fulfilled them, it turned into an uproarious come across as they blurted out some of my patented phrases that they experienced figured out phonetically, like ‘notgonnahappen.com,’ ‘halle-frickin’-luja’ and ‘the Response to the Dilemma that Totally No A person is Inquiring.’ (How they discovered that final just one stays a mystery to me.)

Mr. Fu and Mr. King have remained in near contact with me at any time since. As I’ve gotten to know Jimmy and Sonny, their frenetic pace and boundless energy never stop to amaze me. The Zoom calls I obtain at 3:00 p.m. my time are usually booze-stuffed stream-of-consciousness rants by Jimmy with Sonny yelling matters above his shoulder, accompanied by stylish product types dancing to disco new music in the qualifications at their secretive Shanghai lair. And their appetites seem to be even extra boundless. In reality, Jimmy is nonetheless fond of aspiring woman pop stars, even though Sonny is a incredibly generous sponsor of a woman gymnastic academy. 

As you may picture, with their insatiable appetites for, very well, every thing, their underground garage is in a frequent condition of flux. Let us just say they go by way of about a 50 %-dozen cars and trucks for each 12 months, each and every. Quickly American muscle autos are overflowing in their fleet, which is an enthusiast’s cornucopia of biggest hits, together with a mélange of Challengers (each individual modified to supply 1100HP) an initial “narrow-hipped” 427 road Cobra a L88 Corvette two new Corvette C8s (one black, just one white) and a pair of custom made-built Willys Gasser replicas from the 60s powered by race-geared up Chevy 502 huge-blocks reserved for terrorizing the neighbors in the center of the evening. I have recognized that their fondness for Bourbon has progressed from Knob Creek via Basil Hayden’s to now Woodford Reserve, but that seems to transform about each and every a few months or so. 

Just one major alter for Jimmy and Sonny is that they marketed one particular of their twin Gulfstream G650s. Due to the fact they definitely loved their jets, this is a massive deal. Jimmy explained that “We experienced to lower back, small business is not so excellent appropriate now. (They saved Jimmy’s, which is Jet Black and marketed Sonny’s, which was Chaparral White.)

The previous time I talked with Jimmy and Sonny, I was able to piece together some salient particulars of the Fu-King Motors potential product or service portfolio (even though it took 3, lengthy, Woodford Reserve-fueled Zoom phone calls to do so, with considerably yelling – generally the yelling – and the incessant disco pop participating in LOUDLY in the history). Since then, I have been counseling Jimmy and Sunny about the pricing of their forthcoming solutions.

So, as finest as I can notify, below is the most recent timeline – every little thing has been pushed again a number of decades (“Chip Hell,” as Jimmy and Sonny said in unison) – and the projected pricing for what Fu-King Motors has coming:

2025 (pushed back again from 2021): The extensive-awaited debut of the Fu-King Gargantuan, the six-wheeled, all-electric SUV is made to embarrass “anything else in the market,” in accordance to Jimmy. Flaunting some outstanding quantities: 2000HP 10,000 lbs., electric step ladders (“not actions, ladders,” Jimmy insists) and “a glimpse that will humiliate all that other crap out there,” added Sonny. When I asked about the value, Jimmy and Sonny answered in unison: “Enough to make grown guys cry!” So, what, precisely, is “enough to make grown adult men cry?” Jimmy laughed heartily at my hand-wringing over the new $100,000 threshold and stated – with not a nanosecond’s hesitation – that the Gargantuan would have a base rate of $599,999. Gulp. (But, as Sonny pointed out, that is a $100,000 rate reduce from in which they were.)

2025 (pushed back from 2021): Another really expected debut – The Fu-King Motors KickBoxer – is the boys’ respond to to the Jeep Wrangler and Ford Bronco with “unequaled” off-street performance. Boasting a carbon-fiber unibody and a kaleidoscope of various variations, such as a pickup and one particular cryptically referred to as the “RumRunner Edition” (“it can conceal forty gallons of Bourbon!” Sonny chimed in), the KickBoxer will be driven by an all-aluminum, 2.-liter, gas-injected, Twin-Turbo, flat eight-cylinder motor that provides 700HP. When questioned if this could quite possibly be construed as overkill, Sonny immediately replied: “We will introduce our competitors to the notion of having their asses kicked!” So, how a lot will it price tag to kick your neighbors’ asses in their valuable Wranglers and Broncos? Sonny, who was the driving pressure powering this plan, priced it at $199,000 stating, “There is so a lot engineering in this beast that fanatics will beg to get on the waiting listing. You want to make a splash at automobiles and coffee? We acquired your splash ideal here!” (Seeking to counsel the boys about pricing self-control has proved to be a futile training.)

2026 (I’ll believe this one particular when I see it): The all-electrical semi-truck that appears to be eerily like the Bison highly developed lengthy-haul trucking concept that GM Styling established for the 1964 World’s Fair is “a definite go” for late in ’26, according to Jimmy. When I was revealed photographs of the strategy, I considered they had resurrected the designers who did the initial Bison, it appeared so shut to the primary (see underneath). But this truck will be a hydrogen gasoline mobile-powered electric powered large truck with a variety of “700+ miles,” according to Sonny. The title? “Convoy.” (It appears to be that Jimmy and Sonny are substantial fans of the first “Smokey and The Bandit” movie and the total C.B. radio period in the U.S.) How considerably? $600,000, all-in.

(GM)

The Bison heavy truck concept from GM Styling was built for the 1964 World’s Fair in New York.

2030 (If it occurs at all): It’s clear that the advancement of the Fu-King Motors supercar has been fraught with problems from the commencing. That it has taken its toll on Jimmy and Sonny is evident, as each time I point out it their standard exuberant tendencies convert decidedly glum. First envisioned as a superior-functionality, hydrogen fuel cell-driven electrical hypercar, the equipment – code named “Bandini” – has been reimagined as a BEV aimed to eclipse Gordon Murray’s T.50. Reported to have 1+2 seating and a control body weight of 1900 lbs., Jimmy and Sunny are nevertheless mum – and decidedly glum – on any additional information, which is unconventional for them, although I know they are constantly bickering about the information. Which means you can wager that even the 2030 time-frame is a pipedream and not even shut to going on. And they have not stopped bickering prolonged more than enough to even converse about the pricing nevertheless. Even though from what I’ve observed so significantly, it will cost $4 million, least.

When I asked about products and solutions over and above 2030, the boys mimicked what I normally say, chiming in again in unison, “It’s a big we’ll see!” And, when asked if they experienced any strategies to import their items to the U.S., the reply was a resounding, “Never!” Asked why, they answered all over again in unison, “Too a great deal bullshit, also significantly aggravation. We’re acquiring as well old for this shit!” 

At that issue all I could say was, “I concur.”

And I am reminded of individuals immortal terms of The Wicked Witch of the West: 

“Oh, what a environment! What a entire world!” 

What a globe, in fact.

And that’s the Superior-Octane Truth for this week.