A guy at work asked me what this was and I have no idea. http://portland.craigslist.org/clk/cto/1600955813.html
http://blogs.motortrend.com/6246790/miscellaneous/a-laforza-to-be-reckoned-with/index.html Maybe this?
Ah - this is garbage that was hawked back in the late 80's. The SUV was designed by Tom Tjaarda, but was powered by an anemic Ford 5.0L V8. Nothing to do with Ferrari. Now, IIRC, Lamborghini had something like a Hummer - the LM?
Yep (but, so much more interesting than a Hummer...); some pictures here: http://www.lambocars.com/archive/lm/lm002i.htm Cheers, Gabriel
It's a Rayton Fissore Magnum; first shown at the 1985 Turin auto show. European models had mostly 2.0L Fiat DOHC engines, but some versions had the 2.5L Alfa V6. US models were called LaForza and (most of them) have a 5.0L Ford V8. I remember a handful were sold in Oslo in the late 1980s. Can't remember seeing one for a very long time.... Cheers, Gabriel
I own one for the fun of it, and I'm also friends with its designer. It really was a great idea ahead of its time. Like all low budget car companies, while the idea was great, execution of that idea was lacking in many areas. I call mine - Carbon Bigfoot. Love it, pisses off the Gobal Warming Tree Huggers.
A few years back during Pebble Beach weekend, we had Tom out till about 3 AM Saturday evening. He had to be at Pebble for a judges meeting at 6. He was a hurting puppy when we saw him at 10 AM.
Tom Tjaarda is a guy I'd love to meet. Whilst this LaForza Rayton Fissore Magnum was basically just an evergrown Fiat uno, Tom created some fantastic designs. I'm still thinking with much fondness of my early De Tomaso Deauville with Pantera GTS engine...
Overgrown Fiat Uno! Hardly, the LaForza is a tank, 5,000 lbs of get the @#$% out of my way. This was the only vehicle in the history of the NHTSA to break through the 30 MPH crash barrier.
I believe the official description was "Exceeded Barrier".... I have always liked LaForza's but most of the ones that come up for sale tends to be way abused... I saw a LaPrima (sp?) in Vegas parked in the Bellagio Valet about 3 years ago. It was fricking awesome, almost like an updated, more modern LaForza. The body lines were clear but I am not certain if this a custom one-off or a car that was made.... I would still love to have one of those
Not to hijack the thread, but Tjaarda is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. Very approachable. I had the privilege of driving him around one evening in Dallas when he was there for the ItalianCarFest, and he was great. Here I am driving my Pantera, with the designer in the passenger seat, listening to stories about working with Enzo Ferrari and Alejandro DeTomaso. Awesome night! The funniest story...as Tjaarda is in the car fumbling with the seatbelt I say to him, "Tom, I'll tell you the same thing I tell everyone else who gets in the car and does that--don't worry about the seatbelts. If we get in a crash, we're going to die anyway." He laughed and said, "Yes, the seatbelts were not a strong point." Seriously, though, awesome guy.
Tom is a great guy and a good friend. He has been to our event at Pocono - Le Belle Macchine d'Italia many times. He just keeps coming back year after year. ;-) Image Unavailable, Please Login
Towed a Cobra out to Willow Springs in '90 when they were new. Seemed to have decent power, unique styling and an upmarket interior. I liked it-in 1990. A few years ago I had the opportunity to pick up a decent example. nearly 20 years later-I hated it. Slow, dated interior and perhaps the worst ride I've ever experienced-it was also a poor performer off-road, which I found surprising. I spent a fair bit trying to sort it(with a laForza specialist) and gave up-took a loss and was glad to be rid of it. Bought a nice Range Rover and never gave that LaForza a second thought.
Oh that was the year the Hooters girls changed into their bikinis in the mens room at Pocono. Wouldn't you know it, I was out on the track doing some hot laps. Hot laps in the mens room might have been more interesting! Tom is a very nice guy and a gentleman. He looks out of place in that sort of photo. Looks more like one of Corbacio's blackmail shots ... ;>)) Bob S.
Sat morning I generally drive one of my vintage F Cars to a local exotic shop to BS etc, this am decided to drive the Laforza long story short on the way home a late seventies or early eighties Cadillac 4 door changed lanes in front of me and hit the car in front, Cadillac stopped suddenly and I rear ended it, well rear ended is an understatement I slammed into it concertina the whole car into a coup, long story short, driver of Cadillac sped off, cops show up look at my truck say There is no way judging by the state of my vehicle that I turned the caddy into a coup. I go home 2 hours later cops show up at my house, driver of caddy had warrant for arrest no liscence etc, they found him and car based on my description of caddy coup.....so in my humble opinion the Laforza is a white elephant, mine happens to be white.
Here is one for sale on ebay..... different. (not mine) http://cgi.ebay.ca/Ferrari-Laforza-/130411313609?cmd=ViewItem&pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item1e5d1eb9c9
My wife and I owned a 1990 Laforza back in the 90's. We really enjoyed it, but like some have said here, the 5 litre V8 was really underpowered for the rig. I had the chance to speak with Clive Cussler who also owned one at the same time, and he said his was AWFUL on the mountain passes in Colorado. A lot of folks strapped on a Paxton Supercharger which really helped the performance. I still get a kick out of folks who attach Ferrari logo's to them. The bodies were built at Pinninfarina's factory and rolled down the same body line as the Testarossa during the day. That's as close to Ferrari as they ever got! ;-) The one item that I found to be the biggest fault with ours were welds. Once my wife hit a bump in the road and it broke the bracket that holds the radiator in place. It fell back against the fan and chewed the radiator to bits. About a year later, I was sitting at a stop light and when the light turned green, I pressed the accelerator and the seat fell backwards! The seat rail had broke at a weld joint! All in all, I still really enjoyed it. Parts were easy to get (engine, transmission) and it sure got a ton of looks and "what is that???" Mike
from the side they look just like a VW rabbit! The Jeep with its straight six was a much better SUV. I always wondered why Ferrari didn't get into the SUV market, especially after Porsche's SUV was such a hit.
