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How to earn a small fortune

The pitfalls of starting your own car company

…So the saying goes doesn’t it? Start with a big one, and there is no better example than the motor industry.

The world is littered with failed supercar companies – of course it has to be supercars because the millionaires building them used to sit at school sketching these fire-breathing monsters on their sketchbooks, not the types of family hatchbacks that we all actually drive…no, those tend to be left to the professionals, and for good reason too.

But, of course there have been some successes too, I’m thinking about Pagani and Koennigsegg primarily, so we better give them some page space – otherwise the next generation of budding supercar makers might be put off, and, let’s face it, it makes the world a whole lot more interesting doesn’t it?

The successes first, I think!

PaganiPaganiItaly, 1992 > present2 models
180 photos
1 video
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We may as well start with the best of the bunch, and that is clearly Horatio Pagani’s Italian (with MercedesMercedes-BenzGermany, 1924 > present197 models
9852 photos
33 videos
engines I hasten to add) supercar company.

Horatio Pagani used to work for LamborghiniLamborghiniItaly, 1963 > present32 models
1447 photos
19 videos
Composites before in the late 1980’s, he set up his own composites business in Italy and shortly after that decided that he wanted to start building supercars. Horatio spoke to his mate Juan (Fangio!) and the legendary Argentinean driver and Mercedes was suggested as a potential engine supplier. Indeed, the first car was not to be called the C12 at all, it was meant to be called the Fangio – but Pagani did not think that would be right after the great man died.

Since then, with Mercedes and AMGAMGGermany, 1966 > present17 models
103 photos
as its engine partner, Pagani has gone from strength to strength. The latest offering – the HuayraPagani HuayraItaly, 2011 > present27 photos
1 video
(pronounced why-ra) has been released to universal acclaim and is as desirable a supercars come – it’s even a bit of a breath of fresh air (with its big V12) next to the hybrid models from FerrariFerrariItaly, 1947 > present233 models
5131 photos
37 videos
and PorschePorscheGermany, 1931 > present43 models
4639 photos
29 videos
that are due in short order.

The Huayra is powered by a Mercedes-Benz AMG 6.0-liter twin-turbo V12 engine.

KoenigseggKoenigseggSweden, 1994 > present6 models
168 photos
2 videos
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Christian Von Koenigsegg started his company in 1994, but it is during the last decade that his supercar company has leapt to prominence. And, it is all about speed with Koenigsegg - as any self respecting supercar company should be.

Koenigsegg even tried to buy SaabSaabSweden, 1947 > present28 models
718 photos
4 videos
although it fell through at the last minute – but the attempt showed the size of Koenigsegg’s ambitions at least.

The Swedish manufacturer has just brought out the Agera – which, to all intents and purposes, is a damn good car. It has, the now instantly recognizable, 5.0 litre V8 and produces 927 bhp….not enough? That is why the Agera RKoenigsegg Agera RSweden, 2011 > present11 photos
1 video
exists, of course! The R comes with 1100bhp and will theoretically plough on to 275mph.

Whether you are a Pagani fan – like me – or a fan of Christian von Koenigsegg’s monsters it is impossible to deny that either company has not been an unqualified success in the harsh world of supercar manufacturing.

The Koenigsegg Agera is powered by a 4.7-litre V8 engine with an output of 927 bhp

The ones that didn’t make it…

TVRTVRUnited Kingdom, 1946 > 201223 models
33 photos
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…the company that made the fire breathing Speed 12TVR Cerbera Speed 12United Kingdom, 2000 > present3 photos
. You know, the one that was impossible to drive on Gran Turismo when we were all a bit younger.

The Blackpool based manufacturer was famed for some of the right reasons (building fast, raw, exciting and somewhat brutal sportscars) but plenty of the wrong ones too (gappy plastic bodywork and terrible reliability).

Actually, the older RoverRoverUnited Kingdom, 1904 > 200523 models
24 photos
V8 powered cars weren’t bad and made a great noise to boot. But then, through the last decade, as so often happens, the desire to move forward proved the company’s undoing.

