Vermilion Motors

### Key individuals

Alexander Finn (Executive Chairman and President, 2002-present)Gabriel Fleming (CEO, 2022-present)

### Founded

January 3, 1927, 96 years ago, Vermilion Creek, Michigan, United States of America

### Headquarters

Vermilion Creek, Michigan, United States of America

## Business

### Subsidiaries

Silver Racing (1962-present)
BC Vehicles (1962-present)

Vermilion SPV (1988-present)

Stardust Motors (2023-present)

Vermilion Motors is a car manufacturer, with higher focus on performance-oriented cars. It was founded in January 3, 1927 in Vermilion Creek, Michigan, United States of America. The brand name is derived from its local city name, and was founded by professional car racer, Trevor Finn (1894-1975), and by French sports car mechanic, Harry Lafayette (1893-1989). The main objective for the manufacturer was to build customers' dream cars, with focus on excelence and performance, favoring a legion of purists for many different generations.

Today, the company has many different models on its sale catalog, such as Daredevil muscle car, Duke muscle sedan, Baron luxury muscle sedan, Adamant budget muscle car, Promethium sports car, Samarium mid-engine budget sports car, Herd pickup truck, and the Primo family SUV. The company's lifetime best seller is the Herd pickup truck, with over 15 million units sold, mostly in North America. One of the company's signatures is to not produce FWD cars, and focus on building cars which the public would have fun to drive.

## History

### Foundation

Trevor Finn was a professional car racer, and although his height was 6'4" (1.92 meters) tall, he could win many competitions. When Finn retired from professional races, he wanted to improve the performance for the cars of the era, and that's when his mechanic, Harry Lafayette, gave him the idea to create an automaker. That's how Vermilion Motors was founded. The automaker didn't make a mass production car at that moment, but instead made few custom racing cars until 1939, when the Second World War started.

### Second World War

Since the first years, due to the innovations for their racing cars at the time, the brand made racing competitors that earned several awards. But due to the Second World War, the automaker ceased production for their performance vehicles and offered services exclusively to the US Army, such as manufacturing war tanks and aircraft, and repairs for the same vehicles as well.

After the Second World War, the brand released its first mass production vehicle ever, the Vermilion Barrow, in 1946. The model offered comfort, and its performance was above the average for its time. The Barrow had five trims, of which two are coupes (including a high performance version), one is a sedan, one is a station wagon, and the other one is a pickup truck. All of these trims were powered by a V8 engine, with power output ranges from 157 hp to 246 hp and torque ranges 240 lb-ft to 280 lb-ft. In the 1950s, the automaker saw a car pricing war, which forced the car prices to be lowered to be more accessible to the public. The Barrow saw a second generation in 1954, with its design derived from the 1950s futurism. Also in 1954, the brand released the Vanilla, which had two different engine layout options, with many engines options from Inline-6 and V8. In 1955, the brand created its most powerful engine for the era, the Centurion I 405 (6.6L) V8 engine producing 349 hp and 361 lb-ft of torque on its high performance package, for both Barrow and Vanilla models. The Centurion I 405 V8 was discontinued in 1958.

### Land speed record

In 1957, Vermilion Motors wanted to set a land speed record, and that's when the professional race driver Norman Greenberg decided to make a land speed record. He went to Bonneville Salt Flats with his High Thrust prototype, which was powered by twin V16 engines with 1564 cubic inches (25.6L), both powered by superchargers, with unmeasured horsepower figures, but the automaker mentioned the total output was around 4000 hp. During the first phase of land speed attempts, in May 10, 1958, the High Thrust went as fast as 427 mph (687.2 km/h), setting a land speed record. However, in the second phase of attempts, in August 29, 1958, Norman Greenberg's High Thrust prototype was involved in a fatal accident, after sliding and overturning, resulting in Greenberg's death at age of 35. Decades later, in 1993, a replica of the prototype was built and was donated to Vermilion Motors Automobile Museum in Vermilion Creek.

