The official replica/re-creation thread

Yes, they seriously endanger the existance of original cars!!!

 

+1

A well done replica/rebody is a tribute car that offers "the common man" to see what the original was like. As time progresses you see less and less of the rare originals in the events. Not just because they're a dying breed but because they become too valuable to be risked. Many people never go to Goodwood or Pebble Beach and a pantoon fendered TR replica is all they ever see at their local event.

The Eiffel tower at Epcot center or in Las Vegas might be a far cry from the original, but to many people that's as close as they'll ever get to the original. Not ideal, but IMHO still better than just looking at photographs.

PS: Would I pay that much money for a replica? Hell no, it ain't gonna hold its value. But I'm sure glad somebody else does and I get to see that car at some event or just on the street.

 

How can you tell? Notice the folks that get the most annoyed about the replicas? They are likely the type that have read and followed cars since boyhood. While their classmates collected nudy magazine, these guys read about the cars, the people behind them and had car pictures pasted above their beds. Asking these now-grown-boys "how can you tell?" is a ridiculous question at best.

As to folks who will never get to see a real GTO, well, that's life. Not every American is fortunate enough to travel to Europe and sight see. But I guess there are Las Vegas and Universal Studios. Are these good enough? Maybe.

john

 

A couple of people that you consider friends have replicas in their collections.

I'll see you at the regonal event in March. I'll definitely say "hi".

 

If the difference between replicas and originals is the kind of thing you read about in magazines or can see in pictures plastered above your bed, then I'm with you. But in actuality the details you can identify through those sources are only the things that help point out an obvious fake. I'm talking about "insignificant" details such as routing of wires, the type of rivets used to hold the fuel tank together or the thickness of the metal on the firewall, measurements of distance between seemingly insignificant components of the car, the number of ribs on the crankcase, stupid details like that. This is certainly what is needed to tell an original from a pretender, and not something the average car freak could effectively accomplish. And if you can validate all that, don't forget the car's provenance. It ain't simple.

 

come on, who among you wouldnt want to own and drive this ?

http://www.ferraris-online.com/pages/carintro.php?reqcardir=FE-250GTO-3781

 

I wouldn't!

The angle of the windscreen is wrong, the front fender line is all wrong, the hood looks like an elephant sat on it. The whole car is a mess. Besides that, a genuine 250 GTE Series II had to die for this lousy and poor "recreation".

Marcel Massini

 

I'm talking about significant things like general shape. Sofar nobody has been able to reproduce a GTO with correct A- and C-pillar shape, it seems. The side window line is very difficult to do correct. It is lower than windshield, but not that much lower. The c-pillar seems even more difficult to get right; most replicas look like stations wagons. The one posted earlier in this thread does not; looks too flat. Park that thing next to a real GTO and we'll all have a laugh! And it only gets worse if we go down to designs that are not so well known. Sometimes I think that Allegretti did all this on purpose...

 

Same goes for 3451GT in my opinion, wrong front fender line.
As both cars are/were from Stroll, think both are from the same carrozzeria.

 

all the original gtos have differences and tbh i thought that one looked pretty good - but your the expert.

out of interest are there any of the recreations that you do feel look (and are specced) right ?

 

NOT A SINGLE ONE!
Marcel Massini

 

Why am I not surprised?

 

A spurious and false distinction which is rarely borne out, at least on this side of the ocean. Rallyes are fortunately full of real enthusiasts who care about history, aesthetic glory, garage art, screaming V-12's, and of course value (most of them have limited funds, so value conservation and realisation is important).

And caring about all these things, they hate replicas. So do I.

 

so not a single one looks right ?
im not talking about the ethics of doing it etc, but simply getting the actual looks right.

