Ever have your car called a Replica?

Remember the late eighties when a 308 cost 80+ k? That's why. Today a 40k replica doesn't make sense anymore, but these cars were probably built when the market was different.

The thing that turns me off about the Fiero replica is the engine. It is barely fast enough as a real V8 in the 308, but as a V6 it really doesn't cut it. Of course it only gets worse when you talk Fiero based F40 or TR.

A TV journalist once interviewed me and thought the 308 was a replica. I told him it wasn't and he took some footage of it and we talked. After he was done I smiled at him and said "Fooled you, it is a replica!". The expression on his face was priceless.

And just to annoy some folks: I have a Fiero Club magnet sticker which I put on sometimes...I know, I should grow up.

 

I was at a car show once when a guy with his wife walked passed. The wife said "Look, a Ferrari!" The guy said "Ah, it's a kit!" I didn't say anything but then he came down the next aisle and could see the engine. When he peeked in the back he felt quite foolish. His wife said "I guess I know more about cars than you".

I've never seen a kit of a GT4 but I get asked all the time. Usually by the time I sart it up and drive away everyone knows it's real. Gotta love the carbs!

 

I sometimes get asked if my car is "a real one" and have always had a positive conversation with those that ask. (Are you happy to show off your car or annoyed with the attention? It makes a difference.) With a GT4 I don't get the kit car comment as much as being confused with a Pantera (or a new prototype Mustang). I frequent cruise-ins as opposed to Ferrari "drive and dine" so I tend to get the younger and less affluent crowd. Often I will let them sit in it and once I took a couple of high school kids for a ride. It sure made their day. I remember when I was that age I got a ride in a then new Lamborghini 400 GT, it made my day.... for years.
I did have one guy ask if I was a drug dealer. I wasn't sure if he was looking to buy so I asked him why he would think that. He said that only drug dealers can afford a Ferrari. I asked how much he thought the car was worth, "at least $100,000, maybe $200,000 he answered". He was disappointed when I told him that a good one could be had for $20K.
Of course like every other owner I get the "It's just like the one my uncle, father, cousin, neighbor had except his was specially built for him by his close personal friend Enzo, Carrol Shelby etc.

 

Problem is, mine is, kind of.

When asked, I just say "no" with a normal tone of voice. Most people just stop right there, no further explanation needed. Some need to hear that it's a Ferrari with some extras. One guy asked what year it was. Told him " '78". He says that was always his favorite year, really liked what they did with the body that year. I've pretty much given up trying to explain the rebody - most can't grasp it. Maybe I should just say it's a kit.
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I get the Kit car comment all the time.

I don't like kits. Never have Never will. I appreciate the effort that goes into them but they are just not real or justifiable. Some guys are even asking just as much as the real car.

People that like kits also likely prefer blow up dolls to the "real thing"

 

A couple of years ago I drove a Fiero that had been professionally upgraded to a Corvette LT4 along with a killer suspension and brakes. Unless you knew they didn't build them this way, you'd think it was all factory.

One of the quickest, most capable cars I have ever driven. Accelleration was absolutely brutal.

And the best thing? It looked like a dead stock Fiero from the outside.

My 308 is in rough shape cosmetically... no one has ever accused it of being a fiberglass replica. (Guess the rust sort of gives that away...)

Bill

 

I only approve of replicas when they are built to exacting specifications in every detail. Like this one:
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Just say it's a kit where EVERY part is genuine Ferrari.

 

"Is it real?" is nearing "How fast does it go?" for most common question I get on the 328.

I've heard passers by referring to the 328 as a "Magnum car" and a "Tester Rosser", and been queried how I could afford a better car than the CEO (the CEO drives a Buick -- EVERYBODY has a better car ). But the weirdest question was when someone pointed to my old Alfa spider and asked if I traded the Ferrari on "another exotic". That was a couple of years ago -- this year, I've encountered several people - including an insurance agent - who had never even heard of an Alfa Romeo.

I often wonder how a people as car-crazy (in the 50s) as Americans have become so ill informed about cars.

There's a mythos growing that "real people" can't really own Ferraris. I get strange reactions when I try to correct this view.

I think people actually like to believe that Ferraris are unobtainable -- it's an excuse to not own one.

To say that you have other priorities implies that you're accepting the consequences of your choices -- which is getting to be downright un-American in a country where politicians promise to get you everything you always wanted, to be paid for by some hypothetical people called "the rich". If a real Ferrari is unobtainable, then it's not your "fault" (choice) that you don't have one.

It's almost depressing to drive a Ferrari in the D.C. metro area. One bling ricer wanted to street race (on a 30MPH street), and people in parking lots seemed downright afraid of it. No coming over to look -- they didn't want to get that close.

I think society's reality check bounced. (Where was that thread on the world coming to an end?)

I just wonder how long it will be until an original Fiero becomes an "exotic" car. (Try to find one that's not masquerading as a Lambo or Ferrari.)

 

No.

 

I like that thought process.

I've got some buddy's at work, one drives a new Caddy and his wife drives a Hummer H2, the other has a $40k pickup truck and his wife has an Excursion (or Expedition, whichever is the big, expensive one). I pick up a Ferrari for $23k and they are both like, "Well I guess we can see who makes all the money around here."

 

The one who snapped that pic is a great guy, one of the most funny people I have met and a huge promoter for FOC. He has mentioned that the brake lights are not lights at all. They're actually Home Depot reflecctors that have been super glued on. There are more amazing pics somewhere in the Chicago section of Fchat.

RocketBoy

 

My Z sometimes gets called a replica - or the real thing:
http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/679438/3

 

Did you tell them how much it was or just let them continue to think that?

 

It's funny by all you comments that folks (spectators/observers of your cars)are more atuned to what a "kit-car" is rather than the "real thing." When did folks become so aware of fakes? It takes some understanding of the F-car's lines and mechanics, right. How has the public become critics of what is-not without knowing what "is" is.
- B. Clinton

 

I told 'em how much it was but they were still like, "must be nice." And then they will go out and drop $20k on a bass boat. Oh, but that is a cool "must-have" item. What I bought is extravegant.

 

Don't bother with these people. I get that at work all the time. It's an annoying little stigma that comes with Ferrari ownership.

F*ck 'em and enjoy your ride!