The article (from unknown magazine for me), October 13, 1986:
"The former world heavyweight champion, who has a farm a hundred or so miles north of here, in Afton, is planning to enter the automobile business with a sleek new car that bears his name - the Ali-3WC. And he hopes to manufacture it here in tobacco country, on the southern edge of the state.
"The project is in its very early stages right now," said Halifax County Administrator Joseph N. Morgan, who has negotiated with the principals of the newly formed Ali Motors Inc. over the location of the $12 million assembly plant.
If everything goes as planned, the company would begin producing the limited-edition sports car in an assembly plant just outside of this town of 7,500 by the end of next summer.
Ali and his five partners in the project have applied for $9.3 million in county industrial revenue bonds to finance land purchases and construction. Local officials are expected to vote on the funding tonight.
"Assuming everything can come together, I would expect that sometime in the second quarter of next year, or perhaps the third quarter, cars will begin being produced," said Nelson Boon Jr. of Franksville, Wis., one of the partners in the corporation.
The corporation will attempt to trade on the fame of the three-time world champion - that's where the 3WC in the car's name comes from - to win an immediate share of the trade.
"We want to be aligned with a champion," Boon said, explaining why Ali was sought out to join the venture. "Ali has a significant following not only in this country, but throughout the world. . . . We expect immediate acceptance, especially in the Middle East."
At first, the car - which will feature a customized body and interior atop a General Motors chassis - will be sold solely in the Middle East. Ali, who is a Muslim, is highly regarded there, and his reputation is expected to boost sales.
Boon said the car won't be immediately sold in the United States because the lengthy regulatory processes of the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Transportation would prolong its debut.
"We know that our car will meet EPA and DOT standards, but you still have to go through the process," Boon said. "This way, while we're going through that process we'll be selling cars."
Eventually, the company projects producing 3,000 cars a year, with annual sales of $96 million worldwide.
The partners are reluctant to discuss the details of the car or the company. Boon even expressed dismay that a photograph of the prototype had leaked out.
He would only say of the design, which is said to be a cross between a Corvette and a Ferrari, that "the car is a derivative of a GM product."
Of Ali's involvement, Boon said, "He's going to be an integral part of the company. It's his image that is associated with the car and the concept that we have for it, so he will have a definite role, particularly in marketing and sales and so forth."
When the $35,000 Ali-3WC goes on sale, it will join a growing number of so- called "kit cars" on the market - cars featuring customized bodies and interiors on a standard, ready-made chassis.
In marketing his own line of sports car, Ali is putting his image as a boxing hero against that of Philip Michael Thomas, the television actor whose ego, judging from his boastful published interviews, is at least as big as Ali's.
The star of Miami Vice is the national spokesman for the Machiavelli, a limited-edition sports car in the same price range as the Ali-3WC that was unveiled in January."
