Crappy Replicas thread

I can't help thinking that if the builders of some of these fakes put as much effort into something of their own design they could come up with something truely unique. Imagine if Zonda just copied the Enzo instead of designing and building his own car. Some of these builders are really talented - obviously not the LP640 kit above - it's just a pity they have no vision of their own.

 

When it comes to 1970's and older rare racing cars, I can totally see building a replica. But doing one of a more modern road car, seems a bit odd to me, and I agree. (Testa Rossa, Diablo, 360, 430, etc). There are so many cars of my own design I'd like to build, it'd be hard for me to get to a replica - but I think a Mercedes W125 with more modern underpinnings would be my first choice for a replica. Then perhaps a Ferrari 312 T2, then a Ferrari P4.

 

Exactly.

Well in some instances I perfer to own a replica than the real McCoy, seriously who in there right mind will take a multi million dollar classic out to the track or strip? especially if you paid oh say 5mil for it.

replica's I believe are bad sometimes but can also be a good thing.

 

Well yeah thats a great idea but some people just don't want that. Look at the SSC aero, that was once concidered a kit because the company used to do lamborghini diablo replicas and somebody got the great idea to do a highly modified Diablo based on a tube chassis with the vette racing motor and well thats how it started. Like the dude said its perfectly fine for vintage racing cars or something like that where you want to preserve the good suff for the future and let some replica get abused.

For me thats where id like to begin is in my own garage building the car I love the most.

 

Ok, when you are creating a replica of a multi-million $ car that you *already* own I'll respect your choice. There's a guy down here with a big collection which includes one of the best examples of a Lancia Stratos - but he used a technically equally good replica for campaigning in rallies etc - absolutely understandable.

You and your ilk talk about putting kits on crappy domestic cars to resemble an "affordable" and plentiful car by comparison - how often and for how long have you said you don't want a real Diablo, you'd rather make one better than what Lamborghini could make? A car like a Diablo is expensive - yes - but if you can afford a house you can afford a Lamborghini, it's a matter of your priorities in life, so no, I have no respect whatsoever for Diablo etc kitcars - use that talent and build something impressive which isn't the equivalent of stuffing socks down your pants.

 

Oh, man if I had a dollar for every time I have had that argument with a "well-meaning" family member I could buy either one. I'm single with no kids! Don't need or want a house!

 

LOL

 

The GT40 shown is in fact an original owned by Ford chassis number 1008....PAINTED in Gulf Heritage colours...not original Gulf colours...it is one of two cars used by Ford scanned and increased in size by 12.6% to create the new Ford GT....

Two years ago it was repainted in black and a Mk2 replica tail added, with replica wheels provided by myself to replicate 1046 the Le Mans winning car , and was driven by Dan Gurney up the hill at Goodwood...

The reason for faking 1046 was that the original Mk2's from 1066 were all at the Classisc Le Mans commemorating the historic 1966 1.2. 3 finish....so is it a crappy replica...hhhmmm...

 

Crappy Replicas would be better described as crappy kit cars - there are all sorts of crappy kits out there and not all of them are replicas.

My vote is that the only good replica is one that is an exact replica.... or a significant improvement. That pretty much rules out anything that is built from one donor......ANYTHING built on a fiero that is trying to be something else is a piece of crap... Lambo replicas are almost exclusively crap - especially as the top end ones cost almost as much as a real one.

The Ferraris posted above are gorgeous....but thats because they are pieces or art not pieces of crap.

... The Kirkhams Cobras are works of art, so are many Hot Rods..... http://www.kirkhammotorsports.com/index.html


There are obviously a few people out there like Aircon that believe that any copy of anything is crappy, which is fine, but I am sure that they are also hypocrites as there must be SOMETHING in the world that is a copy that they admire...... tit jobs spring to mind.

