Another 250 GT/E is lost. No chassis no. given Ferrari 250 SWB Basis 250 GTE als Sportwagen/Coupé in Ottobrunn b. München
I wonder how long it will be with these cars before the original car is worth more than the re body necessitating re fitment of the original body?
Never, they are the runt of the ferrari litter, for as long as the 250 GTO rockets in price, and proportionally ahead of the GTE then so will any GTE based replicas follow suit, so the price curve will not be beaten. If GTO prices dropped then GTEs will proportionally drop even more than them. Even if there were only a handful of GTEs left that would not suddenly make them desirable, there is a reason they lag behind and that reason will always cause them to stay at the bottom of the pile. I liken it to the ugliest playgirl at the playboy mansion. Stunning in a normal situation, mediocre when in such astute company though.
I'm not convinced the replica market will always move in the same proportion as the genuine GTO/SWB market. Look at the Daytona Spyder conversions, in the 80's a conversion was worth a lot more than the Berlinetta it was based on and the conversion was economically viable. Now a conversion is worth little more (and in some cases less) than the Berlinettas they are based on and no one is converting Berlinettas now.
I have heard there are less than 200 GTEs that are accounted for now. Someone told me now less than 50 units are driving on the road. I managed to get 2 this year and I'm tying to buy another one. I can't tell you what the true value of these cars are but they are grossly undervalued today when compared to the other 250s. As illogical people keep destroying them to make copies the values of the remaining cars will increase as well. True the 250 SWB and GTOs look more stunning but a properly fixed GTE sounds similar and handles as well as drives as well as those cars going for more than $10M.
I don't believe this to be true. At least as far as the GTE's not eventually being worth saving goes. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but I'd at least, like to believe, that someday GTE's will be put back together. Here's why. Although the price of the replica may rise with the GTO etc. and therefore the desirability of the donor parts will rise I do not agree that this will stop the rebuilding of the discarded GTE's etc. Although I think it would be ideal, and frankly the honorable thing to do, for the original Ferrari parts to be mated to original Ferrari cars, I would have to hope that the market will create a situation where it's worthwhile to fix the GTE's as prices rise on the GTO's and replicas. Here's how. Although the value of the replica's may rise quicker then the "runt" GTE's, I don't believe the cost of replica parts will rise at the same rate as genuine donor parts due to they are not genuine Ferrari . The thing is even if the replica's do rise quicker then the "runts", The "runts" WILL rise. Today it may not be worthwhile money-wise to build a replica with only replica parts but as the value of the GTE's also rise I would have to hope that the price of the replica parts will make it worthwhile to at least restore the GTE with a replica parts. Hopefully people will get the motors back to the rightful car and build a replica for what it really is, a replica, but maybe that is too much too ask. I also think that hopefully one day, maybe 100 years from now, that the GTE's will be appreciated more due to they are the real deal versus they're not. But maybe I'm just dreaming.....
Ad is gone... Look at it this way: You can probably buy about ALL of the remaining GTE's for roughly two GTO's. That's quite an incentive. It is what it is.
So... how do you value a rebody? Is a 250GT Pininfarina rebodied to a 250SWB worth more or less than an original car? (it is of course more expensive to buy a car and rebody it than it is to keep it as original) Is a 275GTB NART conversion (a good one, if there is such a thing) worth more than a complete original car?
Talking to Terry Hoyle about this, most of the replicas he did were based on "basket case" GTEs , those cars are generally gone now and the remaining GTE's are owned by people who like and care for GTEs. Barn find (tatty but original) GTEs these days command good money and are restored as such (see this year's monterey auction and comments by Marcel M). Are you going to pay £250,000-£350,000 to start a replica project? I've talked to people bidding on GTEs at auction, nobody said they were bidding with "re-body in mind" If so it will just drive up GTE prices. So perhaps its over..the super rich dont want a replica, as for the rest of us perhaps make like the fake 355 crowd and base it on a Toyota ? you might fool a girl outside a night club, in the dark, once.
And what about the 330 America? Compared to the 330 GT 2+2 fitted with the eastheticly more pleasing body of the GTE (in my humble opinion of course) but with it's more powerful engine and only about 50 cars built. Today there are probably less America's around then 250 GTO's. Of course no racing history whatsoever, but as a vintage Ferrari, it checks all the other boxes.