Horrible Experience with Norwood Autocraft! Beware of Bob Norwood | FerrariChat

Horrible Experience with Norwood Autocraft! Beware of Bob Norwood

Discussion in 'Ferrari Discussion (not model specific)' started by Schulz308, Sep 1, 2016.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

  1. Schulz308

    Schulz308 Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    May 21, 2014
    1,450
    STL USA
    #1 Schulz308, Sep 1, 2016
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 6, 2016
    I had a horrible experience trying to purchase a 308 with 288 rebody on it from Norwood Autocraft (not associated at all with Norwood Auto Italia most often referred to as "Norwoods" and DFW service shop for exotics) recently.

    As many of you know Bob Norwood advertised a Ferrari 288 GTO rebody for sale recently.

    He claims all the body panels, front and rear frame structures and wheels are the parts from Ferrari that he bought at the manufacturer back in the 80's after the car was disassembled for use to create the F40! Very Exiting!

    I responded and put a $2000.00 deposit down with a bill of sale for full asking price of $110,000.00

    I planned to fly to Texas and claim my prize but first wanted to clear up as many concerns as possible before meeting the man and car in person.

    I then started to research the validity of the story by going over the pictures of the parts with more qualified individuals and sure enough Bob Norwood was noted for federalizing 288 GTO cars in that decade which made sense as to why he might be there to take advantage of such a transaction. but then we noticed a major discrepancy in the styling of the body such as the rear tail pan has a recessed area that the real 288 cars do not seem to share. We even found auction pics of a 308/288 rebody car that was owned and built by Norwood in the past that shared the same tail panel styling! then another that Bob used at Bonneville with what appeared to be the recessed area styling possibly for a drag chute to bracket to the rear of the car! Bob quickly reported that he has books of early cars that share the same styling.

    Then we noticed multiple differences in the construction of the frame structure such as welds, tabs, shock towers, missing part numbers etc. Bob stated that it is just different due to being an early prototype 288 frame.

    We then noticed that the wheels were actually Compomotive aftermarket and not Ferrari!
    That is when my Excitement faded away all together. Since this would drastically effect the price even after Bob Norwood possibly proves the body and frame are legitimate. This time Bob's use of profanity increased heavily and after having enough of his insults the deal fell apart.

    I asked for the deposit back and was told NO because Bob feels that I wasted his time and thats as nice as I can describe his language.

    I am glad he only had the opportunity to steal the 2K because he pressured me to send more if not all the money multiple times.

    BEWARE.
     
  2. 88Testarossa

    88Testarossa Formula 3

    Sep 25, 2012
    2,450
    Annapolis and Daytona Beach
    Full Name:
    Al
    I had a completely different experience buying the carbon fiber glass engine cover and the F40 Brembo brake kit, and carbon fiber air intake heat shield for my TR. He was a gentleman and absolute delight. Try again when you've both cooled off.


    Sent by itsy bitsy electrons
     
  3. amenasce

    amenasce Three Time F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Oct 17, 2001
    33,014
    Full Name:
    Joe Mansion
  4. bpu699

    bpu699 F1 World Champ
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Dec 9, 2003
    16,210
    wisconsin/chicago
    Full Name:
    bo
    Confused. Were you expecting a 288 gto for 110k? Aren't those cars 1.8 million or so? This car is simply a 308 with a cool body kit. That's it. Wouldn't expect the frame or much else to match...

    It's a Ferrari with a body kit. Kind of cool, actually...
     
  5. Schulz308

    Schulz308 Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    May 21, 2014
    1,450
    STL USA
    I was expecting the parts to be as described also wheels to be as described too Original early prototype 288 wheels.
    I agree it is Very cool indeed. I really liked the part about the real one of a kind prototype parts that I could brag about when the car was finished and at an event!

    Its too bad the conversation went the way it did. I really wanted it
     
  6. amenasce

    amenasce Three Time F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Oct 17, 2001
    33,014
    Full Name:
    Joe Mansion

    Yes but if we are talking about the same car, that is not how it was represented or shared.
     
  7. Schulz308

    Schulz308 Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    May 21, 2014
    1,450
    STL USA
    Yes same car. And there was a thread in the 288 GTO section that has been deleted which had more details but it was not allowed since the post was a for sale ad.
     
  8. fatbillybob

    fatbillybob Two Time F1 World Champ
    Consultant Owner

    Aug 10, 2002
    26,292
    socal
    Is the deposit supposed to be refundable? What is in your contract? He is supposed to be a good guy and has done some amazing Ferraris over the decades. He is one of the original Ferrari hotrodders.
     
  9. Schulz308

    Schulz308 Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    May 21, 2014
    1,450
    STL USA
    No contract. Just a simple bill of sale and two car guys getting along fine right up untill I had concerns. Then it was Horrible.
     