### The birth of a new legend

In 1962, professional car racer Duncan Silver (1924-2018) bought a high performance version of the 354 cid (5.8L) V8 engine from Vermilion Motors, which produced 290 hp and 345 lb-ft of torque, and fitted it into a small car bodywork from the British coachbuilder BC Vehicles (Breton Craft Vehicles). The result was the Silver Anaconda, which by the fact that it had a lightweight chassis, was proven a very fast and competitive car.

The Silver Anaconda won many competitions from its class, including supercars that are worth a fortune in the modern days. In 1965, the car needed a more powerful V8 engine to compete against more successful competitors, so Vermilion Motors made a aluminium 444 Super Duty cid (7.3L) V8 engine, producing 455 hp and 510 lb-ft of torque. The result was phenomenal and the then new Silver Anaconda 444 "Speed Demon" had a recorded a incredible top speed of over 186 mph (300 km/h) in a speed test for its time, and was winner of many races of its class. This car was the reason why the speed limits were added in the streets in the United Kingdom, since the car was also produced by BC Vehicles overseas. The public didn't understand that SD meant Super Duty, thus giving it a nickname of Speed Demon.

After a high demand of the homologation of the sports car, which were supposed to be 500 units of the vehicle yearly, the production didn't meet with the minimum necessary numbers, thus finishing its production in 1967. Today, this car when in immaculate conditions is worth the seven figures house. Years after the end of its production, many independent coachbuilders around the world builds replicas of this car in form of kit cars, giving the consumer's choice for the engine, or to maybe build it at home, and it's now the most sold replicated model in the world.

### The Golden Age of the Muscle Cars

In 1966, after ceasing the production for the Barrow and Vanilla models, Vermilion launched the Baron, Duke and Daredevil muscle cars, with engines range of a Driveshift Inline-6, Lite Power V8 and Sheer Power V8 engines. The Baron was a full-size notchback model with sedan and coupe trims, the Duke was a 4-door sedan, and the Daredevil was a coupe, which was more performance-oriented.

Along with the more powerful, higher displacement Sheer Power V8 engines were Griffin 394 (6.5L) producing 376 hp and 405 lb-ft of torque, Centurion II 405 (6.6L) with output of 405 hp and 416 lb-ft of torque, Speed Demon 427 cranking of 405 hp and 427 lb-ft of torque, and the Crazy Goat 465 (7.6L) for the highest performance edition producing 460 hp and 510 lb-ft of torque. The second generation for the Daredevil was launched for the 1971 model year, being the last year of the Crazy Goat 465 and Speed Demon 427 for all the models, due to emissions regulations, political disputes, and the subsequently 1973 oil crisis.

### The oil crisis and the end of the Golden Age of Muscle Cars

In 1973, the Vermilion Baron got a new generation, and all the brand's vehicle lineup suffered with new emissions and fuel economy regulations, harm the performance for all of them. In 1974, it was the last year for the Duke and the Daredevil. A new generation would only get a comeback in 1998 for the third generation Daredevil, and in 2024 for the second generation Duke.

In 1975, the fleet gets two new models, Earl and Viscount. Earl was a full-size luxury car, while Viscount was the mid-size version, however both had same chassis and had sedan and station wagon versions. For 1975 and on, Baron was only available in a coupe version. In 1978, the Earl and Viscount got their second generation, and then in 1982, the third generation was introduced, retaining rear-wheel drive (RWD) although it almost became front-wheel drive (FWD). The Baron, however, got a third generation in 1979 and ended production in 1985, also remaining its RWD layout until the end. The fourth and last generation for Earl and Viscount was introduced in 1989, lasting until 1996, when Heart and Valor replaced both models.

In 1983, the brand made its first hatchback, the Vermilion Quirk. The small RWD hatchback got two Inline-4 engines, a 1.6L and a 2.0L Turbo-4 that produces 222 hp and 244 lb-ft of torque. Top speed was said to be 215 km/h, but it was later proved to be as fast as 235 km/h.

