Bob,
I agree with you. But like Richie said, it's still legimate to label the product with the brand name they rightly own. Both your examples are good ones.
The irony is by purchasing a brand name, like Bugatti, what Ford is really saying is that THEY don't believe customers would pay top dollar for a "Ford" car, unless it has some other name on it!!! I think that's so funny. The fact that consumers know a jaguar is built by ford, and happily buy them, I think that says more about the consumer than it does about Ford. At that point, it's about more than how good the product is, it's about romance.
Motobecane is the same as the Haro-Masi example. They figure for how little investment it cost to acquire the name, it's a better bet to market a brand at least some people will remember than to try to start a new one. The folks behind Motobecane figure they will sell more bikes with that name on the downtube than if they put the factory name there. In the short term, maybe so, maybe not.
In the long term, for however difficult brand-building is, it seems to pay off for those who are committed to making sure their name really means somthing more than just the price of a decal.
Grant McLean Toronto.Ca O \O/ _< \_ _< _ (_)>(_) (_)>(_)
Bob Hovey wrote: I think I can question the legitimacy of at least some 'branded' frames... though it's a matter of degree (and personal opinion of course). I feel it is one thing for Ford to buy Jaguar and revamp the company's economics while continuing to produce a car in the old facility which bears some resemblance to what had been built before. It is yet another thing for a bunch of guys to get together and build a hideously expensive sports car and name it 'Bugatti' when they have no connection by blood, nationality, or philosophy to the original. My cynicism towards businessmen, advertisers and investors (and my admiration for the original marque) will not allow me to accept this.
My attitude towards a company that would take the name 'Motobecane' and slap
it on a bike (that has little if any connection to the original) would be one of contempt or at least apathy. I think it would actually make me LESS likely to buy one of their bikes.
And let me add that this has little to do with the actual quality of the bike... even if that Chinese Motobecane was a topnotch rider, better than the original even, the very fact that they named it "Motobecane" would be a turnoff. Put another way, I'd have to admit that if you had chosen to resurrect a dead but respected name, say your bikes were badged 'Automoto' rather than 'Richard Sachs', I'd know I'd be far less likely to want one. But that's just me.