 

There are days that I don't see a genuine 250 GTO in the metal. In fact there have been two occasions in which I have seen a 250 GTO in real life. I would love the have lots more of those occassions yet seeing a GTO 'replica' or 'recreation' is not an alternative to me. I'd rather lay my eyes on a genuine Scaglietti built 250 GTE then on some recreated GTO-body. I just don't understand why people would take a perfectly fine Ferrari and make it into something it is not, namely another type of Ferrari. It will always have the appearance that the owner would rather have a Ferrari that is beyond his financial means and that he prefers a fake Ferrari over the genuine, more affordable and less rare article. On the other hand, I have no problem in rebodies that result in a unique design, such as the Michelotti 330 GT, the Zagato 575 and the P4/5.

 

+1, and well said.

In the end one day I might own a Ferrari and I want it to be 100% Ferrari, thus I would rather own a 308GT4 than a 250LM replica using genuine Ferrari parts ... and I absolutely adore the 250LM.

In the end if somebody hacks up a genuine Ferrari to make a replica, it is no longer a Ferrari but a piece of cr@p that just happens to have a few Ferrari components. Yes it will be registered as a Ferrari ... but it isn't. The Ferrari company makes Ferraris not anybody else. And yes period rebodies are really Ferrari/body shop specials and usually are referred to as such, ie Drogo 250 etc ...

And yes I am very much into the driving of cars not just looking at them, but like Jim said there are many original cars that are fine drivers. All you guys that dispise the look of a 250GTE, have you ever driven one, a good one that is restored properly (I haven't), but my point is have you ever given the original car even a chance? ... I bet the answer is no, thus you are only a skin deep enthusiast. Also has anybody played around with spring rates, etc. on a 250GTE and seen how a bit of modern suspension development can improve it's handling ... add a roll cage and probably a great fun race car! Wouldn't pushing a 250SWB in a GTE at a classic meet be a hoot ... you'd be an absolute crowd hero

Again if you want to feel what a 250GTO/TR/LM is like to drive there are other options instead of cutting up genuine old Ferraris. You could easily make a chassis and body, and there are many modern engines out there that with clever work could produce near identical power and torque curves for the same weight ... using that same concept through the rest of the car and you would have that driving experience without the sacrifice.

In the end people make replicas out of real old Ferraris because they still want to be able to call it a Ferrari ... sorry mate you fncked the car and it's at very best a Ferrari engined special.
Pete

 

I've never seen a '62 250GTO, or a 288GTO for that matter. I've seen a few 275GTB's and a while ago watched a 250SWB drive past on the other side of the road ... !!

If I ever manage to see a real one, that will be great ... if not never mind.
Pete

 

Restoring my former 330 to concours original condition would cost a fraction of what it would take to do a good replicar...and there's no one out there, including me, willing to commit the necessary funds to this level of professional restoration for a Series I 330 2+2.

The ideal situation is a for knowledgeable and well-equipped do-it-yourselfer to bring it back to what it was/is.

In the absence of that, my contention: I'd rather see the engine/drivetrain/chassis/major mechanicals go to a replica builder who will keep the s/n intact, and the send rest of the useable parts to the ever-dwindling pool of available parts for 330 2+2's.

As opposed to:

The entire car going to a used-parts dealer who will part it out indiscriminately, with loss of the s/n.

Clear?

 

Terry,

You are still missing the point. Period rebodies were not done to make the car look like another Ferrari, but to make it individual or faster, etc. Nobody took a 250GTE in '63 and rebodied it to look like a GTO, nobody. The Breadvan is the closest (on a SWB) but that was not a replica attempt at all, but an improvement on the GTO shape for the track ... surely you can see the very big difference?

Pete

 

Don't agree, making a replica that does not have to be anything but appropriately right is easy as ... but restoring a car to be exactly as it was originally is hard and time consuming work.

That is why modern panelbeaters do not fix but replace panels ...

Also a replica would most likely be based on a competition car thus roughness in work would be acceptable as it's a "race car" + no trim, etc.

Anyway I am not debating the future of your car, that is sadly lost ... I'm debating the concept.
Pete