In 1985, the Vermilion Herd pickup truck was introduced, and it had 4x4 and rear-wheel drive (RWD) options. As for the engine options, there were Inline-6, V6 and V8 options. Its only V8 option was 354 ci (5.8L) was a gasoline engine, while all the Inline-6 options were Diesel.

### The return to the performance roots

In 1988, after the company's financial crisis, due to the evasion of the brand's purpose, a new CEO was assigned, he was nothing less than Trevor Finn's grandson, Alexander "Alistair" Finn (1954-). Due to the company's knowledge, and a degree in Business from Harvard University in Boston, he became the new company's CEO. He wished to build a new sports car with inspiration from the 1965 Silver Anaconda SD 444, the car which he owned, and he wanted to make something turned to the purist public.

In July 14, 1988, Alistair Finn announced the creation of Special Performance Vehicles (also know as SPV), which would specialize in building high performance cars starting in 1991, with the introduction of the Vermilion Promethium, although the car never had SPV in its name in its lifetime. And SPV name badging would apply to vehicles, such as the Daredevil, Duke and Baron, and later, even utility vehicles like Herd and Primo would be supplied with the SPV trims.

In December of the same year, he has unveiled the concept car codenamed "Mule One" with a 354 (5.8L) V8 engine, and in 1989, another concept version of the same car was released, named Vermilion Promethium Targa 494, this time powered by a revolutionary 494 cid (8.1L) V10 engine producing 405 hp and 460 lb-ft of torque, with claimed top speed of 169 mph (272 km/h). In 1990, another concept car was used as the Pace Car for many racing classes in the US, and in 1991, the car started production, being only sold as a roadster until 1996. In 1994, a new coupe concept version of the car was released as Promethium GTS 494, and started production in 1996, being sold along the Targa version, until 2002. The new output from 1996 to 2002 was 460 hp and 540 lb-ft of torque, and the new top speed for the coupe was 198 mph (319 km/h). Vermilion launched a one-off version for the Promethium in 1998, namely GTX 540 Concept, powered by a 540 cid 8.8L V10 engine producing 1044 hp and 806 lb-ft of torque. Top speed was 405 km/h, but it was deemed too extreme to be produced, which is why only one unit was ever made. The GTX 540 trim was instead powered by another 8.8L V10 engine making 560 hp and 585 lb-ft of torque, with top speed of 214 mph (345 km/h), and was limited to 61 units each year from 1998 until 2002 when the Promethium was discontinued.

In 1996, Earl and Viscount were discontinued, giving place to the Vermilion Heart and Valor. Heart was available in full-size luxury sedan and limousine trims, while Valor was available as a full-size premium sedan, both available with a 5.8L OHV V8 engine under the hood, powering the rear wheels (RWD). The Vermilion Valor chassis was also used to make police interceptor cars, which was called "Vermilion Valor Police Interceptor", and since 1998, it also had a 7.6L V8 engine option from the Vermilion Daredevil SPV 465 Crazy Goat of the same year. The 1996-1997 5.8L V8 available was advertised at 280 hp and 310 lb-ft of torque, while the 1998-2012 version had 330 hp and 360 lb-ft of torque. And the 1998-2005 7.6L V8 engine was rated at 519 hp and 548 lb-ft of torque, which was very popular in the highway patrol, which can exceed speeds over 186 mph (300 km/h). Both cars were discontinued in 2012.

Also in 1998, the third generation for the Daredevil was launched, with the V8 engines 354 Lite (5.8L) producing 330 hp and 360 lb-ft of torque, 405 Centurion (6.6L) producing 427 hp and 444 lb-ft of torque, and the SPV 465 Crazy Goat (7.6L) producing 519 hp and 548 lb-ft of torque. Top speed is, respectively, 186 mph (300 km/h), 192 mph (310 km/h), and 198 mph (319 km/h).

