Ford’s Garage
Formerly known as Vintage Hospitality Group
Bottom line
- Total investment $3.7M – $6.6M including a $50K franchise fee, 5.5% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $5.7M/year (median $5.5M). Estimated payback in 9.1 years.
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 52/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 8 loans (below the industry average).
- System growing at 40.0% CAGR over 3 years with 29 total units — strong expansion trajectory.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Yale framework · single-unit ROIC
Returns Analysis
Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.
The model · Yale framework
What would one Ford’s Garage unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
17%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Ford’s Garage units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
23.1%
2.83× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
3.84×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$33.1M
on $54.4M purchase
Total debt
$21.3M
SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Ford's Garage franchisees operate American-casual dining restaurants combining handcrafted burgers, craft beverages, and Ford-themed ambiance. Day-to-day operations include managing kitchen and front-of-house staff, inventory control, customer service, local marketing, and maintaining brand standards across food preparation and hospitality.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 8 states with active franchisees
The Territory Map
Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator — not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).
States derived from franchisee phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Caution-level risk: high capital requirement with thin margins, unverified financial claims, and rapid growth in small system warrant thorough validation before commitment.
Score breakdown · what drove the 52 / 100 rating
- 01MINORHigh initial investment ($3.7M-$6.6M) with modest average net income ($568K) yields 9-12 year payback period, creating significant financial risk
- 02MEDNo Item 19 (Financial Performance Representations) disclosed — inability to verify if $5.73M average revenue and $568K net income are typical or outlier results
- 03MINORRapid unit growth (21.7% YoY) may indicate aggressive recruitment outpacing support infrastructure; 29-unit system still relatively small and unproven at scale
- 04MINORRoyalty structure excludes merchandise and gift card sales, potentially creating hidden revenue gaps and franchisor incentive misalignment
- 05MINORNet profit margin of only 9.9% ($568K/$5.73M) is thin for QSR-hybrid model, leaving little buffer for underperforming locations or economic downturns
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
Item 11
Training & Operations
Item 20
Franchisee Contacts
Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.
Franchisee contacts
33 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Ford’s Garage · FDD (2025) PDF