Just like tit jobs, there are replicas done in good taste and those done in poor taste. Most would agree that the mega-huge tit jobs are in poor taste and look ridiculous. Most (at least here) would agree that anything built on a Fiero is in poor taste and ridiculous.
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Dunno about aircon, but otherwise agree. Replicas are rampant in our lives. Replica planes, fake brick houses (something that irritates me to no end in the US), fake marble counter tops, prints and lithos of art, fake watches and handbags, fake fire places, counterfeit perfume, fake body parts (lets leave it at that) or as Ashsimmonds pointed out the whole can of worms of photocopied books and magazines, something that happens at Universities and in corporations probably on a daily basis, but is clearly illegal.

Spot on.

Part of the fun and challenge in a replica (of anything) is to get as close to the original as possible. The comparison with the original is the ultimate benchmark of how good a job you did. You don't have that in a creation of your own. That's precisely why a lot of hobby painters are trying to "copy" the works of masters. They're not into counterfeiting, but trying to see how good their skills are.

 

Pics from Paul's collection:
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what?? i didn't say they're crappy....i said they're pathetic and HAVING one is pathetic!

well ok...that's pretty awesome.

maybe things are different there to here.....but here....a replica is always laughed at....no matter how good they are.

 

I was wondering about just that myself.

I see from Ashsimmonds link that you have been indeed "around the block", so apologies for my question, that you haven't been to many events. If you go to an event here, chances are you'll come across a replica and most folks are just fine with that.

From the little I know about Aussie culture, I'd say you guys are straight shooters, so I can see where you're coming from. The US might be more focused on materialism and when one can't get what they want, they just build it or have it built. <switch off Oprah simplification mode now>

 

All of which you've said just here - do you believe any of these fake items should be generating money (and quite often a luxurious living) for the people who peddle them?

I can't think of a single person who I spend time with who doesn't have a scale model of various cars that they admire. Some will say it's the ultimate homage to build a 1:1 scale model, and I agree, it is... just don't go driving it around the streets and to club shows and pretending it's actually designed and built by someone else when they have nothing to gain out of it.

PP's been more than "around the block", he's an old geezer who's owned Ferraris for about my lifetime and so with no life left he resorts to correcting stupidity on the internet. And yes, down here in Oz we don't kid-glove our thoughts which is why most of us don't venture beyond the Aussie section much as most Americans can't handle an uncensored conversation. I've poked around in the Politics & Religion section a little, but holy hell I can't imagine ever being able to actually say anything there without being hunted down and slaughtered by the way some folk carry on - so I only chat in private about that stuff.

 

To me it comes down to a legal/copyright issue: If you sell fake Gucci bags you are breaking the law (or to use your example photocopying Massini's books). So no, these folks shouldn't be making money but thrown in jail.

If you sell fake fire places or anything else that isn't a copy of an existing protected design, you're perfectly legal and you deserve to make a buck.

Regarding the replicars: I understand why Ferrari goes after a professional manufacturer of fake Ferraris. At the same time Ferrari leaves replica builders (like the 250 GTOs on GTE basis) alone, which I think is fair. The Italian Finance department who recently arrested the guys who drove around in their 355 replicas on Fiero basis overdid it. Using counterfeit charges against the owner of a replica is stupid. That charge can be used against somebody trying to sell a replica as the real deal. A manufacturer of replicars should be charged based on copyright violations, not on counterfeiting.

 

Ok soooo, we agree. But just to throw a spanner in the works, when my gf comes home from holidays in Bali or Melbourne or whatever (she's been gone almost two weeks ) with Loius Vutton handbags that only cost her $20 bucks, I'm quite grateful!!

Here's what some guy who thinks he's a hot shot designer comes up with if he thinks he's great and only has to take cues from great designers rather than copy them outright: (yes, it's NOT a joke )
---> http://aussieexotics.com/forum/market-watch/omg-wtf-jts-supercar-for-sale-t218.0.html

Mixed emotions. Remember Gordon Gekko... "like Larry Wilder driving off a cliff... in my new Maserati!". I hate to see one great car sacrificed for a spectacular one - in the end why bother?

