20 - Friday, Jane 29, 1990 - North Shore News SIR WILLIAM Lyons, where are you when we need you? Jaguar’s late founder would no doubt be aghast to learn that the new F-type sports car (successor to the famous E-type) has been scrapped by Jaguar’s new owner, the Ford Motor Company. Ford wants to increase Jaguar's yearly production of cars by more than double, and that leaves no room for a low volume sports car like the F-type. Ford is also contemplating dissolving AC, a small but notable British carmaker that was respon- sible for the AC Ace, the car that became the Shelby Cobra. What a shame. What < terrible shame. Some of the most memorable cars in history were produced by small companies that started with a dream, not a marketing plan. Morgan, Lotus, Healy, Morris, Jaguar, Aston Martin, Bugatti, Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini, come to mind. Mf men like Willian: Lyons, En- zo Ferrari, and Colin ipman had stopped to think about the sales potential of cars like the Jaguar XK120, Ferrari Daytona and Lotus Elan, they would never have been produced. But today, vision and purpose have been replaced by profit and loss. Strict safety and engineering standards and a fiercely com- petitive global marketplace have made it all but impossible for many small companies to stay in the black. Specialty marques such as MG, Triumph, Sunbeam, Bricklin and DeLorean have gone bankrupt AUTOM OTIVE S§ Specialty cars face an uncertain future AutoMotion over the past decade while others are teetering on the verge of in- solvency. Waiting in the wings are hungry multi-national car companies who are ready, willing and able to buy out cash-strapped independent car companies with petty cash. Ford recently acquired Jaguar and AC, General Motors owns Lotus and half cf Saab-Scania, Fiat owns a major share of Ferrari and Alfa Romco, Chrysler has Lamborghini, and a non- automotive Japanese firm recently acquired Ginetta. Volvo joins forces with Renault this year to help it cope with increasing devel- opment costs. Why would a large, profitable automobile company want to ac- quire a smail, possibly money- losing car maker? For one thing, it is a quick and easy way of ac- quiring prestige, something often lacking in a large automobile cor- poration. In addition, the large financial resources and marketing network of a big company can turn around the fortunes of a smaller com- pany. General Motors recently reached an agreement to sell Saab automobiles through their Pass- port dealerships, effectively doubl- ing the number of Saab’s retail dealerships. For a big company, buying a smaller company also affords the opportunity of picking up manufacturing facilities at con- siderably less than the cost of building new ones. There is little doubt that many small car companies would not survive if they didn’t have access to the financial resources of a larger partner. But the danger is that these specialty marques will lose their individuality, the trait that made them great in the first place. Limited-production, special inter- est cars are often unique, unusual and sometimes odd. They appeal to a small, but loyal, group of people. However, they are rarely produced in any great numbers. Cen any big car company be satisfied with that fact? For them, manufacturing cars is a business not a Jove affair. A car’s virtue is measured by its sales potential, not its unique appeal. Perhaps Ford and other large companies have overlooked the: importance of history, tradition, and buyer loyalty. 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