365 GTB or Datsun based 250 GTO?

i gotta say, in person, the engine sound fooled all 6 of us at the shoot.... i suppose the same displacement engine (more or less), in a straight six configuration, with six webers and straightpipes really did sound like a vintage ferrari to all of us.....

 

Matt - you can use the YouTube Annotations editor to caption the clip without taking it down and without losing your current view count. I just tested the theory on a video of mine and it worked like a charm. I think the options they offer would work well for you in this instance.

Keep doing what you are doing with a small lesson learned, I'm sure. I've always enjoyed the stuff from Garage-419 and The Smoking Tire so keep it up.

>8^)
ER

 

Matt,
You could also post a comment on the youtube page with the same confession.

 

I wasn't suggesting editing it in that fashion. Just use the caption feature within Youtube (or rather, subtitles?) so that you don't have to take it down or re-post it.

It could actually be pretty fun to watch if you made it a running countdown of the BS, i.e. "Another lie in 3...2...1... " or "Ferrari V12? Don't you mean a Datsun 6?"

 

I think the owner acted a little sheepish when he was describing the car at the beginning of the video.

 

I would suggest "No Ferrari 365s were harmed in the making of this film"

 

Problem with hood release mechanism? Classic. On a 250GTO that consists of 2 leather straps and 2 twist clips ON TOP of the hood in plain sight. That means the guy couldn't even untie his own belt buckle if that was the case. I do not understand people lieing like that, especially on INTERNATIONAL media. (I am in Australia). Do they really think that they can get away with it?? On a side note, I think Datsun 250GTO replicas are better than ones built on real Ferrari chassis and drive tranis. At least a real Ferrari is not sacrificied in the process. I happen to like GTEs and PFs.
John

 

The hood releases he was trying to get open were on top of the hood in plain sight. One of them was jammed, this according to him. But at least the hood releases were in the right place....

 

Well, at least that turned out to be true.

I mean really, driving a car and being tricked into thinking a 175 hp Datsun engine is a 300 hp Ferrari V12???

Hood latch is broken? Will email pics when I "get back from a business trip?" lol.

That guy and his friends must have been laughing their azzes off at the punking they gave on this one. That was awesome.

 

This George character = Clown

 

My feeling is that anyone who owns such an automobile probably has a little disconnect from reality. If he was laughing at this he'd also be laughing at himself (for owning it).

Trust me, he wanted the vindication of being interviewed and on video. The hood latch and lies that followed just allowed him to skip over the rough spots that existed in his own imagination.

In other words.. "You like me.. you really really like me!"
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Here's a fun Factoid: No joke - George hosted a reality show named "$25 Million Dollar Hoax" in 2004.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0336426/

 

Even better: "Has a bachelor's degree in Personal Management"

 

Now that states "Personal Management" NOT "Personnel Management" ie HR Management. So what does Personal Management involve? How to brush their teeth? How to put laundry into the washer? How to put your shoes on? I don't understand these so called degrees. Sorry.
John

 

What a loser. Thanks to his lie, he has been internationally exposed as a moron, a liar(not a good one mind you) and a "wanna be". I wonder if he'll ever show up at a car show with that monstrosity? "So is the hood release still broken?" The best part is he did this all to himself with no help from anyone else. I still think it was very tacky for Matt to assist with this lie, however I do also think it's cool you (Matt) owned up to it.

 

In the end, wasn't a whole lot of choice in the matter, was there?

Like Bill Clinton, he ran with his lie to the bitter end (actually, even using a lot of the same tactics, i.e., attacking people who questioned him, etc.).

The Z car website was the "stained blue dress" that said "game over."

 

Given the circumstances (obviously by design, in hindsight) I think Matt did what he thought was right. It's easy to point fingers but when you have a production crew and schedule to follow it can be a bit of a blur; furthermore, who would lie about that in front of thousands of people?

I knew it was a Z car and I didn't think the sound was a F V12.. but the overall concern was that such a car was local and had never popped up on the (legit) radar before. Anyone worth his salt would have that hood wide open at any one of the many shows in the area.

