Snake Oil From China

The headline in the New York Post is the best: "Chinese Automobiles Heading for U.S. Shores." Add an exclamation point and maybe a grainy photo of a column of People's Army regulars, and that bit of hyperbole could have graced the front page of any cold-war American newspaper, or The Onion.

The Post -- and hundreds of other organizations -- are fascinated by the announcement by Visionary Vehicles LLC that it would be importing a quarter of a million inexpensive Chinese cars into the U.S. And get this: They'll be priced for 30% less than current cars while sporting a 10-year warranty.

Sizzling news, no? A big new threat to GM (NYSE: GM), Ford (NYSE: F), and DaimlerChrysler (NYSE: DCX), not to mention Toyota (NYSE: TM) and Honda (NYSE: HMC). Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves. After all, doesn't this sound a little familiar?

Of course it does. This unoriginal concept is the latest bit of self-promotion from well-known automotive opportunist Malcolm Bricklin, chief executive of Visionary Vehicles, who surfaces about once every half decade with yet another answer for America's commuters. If there's one thing he knows how to do, it's generate buzz on a slow news day.

While the news treatments today are busy parroting the VV press release, the story is really much more interesting than that. While some view Bricklin as a true prophet, others -- including those who believed in his mid-'80s electric car company, or lost big bucks in his abortive, late '90s electric bike scheme -- view him as more of a snake oil salesman. Try a few Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) searches and see what fascinating tales come to light.

Yes, Bricklin started his career bringing Subarus to the U.S., but keep in mind that he left in 1971, well ahead of the success. From there, he founded a company that sold a few thousand sporty, well-liked gull-wing "Safety Vehicles" long before DeLorean produced his similarly fated stainless steel loser. Another time, it was imported FIATs -- a car that in my experience was always more than deserving of the putative source for the acronym "Fix It Again, Tony."

But Bricklin's greatest fame in the U.S. is as the importer of the junky neo-FIAT Yugo, which made a big splash in the '80s, mostly as a punch line for late-night TV hosts. You can count on similar jokes tonight and later, should these cars hit the shores. And Bricklin's not the only shady character in the story. Chery Automobiles, Venture's Chinese manufacturer, is a major player in China's car revolution, but it's most famous in the foreign press for its alleged design thefts. The firm's popular QQ is, according to a December lawsuit, a blatant copy of a GM/Daewoo design that hadn't even hit the streets before the knockoff was on sale.

To judge by Bricklin's past successes, the major automakers have little to fear from the latest venture. They're already moving production of parts and cars to those shores. Now, if they can just figure out how to sell cars for more than it costs to build them, they might put investors' minds at ease.

For related Foolishness:

• Is DaimlerChrysler Smart, or silly?
• How does China + GM = 100% ?
• GM doubles down in China.

Seth Jayson urges everyone to review the Simpsons' ride on the car of tomorrow -- that's the Epcot Center episode. At the time of publication, he had positions in no company mentioned. View his stock holdings and Fool profile here. Fool rules are here.