  10. bigred95

    bigred95 Karting
    BANNED

    Feb 2, 2016
    91
    Rockwall tx
    Full Name:
    Robert Hale
    I work with Mr. Norwood and was the one on here trying to sell the car. The agreement on the deposit was that if the car was not as described when he arrived then we would give him his deposit back. We never stated that the wheels were originals, only the body panels and subframes. He said that he was going to show up many different times and it kept changing then he said he would come on Sunday the 28th with a trailer and pick the car up. So Mr. Norwood and me gathered all the parts up on Saturday afternoon waiting for his arrival on Sunday. We took the day off waiting for him to show and finally he calls me around 3:30pm stating he won't come until Monday stating that there was too many flaws with the car. We suggested he could fly in to the airport and we would pick him up at the airport so he didn't have to drive but he refused. We tried to work with him because the wheels were not originals. We found a set and he still refused after we said we would drop the agreed price 10k. The bill of sale was agreed upon of 110k I have a pick of the bill of sale.

    Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
     
  11. Schulz308

    Schulz308 Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    May 21, 2014
    1,450
    STL USA
    Bob did tell me he would give my money back if the car was not what he said it was. That was only verbal
     
  12. Schulz308

    Schulz308 Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    May 21, 2014
    1,450
    STL USA
    All of this is true exept for the part where you DID state the wheels were real. Which is why you offered to find a real set.
    Also I think you were mostly very pleasant to deal with Robert.
     
  13. bigred95

    bigred95 Karting
    BANNED

    Feb 2, 2016
    91
    Rockwall tx
    Full Name:
    Robert Hale
    I stated that I wasn't sure. I said to you that Mr. Norwood knew more about the car. And to talk to him the next morning

    Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
     
  14. Schulz308

    Schulz308 Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    May 21, 2014
    1,450
    STL USA
    If the car was 110k with factory wheels and we could work out the concerns with the tail panel and frame civilly with Bob we would be trading paper and filling the trailer buddy
     
  15. bigred95

    bigred95 Karting
    BANNED

    Feb 2, 2016
    91
    Rockwall tx
    Full Name:
    Robert Hale
    We tried to work something out. We dropped the price and found a set of real wheels you could have bought

    Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
     
  16. Schulz308

    Schulz308 Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    May 21, 2014
    1,450
    STL USA
    Which would have raised the price since Bob said 15K for the wheels. that would have brought us up to 115K

    therefore I felt we were too far apart from the original deal.
     
  17. bigred95

    bigred95 Karting
    BANNED

    Feb 2, 2016
    91
    Rockwall tx
    Full Name:
    Robert Hale
    Yea but we were buying from someone else. We could have probably got them cheaper

    Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
     
  18. ArtS

    ArtS F1 Veteran
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Nov 11, 2003
    8,887
    Central NJ
    Cold feet and hot tempers.
     
    Ryan... and Natkingcolebasket69 like this.
  19. Statler

    Statler F1 World Champ

    Jun 7, 2011
    17,389
    Has anyone seen one of these threads that worked out the way the initial poster thought?
     
  20. GrigioGuy

    GrigioGuy Splenda Daddy
    Lifetime Rossa Owner

    Nov 26, 2001
    29,386
    E ' ' '/ F
    Full Name:
    Trailer Swift
    So, it actually sounds like both parties are pretty close to agreement.
     
  21. Nospinzone

    Nospinzone F1 Veteran

    Jul 1, 2013
    7,348
    Weston, MA
    Full Name:
    Paul
    The wheels were supposed to be original, and they weren't original. As bigred95 stated, "The agreement on the deposit was that if the car was not as described when he arrived then we would give him his deposit back."

    So the car is not as described, just give the guy his deposit back.

    What part of this is hard to understand?
     
  22. Formula Uno

    Formula Uno F1 Veteran

    Oct 8, 2008
    6,659
    New York City


    FWIW: Sounds like you both tried to make it right and you and Bob also had a bad weekend as well.

    Sh*t happens when you own (like I do) a small business BUT tell me, why do you think that it is fair to keep the guy's $2,000??

    Yes you did waste your time but keeping the guys money is pretty low of you both.

    After reading this post I wouldn't do business with you or Bob.
     
  23. bigred95

    bigred95 Karting
    BANNED

    Feb 2, 2016
    91
    Rockwall tx
    Full Name:
    Robert Hale
    The wheels were never said to be original. They were said that they were part of the purchase

    Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
     
  24. ar4me

    ar4me F1 Rookie
    Owner

    Apr 4, 2010
    3,114
    Southern California
    Full Name:
    Jes
    Nope... :)
     
  25. Nospinzone

    Nospinzone F1 Veteran

    Jul 1, 2013
    7,348
    Weston, MA
    Full Name:
    Paul
    This is what you said in post #6 in the thread linked earlier in this thread, ".... it's got original single knock off wheels."
     
    sten likes this.

Share This Page