 

Oh, as to the guy who brought up the titties argument... I'm a huge fan of breasts, but that argument doesn't fly.

"fake" tits aren't fake, they're an augmentation. Like supercharging your car from 200hp to 500hp. You don't drive around pretending you have 500hp... and as a now well-breasted lady don't walk around pretending you have big breasts, you HAVE big breasts!

My analogy of socks down the pants is better - that's all kitcar guys are doing... they don't have a Lamborghini, they're pretending until someone notices.

Same with guys putting socks down their pants.

 

I just lost my lunch.

I wouldn't butcher a 250 GTE for this. First because a 250 GTE is a vintage and rare car at events to begin with. Second because you sink a ton of money into it that you will never recover.

My ideal of a replica would be this with a real Ferrari engine (say from a 348 for instance):
http://www.race-car-replicas.com/rcrp4_photo_album.html

 

Great car, but still... why bother? It still won't be a car that Ferrari built, just a hobby-shed special, no matter how cool it looks.

When I talk about getting a Stratos replica... I wouldn't build one - absolute waste of time, but I'd happily buy one.

Me as a computer programmer... I could go and write Space Invaders or Breakout tomorrow, if I had the original program in front of me I could probably do it down to the last one and zero, who cares? You copy things like that just to cut your teeth on how to do it and then you use your brain to make something original... that's where failure occurs for most.

Nobody ever sold a "Hello world." program/website before.

 

It would not only look cool, but it would also drive like gangbusters. And it wouldn't break the bank to purchase and to maintain (well just a bit...). And it would have the heart of the beast. As Enzo said: "The engine is the Ferrari. I throw the car in for free to support it" or something like that.

You couldn't take it to a serious concours as it is not based on a Ferrari s/n, but it could still be in a lot of less prestigious events and would be great fun at any track day.

 

I would want to build a replica that I can abuse severely at the track, Now real lambos are built for something like that but Id rather keep the orginal safe and healthy and abuse the living hell out of the Fiero I just think its fun how i can build my dream car now unless lamborghini would let me join in on building one from their factory(Which they probably wouldn't and even if they did they ain't got nothing I want at the moment)I could change my mind but I can build a countach the way I like it.

I totally agree with your theory of if you can afford a house you can buy a lamborghini, hell if your in the Airforce and fly jets you can own a lamborghini. You have to play it "Smart" with every dollar you make where ever you work, always put something away.

 

I have to disagree with that statment, I have been working on fieros for the last five years and they have more potentual than any other "Cheap" midengined sportscar out there. You can go replicar on these things or just go kit and not nessary does that mean a nasty looking lambo or ferrari replica has to be built on it. There's a company called PISA which has the Fino and finale kit which is an orginal design.

It looks pretty go for being based on another car almost factory fresh.

But I must say Fieros arent exactly the easist cars to work with, in fact you have to be brave to work on one.

 

I don't know, as much as you guys are being quite amenable about it all lately, it appears there's a severe gap between what is worthwhile to you vs what is unacceptable to us. Here it's just plain wrong to pass something off as real - you could get your arse kicked for trying to fool someone. Over there it seems like the response would be more like "oh, where can I get a fake one like that?".

Put a tutu on a fat chick, and all you have is a fat chick in a tutu.

 

Trying to fool people doesn't fly here either. The folks with these replicas are quite open about it and explain the origin of the cars. The cars are more seen as tribute cars. I mean you know that there never was a 250 GTO spider and that none of the owners would ever cut his.

 

Someone whos still paying the "Trick or Treat" game of fooling them into believing their Fiero is a TR or Diablo has the game mixed up. They don't deserve to even own a replica that shows how ignorant they truely can be.

Someone who puts alot of time, money and effort shouldn't be ashamed to say "Its a replica" but if they are trying to pass it off as an orginal shouldn't be driving it thats telling me they are ashamed to be caught dead driving in a replica. Its definately unexceptable in my book to pass a replica off as orginal.