SharkSkin

I have in mind a replacement keyhead for Porsches that is made of two genuine Porsche 356 hood badges back-to-back. I made plastic copies of the hood badges to make the clay mock-up in the pic below:



I know that looks like crap, but there are clearance issues with the recessed ignition cylinder on the 928 and I wanted to be sure it would work, and I'm not ready to chop up the real hood badges yet. The design is evolving toward a titanium keyhead that is 2-3mm thinner than my mock-up, and more streamlined near where the tip of the crest meets the key shank. I started a thread in the 928 section on this, and subsequently realized that if I made the keyhead as a replacement for the Porsche lighted keyhead then it could be a single product applicable to most if not all P-cars.

So, now I'm cross-posting this link to see if there is more interest than just the few 928 owners that have expressed interest. Please reply on the thread linked above. If this and other cross-posts can be made sticky that's great, but if not I'll just do my best to keep them bumped for a while.

Moogle

to be honest its a bit gaudy

how many people REALLY want a key where the entire non-blade part is a huge porsche crest?

Holger B

Doesn't make much sense for a 996 key, since it's got remote functions built into the keyhead that you'd lose with your design.

Moogle

as for a 996 keyhead, many would rather buy the CGT keyhead.

SharkSkin

I respect your opinion, as I respect the opinions of those who ARE interested. It's not going to suit everyone's taste, just as big wings, stickers, etc are not for everyone.

Holger, are those remote functions options? Also, I don't know how far you read in the other thread, but one option that I am seriously considering is to provide parts to easily convert this to a key fob. The end cap could be reversed to hide the keychain attachment at the head of the key, and a loop could be attached instead of the key shank, thus making it a key fob.

Moogle

the remote functions on 996 models include opening of the front trunk/remote locking

on 986 (boxsters) in additon to the 996 functions, there is also a button to open the rear trunk (since the boxster has 2 trunks)

SharkSkin

Moogle, can you point me to a pic of the CGT keyhead? I'm just curious... and you never know, once this gels into a real product, some folks may consider this a nicer option than the CGT keyhead. I appreciate the input, though.

Viken

Viken

Dave,

Are you making these yourself to sell? If so, that doesn't constitute a group buy. Please clarify.

Moogle

thanks to viken for posting that pic!

Shark, just want to clarify that i intend no offense, just giving my honest opinion. in any case good luck, i hope you sell a whole lot of them!

Stef Scheepers

Hate to burst your bubble, but first do the math before you continue.
Forget the 996/997/986/987 range, the tooling cost will break your piggybank. This leaves you with pre-transponder cars.
Let's assume that your tooling cost for a nice-looking, quality keyhead can be contained to $10 000 (it will be more) and that you make a net profit of $10 per key head. If my high-school math is not too rusty, that means that you have to sell a 1000 key heads just to amortize your tooling cost. Think you can do that?
You will propably need a few more $'s to pay the Porsche lawyers who are going to kick your *** for trademark infringement (that nice Porsche badge is trademark protected).

Moogle

ah, the dreaded accountant factor

it is certainly a novel concept, as a project for a few friends, but turning it into a business, is probably a losing idea.

Holger B

You guys are no fun...

SharkSkin

The idea here is to get a batch of these designed and made to suit the interests of those who ARE interested. I discussed this with Randy V., and the group buy factors in because these will very likely be a limited production run, enough to make one for everyone who wants one. The group buy offers economies of scale. Hood badges can be cheaper in quantity and each piece will be cheaper if more are made at the outset. If there seems to be an ongoing interest, then a more conventional set of arrangements will have to be made between retailers and the shop doing the fabrication. I'm covering the development costs, which will not be reflected in the final price. In fact, I will not make a dime off of these. Any profit will go to the man doing the work of making them, as is fair and reasonable.

If that doesn't answer your question, please let me know and I will clarify as best I can.

SharkSkin

I am not reproducing the badge, I am buying it from Porsche(albeit through an intermediary). The intellectual property is paid for in this manner. I can buy a hood badge anywhere and resell it. Why not stick it to something and resell it? If it comes down to it and this is an issue, then I will simply work it so that I am not reselling the badge, I will have people buy the badges themselves and ship them to me, and I will then forward them on to get incorporated into the keyheads/fobs. That would be a useless PITA IMHO, and I'm hoping it won't come to that. Don't get me started on lawyers.