135: Lance Stander, the owner of Superformance, tells how he moved from South Africa to the US to pursue his passion for cars
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Description
Lance is from South Africa and he grew up working with his dad at his dealership and salvage yard. When he grew up, he took over part of the business and spent years growing it. Eventually, he decided to make the move to America and attempted to continue with the auto salvage business. He came over on a holiday visa and quickly discovered how hard it is to become an American citizen. After 3 rejections, he was able to finally make it legal and he and his family got their citizenship. Along the way, he started in North Carolina, then Abilene (in Texas), then went to San Bernadino. After many failed attempts, a friend convinced him to become a dealer for the Superformance cars in southern California. Being that Superformance is located in South Africa and Lance having dealership experience, this was a logical fit so they went with it! Superformance provides a “Turn Key Minus” vehicle which consists of a body with suspension and a rear diff. The EPA allows this because it only contains 1 of the 3 components required to be considered a car (the other two being the engine and transmission). This allows for customers to choose whatever engine and transmission they want to complete their car and make it their own. After a long legal battle, Superformance became the only manufacture that is licensed by Shelby to create the cars. They have also expanded to offer different models recently including a modern Ford GT40 and a special edition Bondurant car. Lance purchased Superformance USA back in 2007 with the goal of creating more cars and expanding the business. While the Cobra is still the biggest seller, he is pushing development and production to continue to grow the business. They have leveraged the expertise of Kahn Media to take on the task of marketing their company. This has helped raise awareness of their brand and bring in new customers.
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Published 03/03/20
Published 03/03/20