### New administration that almost killed the brand

In 2002, Brent DaSilva (1961-) became the new CEO, and a bit after he was assigned, he discontinued the Promethium, after 15,467 units produced in 11 years, which only returned for 2024 model year in 2023. The third generation of the Daredevil was ceased in 2005, after selling over 840,000 units in 7 years, even though the muscle car got many awards due to its classic styling roots after the release.

The brand released the 2002 Vermilion Primo SUV with the engines released for the 1998 Daredevil (except the Crazy Goat 465), and the 354 ci V8 and the Eco-Jet 220 (3.6L) V6 engines from the Vermilion Herd. The Vermilion Baron returned in 2006 for the fifth generation as a luxury muscle sedan, with the same engines from the previous Daredevil, along with the 354 (5.6L) V8 which was later replaced by the Fossil 340 (5.6L) V8 in 2010, and the Eco-Jet 220 (3.6L) V6. The fourth generation of the Daredevil muscle car returned after high demands from the customers with the V8 engines with displacements from 340 cu in (5.6L) to 465 cu in (7.6L).

In 2019, Brent DaSilva announced in the social networks that Vermilion Motors will transition the entire brand's lineup to electric starting in 2023 and until 2028. But the public was dissatisfied with the decision and asked for the resignation of the CEO. The brand's investors had withdrawn their money from the brand's stock market, with fear of losing money, and the brand almost went bankrupt, until the CEO resigned in January 2022, which is when the investors put their money back in.

### The youngest CEO in the brand's history and the bright future of Vermilion Motors

Alistair Finn, which is the President of Vermilion Motors since 2002, secretly hired young designers in December 2020 to design their creativity our of their minds. The young designers were all video game enthusiasts and were asked to make a car design similar but better than those in video games, and that would remind the brand in some aspects. That included Gabriel Fleming (1998-), who was 22 years old back then and is the designer of the second generation Promethium. And Ginger Steele (2000-) was another young designer hired by Finn, she was 20 years old and has designed of the fifth generation Vermilion Daredevil and the second generation Vermilion Duke, and became the Head of Design chosen after Gabriel Fleming became CEO. After hiring a dozen of designers, Finn took the car designs from November 2020 to February 2021 and took them to DaSilva. Vermilion CEO liked the designs and told that he would actually hire some of them, including Gabriel Fleming and Ginger Steele, and had chosen Fleming to become the Head of Design after the company showcased the 2021 Promethium concept.

In January 2022, Brent DaSilva realized that he was about to make a big mistake with the company and its performance-oriented tradition, and then gave the CEO position to a new successor, the Brazilian car designer Gabriel Fleming, which was only 23 years old. Fleming's position as CEO was determined because, according to DaSilva, "it's time for the new generation to decide the future of the automotive industry, while keeping the brand's tradition with high-powered, performance vehicles". The young CEO can easily find solutions to hard issues, and he's really open to suggestions from people and their product preferences. In his first year as CEO, he has made Ginger Steele as Head of Design, who was the first woman to be in such position in the company. Also in the first year, he has made mechanical engineer Milton Glenn Jr. (1998-) as the Head of Engineering and the second contender CEO, who is talentous, genius and finished his post-doctorate before the normal person would have, and then made the company continue to invest some of its assets to develop DOHC engines to meet the emissions standards, so the brand new cars could be still powerful and big enough to comply with the future emission standards until a certain point. In his second year as a CEO, he managed to start production of three cars that he and some of his co-workers were developing before becoming CEO, the Promethium, Daredevil and Duke.

