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Their is an interesting thread running on Pstonheads about the car , a lot of people on their agree with me, it is pretending to be some thing it is not.
Have you a link (or guidance where to find?) I'd be interested to see what peeps think, but can't EVER seem to find anything successfully with a pistonhead search.
Ferrari replicas have always been far more contentious than any other sort. I think that stems from the initial glut of MR2 based 355s then 360s then Cougar based 458s etc all that copy a current model.
People tend to be far more accepting when you recreate a classic car long out of production and totally unobtainable to the common man such as a cobra, GT40 etc.
Interestingly this does not appear to extend to classic Ferraris - although Daytonas seem to get away with it, presumably on the basis that they're so rare if you see one you just instantly think fake. Not sure about Dinos but people do seem to have taken against the Z3 ones already - presumably (like some peoples paint) they're not expensive enough irrespective of how well they're finished.
What I've always found hypocritical are those people who take a huge stand against using the F badge but are quite happy to accept Shelby/cobra branding etc.
No replica cobra parts will even remotely fit the real thing (unless you're talking about a Kirkham or a GD MkIV) - they pretty much all share the common DNA of the original Arntz cobra that was imported many many years ago and then manufacturers even shared bodies. You had RAM supplying SR and AK used to supply Crendon before they rehashed it - ironically some people call it the most accurate cobra when the body hasn't been anywhere near an original...it was all reshaped by hand.....hypocrits.....anyways....
My point is - and you're right this has been done to death on pistonheads - a Sumo clearly isn't a replica so how can you be happy with badging on that and not another evocation? Do you know I actually saw a GT40 rep in Benfleet and the stripe down the side along the sill said "GT Fourty" - epic fail....
And the reason I'm not putting badging on is exactly because of the (hypocritical) attitude to F replicas. This will be my third - the first was a Noble P4 - cosworth turbo powered total blasphemy for an F car but I would have raced anything in that car when the boost was cranked it was untouchable in 3rd. I still have the Noble badge I bought for the nose in my drawer because it I was going to rebrand. When it went up for sale recently at 50k (I sold it for 24) it had F badges up every orrifice!
the second was an Extreme 355 running a 3.0 V6 conversion - it sounded incredible and went well. I took it over to Spa classic one september in convoy with a TVR and 3 cobras - a Sumo, an AK and Fiero. We went past some coffee shops in SPa town centre and who do you think got heckled? Yep me! "C'est un Fake - le Posseur!!" will forever be ringing in my ears when I think of that car lol!
The irony was I'd taken the badges off and stuck a 2Brutal badge on the front and Toyota script on the engine deck...ho hum
I think there are two types of Ferrari replica , one being a copy of a modern car 355 etc etc . These are built simply for the "Bling" effect often by those with loads of money but not enough for a real one . The owner might have a fake bling watch and orange fake tan too. The give away is the white trainer.
Our 250 SWB is aimed at those who might live in the shires , read Horse and Hound , go to Prescott or Shelsley Walsh hill climb or perhaps Goodwood. I don't think the typical buyer is even aware of this car yet !
The car will be a nieche market until established in the "Classic" scene where it could really take off.
I think that the "kitcar" events have their place but aren't the best way to market these cars. Yes , a good introduction but there might be better ways or other events to attend ie Goodwood
Do you know I actually saw a GT40 rep in Benfleet and the stripe down the side along the sill said "GT Fourty" - epic fail....
Don't know if you're local to Benfleet (I used to live there once), but nearby (Basildon) was a company which made some 'follow on' Ford GT40's (I think the co was Walker & Scott or something similar. I don't know what the legal arrangement was, but apparently these cars were the real mccoy monocoque, nut and bolt replicas. Also on Canvey Island I went searching for some GRP supplies once, and had trouble finding the place, so poked my head around the door in an industrial unit to ask the guys ..... who were constructing alloy bodies for Ferrari's! (don't know any more I'm afraid), but their creations looked good.
Born and bred in Hadleigh! There are a lot of these specialist shops round Essex that you never hear about - I didn't know about one on Canvey. The guy who's doing my mouth and bumpers is in Hawkwell and has built some amazing stuff - this is restoration he did on a DB2
Have you a link (or guidance where to find?) I'd be interested to see what peeps think, but can't EVER seem to find anything successfully with a pistonhead search.
Don't know if you're local to Benfleet (I used to live there once), but nearby (Basildon) was a company which made some 'follow on' Ford GT40's (I think the co was Walker & Scott or something similar. I don't know what the legal arrangement was, but apparently these cars were the real mccoy monocoque, nut and bolt replicas. Also on Canvey Island I went searching for some GRP supplies once, and had trouble finding the place, so poked my head around the door in an industrial unit to ask the guys ..... who were constructing alloy bodies for Ferrari's! (don't know any more I'm afraid), but their creations looked good.
I remembered who they were........ Hayward & Scott. Strange how the brain suddenly comes up with these things a few hours after you first want them!
ISTR they are known for very good one-off exhausts & manifolds.
Getting the build thread back on track, I've been doing more fitting up today and the rear screen is in.
What looked like it could be an issue with the rubber looking oversize, proved not to be too bad when we actually put it in. The trims look as though they'll be a bugger to fit as most folks said they would so I'll have a go at it when the car's home next week.
I did notice the rear screen rubber that I bought was oversize, I sent the 1st one back it was so big, the second one is a bit smaller so hopefully fit ok.
I cleaned it all under the bonnet yesterday. I'm not doing more than that for now as I'm not much on leaving the bonnet open at shows.
Today I made one of the new door top edge trims. Chris made some when I first had the car done but these are going to be a bit longer. They are a good place to mount the mirrors and should look fine when polished up.
My 3 little granddaughters are here from South Wales for a few days now so the car is on the back burner until the end of the week.
Thanks Paul,
I had the rev and rear fog light under the rear valance to start with but a mate said it looked like a pair of bo--ocks hanging down so I had to have a different plan. The rear fog is a race car wet weather light on the edge of the roll cage.
Looking really smart. The wheels look good now with the rest of car complete, I thought they wouldn't work when I first saw them.
Nice build , well done !!
Andy, I'll take some pictures of the bonnet grille for you. It's been on a while but being black it doesn't show up much. It's made for a piece of mesh from some sort of Mitsubishi which I folded up and glassed in from behind. It also has grilles over the wing vents (made from the perforated metal on the back of an old heater) but again as they are black they don't show up much.
I know you never set out to do the F car slave thing and when you first showed the colour I couldn't see it but, yeah, absolutely - that genuinely looks like a real Italian classic car of the period.
