The Sammio uses a forty-odd year old donor and the complete package of body, subframe, flyscreen and grille costs £1,335. With the right donor, good prices achieved for the unwanted body parts and doing all the work yourself it's possible to put one on the road for
two grand. I personally know of two examples that have been put on the road to a
very high standard for under three thousand pounds each.
The reality of building a car on such a budget? My frame didn't fit so I stretched it. My donor was rotten so I welded it. My bonnet had holes in it so I put filler in it. My screen frame was poorly moulded so I sanded it. My deadline has passed so I'll change it. My tonneau never arrived so I cancelled it (and got a full refund in cash with no hard feelings either way). What I won't do is bleat about it.
A Caterham is undoubtedly a high quality component car that even Jeremy Clarkson managed to assemble using some spanners and his ten thumbs. But you need at least fifteen thousand pounds to qualify for that particular owners' club.
My point is, if you want a boutique hotel you pay five hundred quid a night if you can afford it. If all you want is a bed for the night with no frills then you go to travelodge and get change out of thirty quid. The Sammio range of cars gives you the feeling of a boutique hotel at a very travelodge price.
Gary Janes has a long history of providing low budget specialist vehicles for buyers with the vision to see beyond the basic components. If he's guilty of anything it's probably working too hard and spreading himself too thin. I really don't know how he and Mike manage to find the time to do all the development work, produce the bodies and build the cars they have so far.
I don't know the details of your problem with the Sammio Motor Company, primarily because you haven't stated what the issue is other than in vague and veiled terms, but you really have to appreciate that when you decided to do business with someone providing budget rebodies for the Triumph Herald out of a small industrial unit in Poole you hadn't actually placed an order with your nearest Audi dealer.
I'd like to say good luck with your legal action but I think the only winners will have the letters LLB after their names and have a predilection for expensive, pinstripe suits.
Anyway, that's my two new pennies worth and I'll not have anything else to say on the matter.
taken for a ride
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