Didn’t VeilSide have a similar story back in the day with their body kit’s? I’m talking before “Fast and Furious” days when the import scene wasn’t that popular. Consider that to any car part in general there are always three levels to replacement; Original Equipment, Reproduction and a Custom level.

I have learned through the years and experience that you defiantly get what you pay for fit and finish wise so I don’t mind if the kid up the street is paying for the cheaper knock off, let’s say fiberglass bumpers. I paid twice as much for the brand name urethane. In a few months I’m still sitting pretty because of the quality while the knockoff buyer, and I know you’ve seen this, looks like their cowl is missing some teeth from a fight with a squirrel.

This is ironic to the 10th degree! I’m not talking about the boutique parts, but the Japanese motor industry, which was making knockoff Harleys, Celica/Mustangs, Lexus/Mercedes, Mazda/Porsches, etc.,

It’s only recently that Japanese manufacturers developed their own design language (particularly Mazda which has done some excellent work developing Japanese themes).

I’m sorry for the boutique manufacturers, but I don’t know if I can say that it’s not deserved on the plane of karmic retribution.

There is ALWAYS a solution. Individually, boutique design companies can’t afford to pursue legal action against copyright infringement, but if they formed an alliance with other companies and shared the cost of protection, they could most likely obtain a robust legal defense against such infringement.
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Throughout history it has been Alliances that have turned the tables again and again. This may be no different.

What I have been dealing with on the EvoM side of this post:

Originally Posted by Gabriel J View Post
Knock-off or not both hoods are ugly. If someone wants to pay *just* $600 to ugly-up their car…then let them.

I’m curious as to what noticeable benefit (besides a potential weigh savings) the Voltex hood claims to offer a street car.

If they are a true hardcore performance part..Then it was not designed for your average early 20’s evo owner who only drives the car on the street…

Who do you think are buying the knocks-offs????

My Reply:

Though I dont agree with you, your argument does present a good point. And honestly I have failed to fully document and explain the benefits of each product, and why Voltex had produced that part for the CT9A to begin with. Starting tomorrow I will have them send me their latest test sheets from Mie University (translated of course). This will help me show you guys that the money you are paying for these parts holds a good amount of functional value, and how it far surpasses the overstated answer of “its JDM”.. There are many different products out there that can help improve your car, and we would like to show you why Voltex may be beneficial to you.
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… Honestly, that makes me think. There may be a small factor in all of this which we have not properly explained in the past. Do people know why these items are made, and the price they are set at?

With a wide demographic of people in the industry, its hard to really show the logical side that these products go much further than just having a name of “it’s JDM- hard to find”. Yeah these parts are cool to show at your local meet, and yeah it might impress a crowd of people in a Best Buy parking lot, but in the end, thats not what these products are made for. We (as in all of us who bring these beautiful products into the US for the consumer to buy) need to start reaching the market of which the products were originally intended for. Thankfully this trend of proper product-to-consumer marketing is slowly starting to take place, and more of the american public are getting a better understanding of why we use these parts to begin with. But in the end we have only scratched the surface, and still have a ways to go.

I am having way too much fun with this. Ben, I am glad we had this long talk. This is really spreading like wildfire.

Too keep this going, for whomever checks back on the comments section, here is what we have been mentioning on the EvoM forums:

Originally posted by Gabe:
The true hardcore racing enthusiast know the reasons for the cost..But they are the smallest minority in this industry. The purchases they make wouldn’t keep most vendors in business. In a way you need the “All show, no go” guys to keep them going.

Most vendors make thousands importing “JDM” tail lamps and headlights…do they offer any performance gain? No, but they look AWESOME at the best buy parking lot.

-Gabe

Eric:
As of right now, thats about all the market is supporting- “all show, no go”. Before the show scene, all you had were grassroot racers. They do still exist, and in a number larger than what most people think. Leave it to the media to completely dilute the industry in support of the fast and furious generation.

Gabe:
Yep…just take a look at SEMA. 10% go parts…90% show parts.

Eric:
Same thing when you open ANY page of Import Tuner, Modified, or Super Street. Thats why you will never see any of this mentioned outside of the internet. Seibon and all the rest pay way too much money to keep what it is they do in the mainstream.
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Ben, it would be nice if your portion of modified were still published. This would have been a great entry.

I wish it were as simple as you all hope with your legal comments. Unfortunately it is not. First of all, companies like this, unlike wheel companies produced unique designs per product, per car. Its not a volume business. Getting a patent that can uphold in US court costs tens of thousands of dollars, last time I checked I was estimated at $30,000. Companies like Voltex when they produce a hood like this are not even expecting to sell 100 of them. There’s no way to justify the patent expense because each and every product would need to hold a separate patent. Patenting wheels for example may be a lot easier…but patenting a bumper, a hood, or something else so unique per application is pointless after seeing the costs.

There are other ways to sue a company in this case, but it is not easy or cheap. Small Japanese boutique tuners like Voltex dont have the legal budget that a larger company would have. More often than not in these cases, its a legal fight that cant be wont without deep pockets.

It boils down to big companies preying on small companies.

There are 48 comments right now on the original blog post. I encourage you all to share your perspective both here and on the original blog post. I dont care if you agree or disagree, but making people think is what its all about.

This was one of the number one complaints when I worked at Honda-tech. Don’t allow the knock-off fakes and the industry would improve.

Arent there copycat laws against that. I dont know if that was a smart move to just cease making the hood because somoene made a knock off.

And why didn’t Vortex take Seibon to court?