The second generation, 2024 Vermilion Promethium sports car, contains three trims and another one-off version. GTS 512 (base model), GTS 512 Sport (base model with ducktail spoiler) and GTS-R 512 (track model) are powered by a 8.4L DOHC V10 producing 666 bhp and 666 lb-ft of torque, with top speed of 217 mph (349 km/h), 212 mph (341 km/h) and 199 mph (320 km/h), respectively. The GTX 540 (high performance model) is powered by a 8.8L OHV V10 made with CNC producing 1076 bhp and 830 lb-ft of torque, with topping out incredible 265 mph (427 km/h). And the GTX 775 Behemoth (one-off model) is powered by a 13.3L OHV V10 producing incredible 1620 hp and 1312 lb-ft of torque, and top speed possibly around 310.7 mph (500 km/h). The company aims to sell few units of the GTS 512 to other countries outside North America, including, Europe, Asia, Middle East, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil and Mexico. And of these countries, few select will also get very limited units of the GTS-R 512 and GTX 540 imported to sell.

The 2024 Vermilion Daredevil is a muscle coupe, while the 2024 Vermilion Duke is a muscle 4-door sedan. Both have the same engine options, the Junior 340 (5.6L OHV V8, 385 hp, 400 lb-ft of torque), Centurion Lite 376 (6.2L OHV V8, 440 hp, 444 lb-ft of torque), SPV Centurion 405 (6.6L DOHC V8, 590 hp, 565 lb-ft of torque) and SPV Crazy Goat 465 (7.6L DOHC V8, 684 hp, 660 lb-ft of torque). Top speed ranges from 173 mph (279 km/h) to 204 mph (329 km/h), but it's said that someone could actually hit 213 mph (343 km/h) in the 2024 Vermilion Daredevil SPV Crazy Goat 465. There was also the release of the Vermilion Daredevil SPV Crazy Goat 465 Berserk Edition, which improves performance to 854 hp and 740 lb-ft of torque, making it the most powerful mass production naturally aspirated V8 engine in the world. Both cars will also sell the Junior 340 and Centurion Lite 376 outside the US and Canada, including Europe, Asia, Middle East, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil and Mexico. Few units for the other trims will also be exported to select countries, as well.

## Future products, electrification and the development of hydrogen-powered ICE engines

### Steadfast GT-8, and Daredevil Hydra concept with its hydrogen-powered V8 engine

The company has displayed few concept vehicles in a event open for public and in a livestream, the Burnout Night Event in Detroit, Michigan. One of them is the Steadfast GT-8, which is a supercar powered by a 354 ci (5.8L) DOHC V8 engine producing 540 hp and 435 lb-ft of torque, and was made for an estimate cost of $40k, which could be reduced with technology improvements. And the other one is the 1971 Daredevil Hydra Concept, which is a restomod car with 1971 Daredevil body and modern chassis, with a hydrogen-powered internal combustion engine, which is a 427 cubic inches, 7.0L OHV supercharged V8 engine producing 450 hp and 450 lb-ft of torque. It's still in development, which is why the engine doesn't have high power figures yet, but its said that the engine could have high compression ratio. "The hydrogen-powered engine is a better answer for "zero emissions" than electric cars", told Fleming during the Daredevil Hydra Concept introduction in the event.

### Electrification of few future products

The company has plans for few electric cars, however some cars like the Daredevil, Duke and Promethium won't have electric variants or be electrified at all. That's because the company will have to pay taxes for mass production gasoline-powered cars, if the company doesn't release any electric vehicle. Fleming said that the company might make a hybrid and an electric version of the Herd pickup truck and the Primo SUV, and hinted at fully-electric luxury sedan. Vermilion CEO also hinted at a possible new compact car with hatchback, sedan, and station wagon variants and AWD system. However, the CEO didn't hint at any other electric car or another variant of one of the active production cars. But the CEO didn't discard the possibility of releasing them as hydrogen-powered internal combustion engines instead, as long as the hydrogen fuel research is more advanced and ready to be used.

## Production vehicles and concepts

Concept Cars
 Promethium Targa 494
 Daredevil Retro Concept
 Promethium GTX 540 Concept
 1971 Daredevil Hydra Restomod
 Steadfast GT-8