To add some facts to the rumour mill:

There are 2 Taipan moulds. The old 3 piece and the newer 2 piece. Don't know where the 2 piece is, but the 3 piece is at the same factory where the Capricorn is being made at Batam, Indonesia. No Taipans have been made in this factory.

I recently bought an A class at the end of '06 and what I paid was less than the amounts you guys are mentioning here (Geltek Flyer 2). A$24k without a trailer is the ballpark figure.

As far for the price of carbon, I have a research report on my desk specifically about this. Prices have steadied, if not fallen off a bit in the past 6 to 12 months. If manufacturers still quote prices going up then either they are getting screwed when they buy it, or we are as consumer of these products.

Hope this info helps.