First of all there was TVR’s own six-cylinder engine which, while exciting, blew up an awful lot…then there was the afore-mentioned 800bhp Speed 12 which never really got off the ground. Long-term owner Peter Wheeler sold TVR to Russian Nikolai Smolensky in 2004 for £15 million and it was downhill from there on in.

Production kept on falling and then it all got a bit silly, with Smolensky putting the business into administration before buying it back. Anyway, it died a death in July 2012 when Smolensky finally admitted that there was no viable way to continue.

TVR died a very quiet death for such a noisy company.

24-year-old Russian Nikolay Smolensky acquired the British carmaker in 2004.

CizetaCizeta-MoroderItaly, 1988 > 19951 model
2 photos
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Only in Italy – that should be the tagline!

Claudio Zampolli and Giorgio Moroder ran Cizeta from the late 1980’s and into the 1990’s. Lamborghini DiabloLamborghini DiabloItaly, 1990 > 20019 versions
33 photos
2 videos
? Yup, think about that and then double the outrageousness.

The Cizeta (which they claim they will still build for about €1 million) had double pop-up headlights and a V16 engine producing 540bhp.

As was inevitable Zampolli and Moroder fell out in 1990 and after the firm’s bankruptcy in 1994 Zampolli went to the USA where, ironically, the Cizeta is illegal – with one being seized by US Customs in 2009.

Cizeta was born out of teh super car hype of the 80s but did not survive the test of time.

VectorVectorUnited States of America, 1971 > present4 models
4 photos
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So, when you make a car with 600bhp that you can’t make reliable what is the solution? Add another 1400bhp and hope for the best? Stupid…of course!

Like so many ambitious supercar manufacturers Vector has lurched from crisis to controversy. Andre Agassi even took delivery of a W8Vector W8United States of America, 1989 > 19932 photos
in 1994 but was told not to drive it until it had been finished by the company…before returning his money when the car broke down.

Vector eventually went bankrupt before Gerald Wiegert started the automaker back up again with a new 1850bhp WX8Vector WX8United States of America, 2007 > present1 photo
displayed in Los Angeles in 2007. It was supposed to reach 275mph and do 0-60mph in less than 3 seconds…we’re still waiting to find out if it’ll become anything more than an exciting spec-sheet.

Announcements that Vector returns with a new model are yet to be realized

De TomasoDe TomasoItaly, 1959 > present10 models
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Unlike Vector and Cizeta, De Tomaso actually produced the odd good car – the PanteraDe Tomaso PanteraItaly, 1970 > 19915 versions
8 photos
being the high point. Unfortunately the last twist in the tale for the beleaguered auto-maker was its chairman going to jail for the misappropriation of €9 million that was meant to go towards helping the company produce its new SUV and saloon cars.

Was this the wrong way to go anyway? I think most fans of the Pantera will tell you it was – just make a modern version of the Pantera they will tell you…and they’d be right too I think.

De Tomaso has, at least, got a decent name though, and like Koenigsegg it pulled off the relationship with big American V8 lumps very well indeed. Maybe it will rise from the ashes once again? I hope so…but maybe we won’t see its early ‘60s F1 team again I’m guessing!

De Tomaso produced only one generation of its legendary model Pantera, which lasted, however, for two whole decades

DeLoreanDe LoreanUnited Kingdom, 1975 > 19821 model
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DeLorean has to get an honorable mention on this list I think. Even Colin Chapman, of LotusLotusUnited Kingdom, 1952 > present68 models
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7 videos
fame, was involved – and he’d have gone to prison for embezzling millions too if he hadn’t died of a heart attack.

DeLorean himself led a colourful life which included a drug deal (from which he was acquitted) and a battle with the British courts (which wanted him extradited for the fraud case) which he resisted. In the end DeLorean died aged 80 and his legacy will remain a film appearance for his car as a time machine in ‘Back to the Future’.