David Piper restores the Talacrest P4

I am not the one calling them fools in my statement, others on here are because they are prepared to pay more for the car than its claimed worth when in Cam Am spec.

Its obvious the market likes the conversion as its now attracting offers of a great deal more than it was sold to Talacrest for even with the probable charge being made by Piper for the work.

Call the car whatever you like, people want to own it, and prepared to pay a vast sum for the pleasure, the current owners are obviously holding out for even greater sums before parting with it

In 5 years time this thread will be insignificant, the car will be out there in P4 spec and I doubt it would ever go back to full Cam Am spec ever again

 

And there lies the shame.

 

...and in 5 years time it will still be a Can Am that simply looks like a P4 until closer inspection and in 5 years time it will still be worth significantly less than Stroll's as a result.

 

Someone's betting that P.T. Barnum was right.

 

The latest pictures of P4 #0858's progress from Talacrest's FB page.
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By far the best solution. tongascrew

 

I would have to guess that all of that Bondo pretty clearly shows that Tongascrews theory of , if you tell me where I can get a properly made hammer body done and tell Talacrest maybe they'll do it right, Is pretty much a pipe dream.

 

What are you saying here, George?

 

Thank you for posting these, Steve.
For some of us, 'progress' is not a word we'd choose because of the direction Talacrest is going with their 350 Can Am. Nonetheless, I appreciate you sharing the latest photos of their undertaking.

 

You are welcome.

 

What if Napolis or others have not given out any info on any body shops? What if no body shop wants" the work? What if Talacrest is just keeping quiet about their body recreation[not restoration]. This thread is full of "what ifs" "possibly..." "Maybe" etc. Add to this how little is really known here about David Piper who is the best living expert on these cars. And lets remember Talacrest has been doing very high quality restoration and recreation work for a long time. Read my posts. Very few if any "what ifs"etc. The bottom line here, it seems to me is, Enzo Ferrari for what ever reason, gave D P a free hand with the P cars clearly indicating he wanted the legacy of these cars to be maintained.This is all well documented. No "what ifs" here. I will never question why E F made the decision he did.That's a "what if" What remains a fact is that E F gave David Piper cause and effect to preserve these machines as D P saw fit. If there are those out there who don't agree with this there is only one person to be critical of and it isn't David Piper. tongascrew

 

I never referred to "Bondo" dust which resulted from a previous restoration Only Talacrest and David Piper can answer why their current body reconstruction is being done the way it is Please refer to post. All the "what ifs" get us nowhere. tongascrew

 

Cutting up Can Am's for $$$ is not maintaining anything.

There are no 'what if's' about that either.

 

As a failed Can Am car it went into storage for over 20 years and over more than another 10 years was unsold. What makes you think that now its going to sell as an unsuccessful Can Am car. Show me. tongascrew

 

solution for what problem exactly?

 

Aren't these same techniques being used by Talacresr used on many of the restoration/rebuilds of 250 GTOs,250 TRs and so many other classics.
Other than changing masses of bondo into dust I can fine no evidence of how the finished product was done by Bob Smith.It certainly got high marks Likewise I have been unable to find anything regarding how and who did the body work on 0846. Again high marks but no details. A major issue with 0858 seems to be the body work. The recent pictures show a good effort. What's wrong and where could it be done better. Your comments on post 1411 would also be appreciated. tongascrew

 

If they accepted 5 million, the car would have been sold.

 

Care to back up that claim? Names? Numbers? Or are you just saying?

Besides, don't you think it is rather pathetic that the market decides whether or not it is ok to butcher the final 350 Canam in existence in favour of a disputable P4?

Should the Mona Lisa be repainted into a blonde, just because it sells for a higher price that way? How ridiculous is that?

 

It isn't hammered by hand, like they did it in the days of the real P4's you love so much.

 

Originally Posted by PAUL500 View Post

Its obvious the market likes the conversion as its now attracting offers of a great deal more...

+1....Agreed!

 

Well if she was originally blonde, someone could indeed make a good cause to do just that.

 

Excellent retort!!!

 

The use of the Bondo shows the bogosity of the project. If an authentic GTO or TR needs Bondo to finish a restoration, that's one thing. In that case it's a necessary evil. But in the case of this replica, the use of a Bondo skim coat on every surface, together with block sanding, indicates that the goal is to produce a mirror finish; that these techniques have nothing to do with the needs of achieving a correct "restoration" of the chassis to its P4 roots. Rather, it shows an intent to create a one-off fiction, with a high gloss presentation intended to goose the crowd on auction day.

(In the street rod hobby they call them "phantom" cars: to modify an existing model to create one that never existed, e.g., a two-door station wagon or a hardtop version of a car which came only with center posts. With this aftermarket high gloss finish, that's what this Can Am Ferrari now is: a phantom P4.)

Another point is that a man or a shop which is willing to use Bondo and block sanding with the intent to create a mirror finish, where such a finish is far from factory original, and where the Bondo and the blocking are not necessary to the restoration, has no claim to being one of the world's great restorers. Rather, that man or that shop is closer to a hack. I would be suspicious of their ethics in all respects, and would be wondering what other "liberties" have been taken, what other modifications have they performed that can't be seen on the outside.

 

Hammered alloy original body, sanded, primed, shot with lacquer.
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How paint looks under normal light. Previous shot is manipulated photo.

Wet sanding makes it shinier but lacquer soon dulls down.
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