Not for going from A to B. 
Check how many cars Lamborghini sells compared to Porsche. And Lamborghini does not even compare well to Mooney. The Lamborghini of the Air would be the Lancair Evolution or similar.
Mooney and Cirrus are actually the same class. With the Cirrus having so many advantages over the Mooney that I do not see how they could succeed.
If you’re going to do automotive analogies, Mooney is a pretty good fit to Porsche: a concept largely created by one guy, simpler than some of the others, low sales volume, efficient, and a bit unusual in its design solutions.
An aeronautical match to Lamborghini might be the Bellanca Viking: hand built, originally Italian designed but taken over by others and subsequently modified almost beyond recognition. In ‘my world’ the Cirrus is an Audi or Lexus sedan, and its true that either of those sells more units than Porsche.
Well, Porsche sold 150.000 sports cars in 2012. You really want to compare that to Mooney (0) or Lamborghini (around 2500) ?
Senior pilots have a lot of affection for old iron like Bonanza’s & Mooneys. However, would they also be likely buyers of factory new versions?
I would think experienced fliers would feel very comfortable buying used instead, given their extensive type experience.
Note, a factory new 2014 Bonanza is USD700k (a 2014 Baron is a staggering USD1.1m) – I doubt a 2014 Ovation would be any less…
Well, Porsche sold 150.000 sports cars in 2012. You really want to compare that to Mooney (0) or Lamborghini (around 2500) ?
Yes, because I think the market for aircraft is not centered on new aircraft, its centered on used aircraft. I see the aircraft market more like houses than cars, not disposable, and no less interesting for being 30 years old. Just my POV.
When and if I have enough time to deal with the complexity of a 300 HP retractable, so far my choice will be the Bellanca. Few of my thirteen vehicles, notably including my two airplanes, were made in this century. It’ll probably be after retirement because I’ve got enough going on with the current fleet. To each his own.
Don’t get me wrong – I really like Mooneys, since they are very cool planes. But if you compare them with an SR22 the only thing left after a full comparison is the somewhat higher speed … and only at very high altitudes.
A 2014 SR22 is not much less … but look at the used market (I would NEVER buy a new plane). You get a 5 or 7 year old SR22 for a very good price, sometimes less than 1/3 the new price for a plane with 600 or 800 hours, fully equipped – many of them with oxygen, A/C, EGPWS, Stormscope, Traffic, digital Autopilot …
Well, of course – if you are a collector of classic vehicles, I agree :-)
Actually since I restored old italian sports cars many years ago (mostly Alfa) I can VERY WELL understand.
I drove three Alfas as my daily transport for about 15 years Now, with new cars having become less likeable, I’ve moved my enthusiasm to things that (in my mind anyway) can last forever. I have a puritanical distaste for investing in the disposable.
I believe that almost….almost happened about 4-5 years ago.
Do you mean the NZ outfit which went bust? I list the ones I know about in my TB20 write-up.
There was another more recent which never got far but didn’t get public and I won’t give details. I think Socata are reluctant to talk to people who might want to have a go.
Technically there is no problem restarting Mooney or Socata.
