What Price Perception?

Racing engines are expensive. To make maximum power, to have longevity to win the race, they must be built from the best components available, and those components are expensive. Equally, the knowledge, experience and dedication to technical detail and craftsmanship are not items available for purchase. These must be earned over years and decades of hard work. If an aluminum V8 cylinder block seems pricey at $7,000 or more, try placing a dollar amount on experience. You can't.

Engines built to suit the taste, needs and requirements of a high-end car builder or that builder's customer are also not cheap. If someone is willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to have a custom car built, it doesn't often make a lot of sense to them to use a crate engine or an off-the-shelf powerplant. We agree with this approach. Our custom engines have found their way into many prototype vehicles, custom cars, boats, planes and more. When a builder or buyer wants an engine that meets the same level of craftsmanship and design that is as unique as the vehicle it will power, we can create the perfect custom engine just for them.

As you'll see in this website, our three most popular engines, the Falconer V12, Falconer L6 and IRL Street V8, come with base pricetags of $65,000, $45,000 and $45,000 respectively. If this seems expensive, let's go back and look at what a modern-day racing engine costs to build. Currently, a NASCAR V8 engine commands a price in the range of $80,000 each. Indycar engines range in and around the $100,000 mark and Forumula 1 engines cost well into the six figures. Racing engines have a specific purpose. So do custom engines. In each case, only the best parts are used or manufactured, often times engineering is required to build bespoke components and systems. An off-the-shelf crate engine can be had for anywhere from under $10,000 and up. They are reasonably cheap by today's standards because so many of them are produced. But just as a new American musclecar is far cheaper than a new Ferrari, the same rules apply: make more and the price goes down. Make fewer and the quality stays high, and as we've noted this also raises the price.

Some people don't want the extravagance of owning a car such as a Ferrari. Some don't have the desire for a world-class coachbuilder such as Steve Moal to build them a multi-hundred-thousand dollar custom car. Everyone has their own taste. But...for those who do want something out of the ordinary, we're here to deliver. Powerplants that are as exotic and powerful as they are beautiful. Functioning artwork built to the customer's requirements. As the old saying goes, 'Quality isn't expensive, it's priceless.' We agree.

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