That being said, this whole ordeal has made me rethink a Datsun Z (err.. non replica). Not necessarily a bad thing..

 

Well I know this guy named George........

I completely agree that initially Matt took the man at his word, and that would have been fine had he not kept lying. I applaud Matt for finally coming clean, it's not easy to admit mistakes especially ones that are this public. My point is that when a room full of people are pointing out the obvious and you are stead fast in your resolve of the opposite, with no proof, it just looks kind of silly. I just think he should have said he didn't see the engine and that he believed George. It would made more sense. Again I think it's cool he admitted fault and I'm glad the "truth" is out although some of us never doubted what the truth really was. I still think George is an out and out liar.

 

True, which is why I fired one of the first shots in this thread-- I didn't think Matt was up to no good, I just thought that continuing to represent this as a 250 GTO would eventually bite him in the ass.

It's really hard to make a public judgment against someone who has helped you out, and I think it speaks for his good intentions that he wanted to defend it until it was nearly impossible to do so.

Yeah, he didn't look at the big picture initially but eventually got it and owned up to the mistake. Not a bad thing IMHO.

 

I repeat that telling a straight six and V12 apart by exhaust note alone isn't all that trivial. Bigger cylinders make 6-cylinder sound pretty hairy at idle, meanwhile small displacement 12s always sound a little dissapointing to me until they really get going. 6-cylinder engines have one even firing set of cylinders and a V12 has two. Deviding the exhaust in two may create an echo which might easily fool me, if not anyone else.

Then one must remember that many ferrari-replica people fancy V12-power and using a real Ferrari engine is the ultimate dream. I have a note saying that T. Buffum pried 212-engine 0169E loose from a Z-project giving a 250GT in a trade. Sound somewhat suspicious as Buffum owned 0169E in the 70's and I think Z-replicas hadn't started appearing yet (does anyone know when they were started?). In the end I wouldn't be too surpriced if there were one or two Z-cars with Ferrari power. A 365 is a pretty big engine, so I was at once pretty sure that was not the case, but fitting a 3-litre Colombo might be possible. Well, not anymore as there isn't much idea in inserting a $50k-plus engine into a $10-15k car.

Best wishes, Kare

 

Just one last time, I wouldn't have said I saw the engine if, at the time, I wasn't 100% convinced that George was telling me the truth. I had not seen any real evidence, up until a certain point, that he was lying to me, and I'm more inclined to take someone's word who says it to my face and a camera than someone I don't know on the internet. In hindsight, that was a huge mistake, and I look like a real idiot. For all the banter about this damn video on this forum, there are 10 other forum threads just like this, and no matter how bad it makes me look, I really just want to clear my head of it all and take these lessons moving forward to make the best show I can make, and hopefully entertain people again with some real good information too.

Bottom line, is, don't fight the internet, because it will win.

 

Then why don't you post your confession as a comment under the youtube video?

 

I have read a few of the various forums about this matter. Chin up Matt mate and don't let anyone get you down. I know the internet beast/waggon can really get a man down .You were suckered that's all, it can happen to anyone.
I still enjoyed the video

 

anyone who cares enough has already seen it posted on our website, and breaking that whole thing down into 500 character segments is just too annoying to deal with.

 

Matt, I really enjoyed the clip even if the car wasn't a real GTO. In fact, like I said earlier I wouldn't mind having the car in question. It's still a cool car. Looks like it's lotsa fun to drive and doesn't cost 20 million bucks. I wouldn't tell everybody that it's a real GTO but rather a tribute to one of my favourite Ferrari's built on another great car the 240Z.

I couldn't tell from the video but it looks like it was well built and had some nice features like the bonnet locks which you don't see on many of the kit/recreations. Maybe I'm just a low class rube but I could have tons o fun with that car. I'm sure the owner has a grin every time he's out in it.

You showed a lot of class and style by stepping up to the plate on this somewhat delicate situation. You have lost no points in my book. Not sure if that has any value coming from a guy who would have fun in a 240Z/GTO replica.

Keep up the good work!