Supercar manufacturers and their football club counterparts

 

 

FerrariFerrariItaly, 1947 > present233 models
5131 photos
37 videos
– Manchester United

Ferrari’s R&D budget was recently exposed as being €279 million for 2012, and it doesn’t look like slowing down. Not only are they investing in technology but they are winning with it too. The money they invest is also sensible relative to the profit that the brand produces with its world wide appeal. Ferrari is one of the world’s biggest brands and that looks set to continue, the fact that the two companies have an affiliation to the colour red is an aside, but a nice one at that!

 

 

 

                                                            BentleyBentleyUnited Kingdom, 1919 > present37 models
1460 photos
5 videos
– Manchester City

Bentley, like a lot of English car manufacturers over the years, has always been on the verge of bankruptcy and disaster – ever since the late 1920’s when the Bentley boys were at their pomp and the company was ruling the roost at Le Mans and sweeping the French upstarts aside with a blast of their mighty 8-litre engines. Even then disaster was just around the corner and the business was in need of a savior early in the 1930’s, and so it was…that’s just the thing with a brand like Bentley, someone will always have a vision. Most of the time that vision fails to end in reality but for Bentley and Manchester City the amount of backing that they received almost guaranteed success. It became a matter of pure, brute buying power.

 

                                                            LotusLotusUnited Kingdom, 1952 > present68 models
951 photos
7 videos
– QPR

Danny Bahar…where do we start? Some within our profession suggest that he was hard done by while others are less complimentary about his tenure at Lotus. I am in the latter camp and the reasons why stem back to the amount of money and expertise invested in making a Ferrari or a Bentley as good as they are, as well made as they are and as reliable as they are…not just millions, it’s billions of pounds over the course of a few years. Bahar jumped straight in at the deep end by unveiling a plan to build five new models that would compete directly with the likes of Ferrari and Porsche without the funds or the brand (ultimately). It made him and Lotus look stupid, just as QPR are looking now. QPR are going to look pretty silly when they are stuck with players earning £100,000 per week in the championship…the moral of the story? Don’t bite off more than you can chew!

 

 

Aston MartinAston MartinUnited Kingdom, 1914 > present62 models
1872 photos
24 videos
– Aston Villa

They’ve always been there or thereabouts, losing money, making a bit of money at times…occasionally building a world beater. But at the moment, although on the face of it you might not realize, Aston Martin is in some serious trouble. The building that the marque operates from at Gaydon is fantastic – a legacy of the FordFordUnited Kingdom, 1909 > present33 models
3718 photos
5 videos
days, and no-one can deny that the cars are very pretty. But even the prettiest cars need a refresh after a decade, and a lot of people are pretty bored with the styling now – at least those that matter, the ones that buy these cars, and by now probably have already had one. The engines are getting a bit old as well (a bit like QPR’s footballers); as anyone who has driven a V12 Aston back to back with a Ferrari F12/FF will confirm. Both of these companies are on a knife edge – I’m sure they’ll both survive but the road will be rocky!

 

 

LamborghiniLamborghiniItaly, 1963 > present32 models
1447 photos
19 videos
– Chelsea

Lamborghini very nearly went the same way as Spector in the 1990’s, they were based in the same Californian offices and both were owned by HiCom. However, the purchase by VWVolkswagenGermany, 1938 > present98 models
9654 photos
31 videos
chaged everything for Lamborghini – they’d have you believe that it was immediate, which isn’t even slightly true (not quite like Chelsea and Abramovic’s billions then) but by 2004 they certainly had the semblance of something that was a world beater – the GallardoLamborghini Gallardo Gen.1Italy, 2003 > 201332 versions
179 photos
2 videos
. Recently the Gallardo has felt a bit long in the tooth as it has come up against the Ferrari 458Ferrari 458 ItaliaItaly, 2009 > present14 versions
82 photos
8 videos
and McLaren’s 12CMcLaren MP4-12CUnited Kingdom, 2009 > present15 versions
46 photos
6 videos
– a bit like Chelsea and their aging superstars. But you know with all that money and expertise there’ll be something good with some controversy attached just round the corner.

 

 

PorschePorscheGermany, 1931 > present43 models
4639 photos
29 videos
– Arsenal

Porsche: A money making machine! Apart from the cars being truly excellent Porsche makes so much money that a few years ago many people believed that it might actually take over VW – not the other way round. Arsenal also make a few quid – as is well publicized. And then there is the question of any other similarity? Well, what about the fact that both companies could be a little bit more adventurous at the moment? And I don’t mean more 4x4’s Porsche! Arsenal need to spend and take a risk and we’d all like to see a truly revolutionary design from Stuttgart.

 

 

 

 

 

And, here’s one for you guys: What should McLarenMcLarenUnited Kingdom, 1963 > present92 models
1883 photos
12 videos
be? I really don’t know yet, maybe we’ll find out when (F1 aside) it’s a decade old or more.

The unknown that was once great and might rise from the ashes?

 

HondaHondaJapan, 1948 > present102 models
2419 photos
10 videos
(NSX) – Bradford

In the 1990’s Bradford spent big and got to the Premiership, sadly for them they got relegated again and oblivion was close. We’ve all got good memories of Honda’s NSXHonda NSXJapan, 1992 > 20062 series
11 versions
22 photos
3 videos
too (apart from the one I’ve got where a friend of mine nearly drove one into the back of a lorry at 60mph – your honour)  but it all came to a grinding halt and the car wasn’t replaced either. There has been promise from both sides recently though. Honda has been showing off various supercars at international motorshows and Bradford got to the final of the Capital One Cup. The resurrection of both is nigh?