Looking for status on member Catorce (Adam w/Taormina Racing)

[cnavarro]

To be frank, it's impossible to have a discussion with the club racing rules committee. They only listen to the racers and those racers that have shops or vested interests get their way. As a manufacturer, my feedback falls on deaf ears. The racers have to speak up themselves and make the argument as to why they need to make them legal.

[BerthaA]

Good luck getting in touch with Adam. He is gone into the wind. He is not responding to emails or phone calls. We have been trying to get in touch with him for almost 8 months. We have tried email, phone calls, certified mail to multiple addresses as well as to principals in his company with no luck. It appears that he is no longer in business. He owes vendors over $5600 in unpaid bills and we have heard that he owes staff over $7000 in back wages. It appears that he has had these problems for awhile. His California home is currently in pre-forclosure too. DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS MAN !

[phunt]

If these blocks are direct copies of a Porsche block. I would think there would be some kind of copy right maybe even patent infringement. I don't think Porsche would be ok with that. If they had been changed in some way as to avoid this. Then they are not Porsche. Why would PCA cave and allow them to be used in Porsche racing events.

[jac1976]

Originally Posted by phunt

If these blocks are direct copies of a Porsche block. I would think there would be some kind of copy right maybe even patent infringement. I don't think Porsche would be ok with that. If they had been changed in some way as to avoid this. Then they are not Porsche. Why would PCA cave and allow them to be used in Porsche racing events.

You may want to read up on the many threads over the years regarding these blocks.

[frankoporsche]

I did ordered from things from jeff and he seem to be very nice guy and helpful and the products was great at the time
so sorry to hear about other didnt workout .
since the pandemic every things changed

[Matt Monson]

Originally Posted by phunt

If these blocks are direct copies of a Porsche block. I would think there would be some kind of copy right maybe even patent infringement. I don't think Porsche would be ok with that. If they had been changed in some way as to avoid this. Then they are not Porsche. Why would PCA cave and allow them to be used in Porsche racing events.

A patent only lasts 20 years. Anything Aircooled is older than that.

[cnavarro]

Originally Posted by frankoporsche

I did ordered from things from jeff and he seem to be very nice guy and helpful and the products was great at the time
so sorry to hear about other didnt workout .
since the pandemic every things changed

Just to clarify, this Taormina guy was leveraging Jeff Gamroth's name and reputation to sell these block. Jeff had no involvement in this "project" outside of being the first to use one and provide feedback as to the changes needed to make the block useable.

Covid had nothing to do with all of us getting ripped off by Adam Taormina. A leopard can't change its spots.

[Henry Schmidt]

Originally Posted by phunt

If these blocks are direct copies of a Porsche block. I would think there would be some kind of copy right maybe even patent infringement. I don't think Porsche would be ok with that. If they had been changed in some way as to avoid this. Then they are not Porsche. Why would PCA cave and allow them to be used in Porsche racing events.

Amateur racing is generally about maximum participation. Club racing, regional racing and even some low level national events are designed to offer the enthusiast a way to get seat time and test their driving skills. Single brand enthusiasts who can't find the parts necessary to participate, move on to an easier classification/brand.
If Porsche still offered original parts, restrictions would make sense but new cases and even race worthy used cases are getting rare. I understand the need to preserve originality but in some cases [pun intended] it's just not practical. If an after market part offers no competitive advantage, why restrict it?

[PeteKz]

I'm not a racer, but I agree with Henry. The more these parts can be sold and used, the less expensive they will become, which is also good for the aftermarket, non-racers, like me.

[cnavarro]

Originally Posted by Henry Schmidt

Amateur racing is generally about maximum participation. Club racing, regional racing and even some low level national events are designed to offer the enthusiast are way to get seat time and test their driving skills. Single brand enthusiasts who can't find the parts necessary to participate, move on to an easier classification/brand.
If Porsche still offered original parts, restrictions would make sense but new cases and even race worthy used cases are getting rare. I understand the need to preserve originality but in some cases [pun intended] it's just now practical. If an after market part offers no competitive advantage, why restrict it?

Spot on. I've had this same discussion with those in charge that make the rules for Club Racing and it fell on deaf ears. Unless the racers themselves lobby for a rules change, nothing will change.

[Matt Monson]

It took about a decade to get the PCA to allow our LSDs as a direct replacement for original ZF and GKN units. Change is glacial with that group.

Regards,

Matt Monson
Guard Transmission Llc.

[LukasM]

Has anybody bought anything from Taormina in recent times, how did that go?

