Brakes put on luxury cars bid

IT’S not only Scots singer Susan Boyle who dreamed a dream. Her brother Gerry planned to create 250 jobs in Dundee producing a luxury car.

Mr Boyle has an agreement with the American owners of Excalibur to start manufacturing the headturning vehicle again.

The legendary vehicle has been owned by Dean Martin, Tony Curtis and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Mr Boyle identified Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc (MSIP) in Dundee as his preferred site.

He said its close proximity to Dundee Airport was appealing as he anticipated high net worth people from around the world travelling by private jets to inspect their vehicles.

The bespoke Burlington Excalibur cars will carry a price tag of £295,000.

But despite a meeting with MSIP chiefs last summer, Mr Boyle said he wasn’t given an answer.

He has now found an alternative production site in Scotland.

Mr Boyle said: “We sent a detailed business plan but we’ve heard nothing since then.

“It’s not for us to chase them. I would have thought what we were proposing and the people we had involved would have caught their attention. I’m bewildered.”

His plans for the Burlington brand include a malt whisky and television station.

He said a Scottish site for production on the cars to start will be announced in February. The cars are made to order.

“The price puts them out of reach of most people but you have to plan for the future,” Mr Boyle said.

“If we are deluged with orders from around the world, you really have to have a site up your sleeve and that’s why Dundee was so attractive.

“If someone from Dundee came and said ‘look guys, sorry about this, can we get round the table and discuss it’ then of course we’d discuss that.

“The door’s not closed – we’ll talk to anyone. We haven’t started taking orders but there’s a lot of excitement.”

Colin McIlraith, chief operating officer at MSIP, said Mr Boyle’s application didn’t meet the site’s aims of sustainability.

He said: “Unfortunately, this particular inquiry did not meet those set criteria and is therefore not one we are progressing.”

Gerry Boyle, the brother of singer Susan Boyle, had dreams of creating jobs in Dundee with a luxury car production company.