Stian, Your suggestion about vendors getting their money up front for a product they are interested in bringing to market is an excellent one. If any of the established vendors were to propose a product and it appealed to me I'd be willing to pay for it in advance with the idea that my money would be returned in a reasonable time if the development was abandoned. Speaking of side mirrors, one idea I'd like to see come to market is a side mirror which could easily replace the original side mirror but that would incorporate a red turn signal on its outer edge. A white curtsey light at the bottom to illuminate the ground below it might not be a bad idea either. I've seen both those features on some high end new model cars and SUVs I think they both are a good safety feature. The mirror would have to rather closely resemble the original mirrors so as to not spoil the original beautiful look to the car. Joe Thome VIN 6467 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stian Birkeland" <delorean@xxxx> To: <dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Wednesday, June 12, 2002 12:47 PM Subject: [DML] RE: Vendors, new product development... > A few comments - > If there is trouble to have people pay after a part has been developed, why not make them pay in advance? > I, for one, would have absolutely no trouble with that. I'm one of DMC Houston most satisfied customers, their service and knowledge is great, and lets face it - it is only they who can take the DeLorean on to "another level" based on their warehouse of DeLorean parts. > > Again, I would like to remind people of the poll concerning new re-developed parts. > > James, does DMC Houston have plans for a small temperature gadget that could be fitted in the space of the centre console clock? It would be very nice to know the outside temperature. Wide angle mirrors are also a thing that would make the DeLorean more modern. > > And the torsion bar issue. Do you have the blueprints/info on how to make these bars or is this info lost? > If it is lost, be sure to get in touch with the retired engineers at Grumman before they pass away. We need this info. > > Finally, you have mentioned that a bracket is coming soon, the bracket for holding down the T-panel behind the rear louvers. When will that be ready? > > Other than this, can you tell us what other parts DMC Houston are considering to re-manufacture? > > Very best wishes > Stian Birkeland > Norway > > VIN # 06759 > > Unfortunately unable to attend Memphis :-( But you guys have a great time, you hear! :-) > > > Message: 5 > Date: Wed, 12 Jun 2002 10:18:01 -0500 > From: James Espey <james@xxxx> > Subject: Vendors, new product development... > > Precisely why I had to smile when Stian mentioned this - it's a great idea > to have people pre-pay to order a part that's being developed, but when it's > time for people to put their money where their mouth is, it's often a > different story. > > On things like the switches, door handles, etc - in order to make the cost > reasonable (note that the three aforementioned products actually came DOWN > in price from previous retail), a relatively large minimum order for > production is required. Particularly when you consider how many cars are > left and actively used. > > So it becomes a numbers game - how many can you sell, at what price, to get > a return on the investment (at least recovering expenses, preferably making > some money if for nothing else than to have something ELSE remanufactured)? > A lot of stuff doesn't make the cut (yet) based on that. > > Stian mentioned the two tank senders, and Martin pointed out that > competition is healthy. In this case, Tankzilla is a fine product, and we > have used them for several years. But the price turns a lot of people off, > and at times, we have had problems with availability (though not very > often). Our tank sender will retail for considerably less than half the > price of Tankzilla, and as we had them manufactured ourselves, availability > shouldn't be a problem for us. > > James > > >> Why don't some of the vendors do this? > >> Put forward an offer on a part that will be reproduced. Let people > >> pre-order, and hold the credit card on file...so when the part has > >> been reproduced they charge the card and ship it out. > >> This method could boost development time for replacement DMC parts > >> of higher quality... > > > (SNIP) > > prior to embarking. He didn't ask for a "credit card commitment" up front as > > suggested above, just an indication of interest. As a vendor for 16 years, > (SNIP) > > support expressed, how hard could it be to sell 100 sets? > > > > Harder than we thought. After 5+ months of fairly high visibility on the DML > > we have sold exactly 59 sets. Many of those who expressed initial support > > never came through with orders. > (SNIP) > > Was it worth putting up close to 6 grand to see so little (less than 1%) > > interest in the TABs? Not from a business perspective. But we who support the > > hobby the rest of you enjoy will keep doing it. Or most will. Its up to you. > > Darryl T. > > Specialty Automotive > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > To address comments privately to the moderating team, please address: > moderator@xxxx > > To search the archives or view files, log in at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > >