I was at the L.A. Auto Show yesterday. It was really a great show. I liked the concept cars the best, but Ferrari, Lambroghini, Lotus, Corvette, Viper were there with some more mainstream companies.
CPST's cmt-380 was there with a very nice show floor. They had two cars on display. One was the unfinished CMT-380 which was at the Annual Share Holders' Meeting. It had the unpainted(primer grey) with trunk and hood open to show the workings. I was told that the C-30 turbine was actually connected up only a few weeks ago. Interior was VERY rough and clearly not in final form but very interesting non-the-less.
That's where the sleek, black race job that has been pr'd for two weeks comes in. That car is being touted as to what the CMT-380 WILL look like when CPST's version is finished(the two cars have slightly different bodies, BTW). That black sleek model CMT-380 is built by another private individual(not connected to CPST, I believe) and does NOT contain a turbine. It has an eight cylinder Corvette engine and drive train. It is magnificent; inside and out. The frame is bought from one company, and Corvette parts make up the rolling chassy, and a CMT-380 body is added. It is basically a kit car. The owner said it cost him $75K to build the black beauty.
The unfinished CPST turbine version CMT-380 is said to cost $225,000, and NOT the $285,000 reported in a previous pr. The most recent pr from today(SUN.)and in the previous post, reports that CPST is thinking about a limited number at $30,000 each. This is Obviously wrong as the cost of the C-30 turbine itself is $30,000. I was told that when the turbine is running, it sounds like the whine of a quiet jet, and had terrific tourque, and the speed estimates of 150mph were real. I had heard the C-30 in the testing chamber on the factory tour during the Annual Meeting. That describes it well.
The C-30 would have to be made cheaper with a reasonably shorter lifetime for any production model Whisper; a SUV/ Ford connection, also in conjuntion with CPST. The CPST CMT-380 Sportscar would keep the high end $30,000 turbine as the car would be kept and resold as car art.
I had a long conversation with the sales person, a very nice, knowledgeable young man, who was from the Chatsworth offices here outside LA. He told me CPST would decide on any future builds bearing on the attention the car gets from the show. He also said CPST was working on making the power unit more compact and the car lighter.
He also said the health and dental benifits were good and the workers were well treated and felt they had future opportunities with CPST. I forgot to ask him if all workers, not just Director and Officers, were allowed to acquire common shares as part of employment.
He couldn't tell me any business arrangement CPST had with Hilliman, who built CPST's car. Would CPST just supply the turbines or would they share in the profits from each car? He did say that if you wanted to build the turbine car kit yourself, CPST would help you connect the turbine.
I was also told the both CPST factories, the C-30,C-65 factory and the C-200/C-1000 had tremendous expansion capability to meet any needs for greater manufacturing numbers.
The turbine bus that uses the C-30's is not building busses at the speed that CPST had hoped. One at a time to buyers so no new large orders for CPST. The bus companies that placed orders are still working on their last contracted large orders from CPST.
The salesman did mention that there has been a lot of job bidding going on recently at CPST offices, but he wouldn't give any details.
I saw many people stopping to take pictures, and salesmen were busy answering questions. I heard a young kid call to his parents, "There's the Batmobile!!".
All in all, the CPST CMT-380 is not finished, and the testing is going on. But just a fine paint job and a slick interior. and it should look like the black beauty sitting next to it.
I wanted one!! REAL badly!!! I thought the CMT-380 looked better then the new Lotus, Ferrari, and Corvette, and way better then any concept car offered by the mainstream car makers.
I will post some pictures later...
GLTA,
Gary
