Story by Christopher Aguilera:

 I was the Parts Manager at Classic Motor Carriages when they purchased Fiberfab (ed. approx. 1996).  Around that time I spoke to the vice-president at Classic Motor Carriages to see if they wanted to re-introduce the Aztec 7, or better yet, an Aztec 8, as in V-8 powered. Just think about that image for a moment! CMC could have taken a barely buildable roofed and totally enclosed kit car, modernized and refined the body style, improved the handling with a sub-chassis 'glassed into the body and bolted to the VW pan (like their Speedster line) and improved the manual for very little cost. They had the manpower and the money.

 The problem was, though, Classic bought Fiberfab because they were THE BIG competition. Imagine General Motors buying Ford and then dismantling it. They kept the Fiberfab name, because it was well known and still sold cars. But, Classic's bread and butter was selling neo-classic 1920's luxury styling. They eliminated the top selling Fiberfab MGTD kit, because they had already copied it, or one just like it! If you ordered the Fiberfab MGTD kit, they shipped you the Classic MGTD kit (same look, different fender and body dimensions, slightly different shape, etc.) and then simply stamped "Fiberfab" on the invoice. Of course, they were not going to maintain 2 different sets of parts and accessories and tooling for practically the same exact car. Then they took their top selling Gazelle and renamed it as a Fiberfab 'Mercedes SSK" replica, and those are the only two cars they wanted to produce, along with the three different flavors of Porsche Speedster. They were ONLY motivated by money (OK then, greed). If they had been real automobile enthusiasts, they would still be selling 200 kits a month at $7,995 (do that math!) $1.6 million monthly cash flow.

 CMC felt FF cars were too difficult to build. CMC wanted to cater to the relatively non-mechanical person. Just take a look at that Aztec 7 manual and then compare it to one of the Classic-step-by-step clearly illustrated builders manuals. There is a huge difference, lots of illustrations, in index, professionally printed to be legible. CMC just did not have the time or patience to re-engineer all the FF cars. What they should have done is just offered them as is to advanced kit builders, with no 1-800 telephone support, like Beta-software! I know there are plenty of you pros out there not afraid of a little fabrication and welding. But hindsight is 20-20, as they say.

 When I approached them about the Aztec 7 re-birth, I pointed out we already had all the molds sitting outside in the rain at our Miami based factory. We owned the name, the rights, we had hard to find windshields, wiring harness, all the parts. There would be almost no Research and Development cost (although those guys did not have that much to do) and all our present cars are convertibles. Lets offer a hardtop, enclosed car for colder and rainy climates!

 I was told to forget it, Classic, as the name describes, makes replicas of elegant cars from days gone by. We will never produce a contemporary futuristic automobile like the Aztec 7. I pointed out the molds were in the back of the lot, next to the 'stillbirth' projects like the "Electric Gazelle" experiment that never saw the light of day. The molds were upside down and rainwater collected inside them, I could see little tadpoles swimming around in the murky green water. But they were already producing too many different cars. The Gazelle/Mercedes (actually 6 different cars because of front engine Ford Pinto/Mustang II, front engine Chevy Chevette or VW rear engine configurations), the MGTD front/rear engine (again, Ford/Chevy/VW), Porsche Speedster, Speedster C (flared fenders), and new Speedster with a 944 nose, not to mention the Cougar based Tiffany ( the VW Bugatti was recently dropped)! Add to that the line of "Factory Finished" cars (Tiffany, Chevy only Gazelle/Mercedes, Chevy only MGTD, and the Speedsters. Whew! They had their hands full. And, the next car on the drawing board was (another damned) Cobra replica. Eventually even that project was dropped. They purchased a competitors kit (no, I won't say who, even if I could remember) and eventually it was decided it was way beyond the ability of the casual kit builder. Funny, one of the charges against CMC was they allegedly leid about how easy it was to build one of their kits. Talk about irony.

 I said to CMC, "OK, if you won't use them, let me have the molds then." And they said, "Sure, haul them away, they are an eyesore." But I never got around to it. These things were huge, braced together with tubular frames, covered in green slime, so it was definitely no small task. And, it occurs to me, I had nowhere to store them for the last 20 years either. Oh well, big mistake, if ebay was around back then, I would have really scored!

 Eventually, I was "promoted" from Parts Manager to the Technical Department, helping customers build their kits over the phone, instead of selling them replacement parts. Unfortunately it was not a commissioned sales job and the salary was insufficient, so I quit. There were harsh feelings of course, so I was not going to show up with a truck and try to beg for the molds at that point. I drove by the empty lot several times now (the building, 250,000 square feet under roof, has been razed to the ground) and I can only assume the molds were hauled away to the local dump. Unless you hear otherwise, the original molds are gone forever.

 Body numbering:  If they followed standard practice, and they would have to in order to get your car registered,  each body has that little metal numbered plate, like a VIN, and a matching Certificate of Origin. Since CMC never produced a single Fiberfab body, you already know more than I do about how many were produced, just look for the highest numbered body.

  My Aztec 7 was built in Florida, the owners let me drive it for free so I could get them a buyer. After about three months (I was looking, but not that hard) I sold it (they never paid my promised commission, said they made very little on the sale) to a local used car lot, who either blew the VW engine, or sold it and the new owners blew it within the first week. Distinctive features on the car? It was all black, had its share of stress cracks, was fun at the toll booth, I got a smile in exchange for that quarter every time! It leaked (don't they all) and so had a funky wet carpet smell.

 Christopher Edwards (that last name is fake, we all had fake last names at CMC, because dealing with people from other parts of the county, they wanted nice strong WASP names, no Sanchez, Goldstein or anything else ethnic) especially for the sales people.

 I saw, first hand, what CMC was doing wrong, they mistreated the customers. It was a real shame they did not go that extra mile (pun intended) to keep the customer satisfied. A completed car was a moving billboard for the company. A trip to the store was a commercial advertisement for them. A happy customer was their best salesman. But they chose the low road to make a quick profit, and the notion that the only important customer, is the one about to be sold. It was a real assembly line for bilking them.

 I am sorry the only solution was to shut them down, permanently. It gave the entire kitcar industry a black eye. It even may dramatically boost the insurance costs, and lower the value, probably of all kit cars, not just CMC and FF. The consumer advocates who rightfully attacked CMC's alleged abusive business practices may not have foreseen that as a result, you just can't buy many parts like replacements for wrecked fenders ($395), steel bumpers ($525) and even a replacement convertible tops and windshields will have to be custom made.

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Chris later added this additional information...

When I started with CMC I was as a salesman in the Phone Room. We had hundreds of leads to call. They were generated by advertising in the magazines, and by the thirty plus Factory Finished cars we had on display at airports all over the country. Anyway, our only job was to call these leads and get $1000 deposit before next months price increase. There was always a 'threatened' price increase, but it never came, month after month. It was a total scam. "But you can 'lock in' you purchase price if you act now! He he.

Anyway, sometimes when the fish were not biting and salesman were calling the same leads over and over, we got bored. We had about 50 incoming phone lines, but Classic Roadsters had only six. We would "crank call" them and tie up the only six lines they had by posing as interested customers, sometimes asking the most stupid questions, making them repeat themselves and whatnot. The managers not only condoned this behavior, it was by their instruction. If we were not selling any kits, neither would they!

Boy, talk about abusing your position and power!