I like their oil filter console but don't want to support a business that has ripped people off, unless they are using that money so they can either refund the customers who have made down payments, or deliver them the actual engine cases the have promised....

[scootergt3]

LOL... stay away.. better off burning your $$ you will never get the part

[cnavarro]

It's pretty clear that no one should give this guy a single $ for anything.

[wadesbrain]

hey guys Im ashamed to admit I was one of the first to order one of these cases. Im paid in full and I was in contact with him for a long time. now he has ghosted me too. Im guessing Im out $5k now? anyone have a word of hope for me?

Wade

[cnavarro]

Originally Posted by wadesbrain

hey guys Im ashamed to admit I was one of the first to order one of these cases. Im paid in full and I was in contact with him for a long time. now he has ghosted me too. Im guessing Im out $5k now? anyone have a word of hope for me?

Wade

Unfortunately no. All we can do is make sure no one spends a single dollar with him and he exits the Porsche community. Adam is nothing more than a con artist.

[wadesbrain]

Has anyone had any luch sueing Adam toi get their money back? If so Could you DM me the lawyer you used?

Wade

[Neil Harvey]

Originally Posted by wadesbrain

Has anyone had any luch sueing Adam toi get their money back? If so Could you DM me the lawyer you used?

Wade

This is so sad to hear. I think any legal action will cost way more than what its worth. spend 15-20K to get 5K or nothing if he has claimed bankruptcy.

He called me many years ago asking if I wanted to but some cases. I told him I would but after he had them all figured out and they were tested. At the time the finish was poor.

I give all the benefit of the doubt. I hope he had honest intentions about producing these cases. Sadly he went about it the wrong way in my opinion. He should have asked companies like mine and Charles as examples to invest in the design and production in return for exclusivity and profits. These with experience could have guided, suggested and even controlled the production and quality. Reading into his posts, he had no real idea how to do this and accepted the advice of the wrong people. Then trying to do the machine work in house was wrong. He invested in expensive machines and tooling I think. This done on buyers money and asking potential buyer to pay up front was the wrong way.

When it all turned pear shaped he probably ran out of money, had nothing left to pay back what was owed and has chosen to disappear. Another fatal error. Own up to your mistakes and do what you promise. If you owe money back, at least cop to it and make amends any way you can. Tell and be honest that you have no money.

I can tell you our failure pile is way higher than our success pile. But this is the business of development. You try you fail and you continue. But you have a clear understanding of the scope and costs involved before you start. In all of our development, successes and failures, we would never take money from customer before. That would make the funding easier, but has huge implications when it goes wrong.

Several years ago we were tasked to "hotrod" a 991.1 GT3 engine. Opening the engine we found serious issues with the Finger followers. These were hydraulically controlled poorly. The design was major screw up. We developed a modification where the fingers became solid with lash caps. All new fingers, axles, stand etc were all made in Switzerland for us, 20 engine sets min for these 24V engines. I funded this all myself. At the time we had the solution so it made it easy to proceed. Also at this time, some of the owners threatened Porsche with a class action suit. Porsche responded by giving then a day at the Atlanta center. A full on "dog and pony". Porsche proved it does "snow" in the south in the summer. Porsche then gave all 991.1 owners an additional 10 year warranty on the fingers. Our business went up in smoke. I am sitting on sets of extremely expensive parts with a huge investment. Maybe it will turn back to us in the next couple of years. My point is, I invested over 160K on the parts, hundreds of hours in the design etc and came up with nothing, yet.

This is the way it should be done so customers are not harmed.

[Jeff Alton]

Well said Neil. Have developed another product for these cars (not engine related) and agree.

Reading between the lines of your post, if paying attention, was worth the read...

Cheers

[Turbo_pro]

It seems Adam (Taormina Racing) has a pretty good start on the project and certainly monies invested and committed.
It would seem to me that given the right plan, this deal could be saved. Pennies on the dollar of course for creditors/investors but something is better than nothing.
I've been involved in a few of these "turn around" projects but until Adam is ready to surface, only ugly remains. The business plan failed but the product is sound.
If Adam would be willing to sell/trade the assets of Taormina Racing to another investor with an understanding that obligations owed by Taormina Racing be addressed in the transaction, something good might happen here.
There is certainly a market for the product.
Of course there is no telling what financial obligations still exist vis-a-vie Taormina Racing but a conversation would seem in order.
It's been a while since anything positive has come from this situation, but if patterns, design & production programs and manufacturing contacts still exist, who knows what might be possible.