[Dave at Pelican Parts]

I do tend to get a bit over-pessimistic, but I have seen several people wind up either losing their shirt, or barely break even, on small runs of specialty items. A business, in the end, is about making money--the ones that make money stay around, while the ones that break even or lose money go away.

An individual can do more in many cases for sheer love of the sport. Or the marque. Or the challenge. This opens up a whole lot more opportunities to a passionate creative individual than for a company. I will never again bet against a racer/tinkerer/creative individual. (Anyone remember, "You can't turbocharge a 914"?? I still do!)

Now please note, that in the above I am not in any way the last word at Pelican. I could easily be wrong about the flares being profitable--I've been wrong before! Or Wayne and Tom could make an Executive Decision to produce these on a break-even basis, as they and Don did with the combo gauge kits.

I don't want to give anyone the impression that it definitely won't happen at Pelican, and I know that it could happen elsewhere. But I do want to inject a dose of reality so that expectations do not get overinflated.

If hand-crafted flares come on the market for $500 a set, I will be very impressed. And very pleased.

--DD