Is Ferrari confiscating and crushing replicas?

DOT, EPA, TUV.... No way..Unless the latest emmisions and safety upgrades were done thereby rendering the originals still ORIGINAL and in my opinion more valuable.

 

But they have produced special track only cars (think FXX) and have special events just for those owners. Who said you had to drive it on the road?

 

How many replica or kit GT40s/Cobras/Ultima GTRs/Caterham 7s/Porsche Speedsters/'63 Corvette Grand Sports/Modena Spyders/'32-'33-'34 Fords or any other kind of "component" cars are certified by the DOT/EPA/TUV again?

 

If Ferrari set a standard and then licensed companies to make the cars to that standard then owners of real vintage Ferraris would have no more reason to whine than owners of real GT40s, Cobras etc, etc do.

 

Ferrari has absolutely NO(ZERO) interest inmanufacturing "old" cars...NONE! They don't even want to make old parts-they sub it out, and mark it up-just as ANY major manufacturer would...They don't make pistons, liners, rings, valves, springs, camshafts, brakes, clutches, fuel injection, wheels, tires, ad nauseau today, so THEY sure aren't gonna tool up to make 50 year old stuff...subs will only do it if they profit exists...
They already MAKE "new" cars, and ALL they are interested in doing is maintaining a consistent delivery stream of said new product, at a controlled stream such that revenue streams can be predictable, and to a large part.... controlled.

The "old car thing", is more of a nuisance, as a corporate issue is concerned, and only really a way in which to maintain a concierge portal to a subet of "billioinaires" who can be counted upon to absorb the first "wave" of annually produced and delivered new merchandise.

Frankly, I see nothing wrong with any of this...

Does anyone REALLy think they care, 1 iota, what a miniscule audience of people are chirping about with respect to a handful of re-pros, bourne out of a donor pool of saloon cars, with a TOTAL production run of several hundred units in total? Seriously now...
2+2 cars were NEVER popular, or particularly valuable money wise UNTIUL 275s all broke a milliuon dollars and Daytonas are all 300+, GTCs the same..."Old v-12 Ferrari for way under a hundred" well, there just aint much left to grasp onto...and these were used as parts cars for DECADES...Tshaugnessey always joked that "the lesser cars must die in order that the bigger cars can live on in perpetuity"...I rather think most agree there...

The trademark issue of the copies vis-a-vis the originals is what they will protect...they could give a rats ass of concern as to "valuation" for owners of the genuine articels-after all, they don't get a dime off of those cars, so why should they care?
Well,....they DON'T, only in so far as the Classiche division affords a minute portal of a profit center off of the "old" cars...


It astounds me to listen to this constant rancor over the cutting up of these 2+2 cars...no one really cares, they certainly don't care-never did care....don't people remeber that Enzo HATED street cars, ONLY built them to allow himself to race Formula 1(sports car racing makes more m oney, so he empahasized this area as it enormously subsidised F1), didn't concern himself with the manufacture of them, only insofar as it didn't cast a dark shadow over "The Team...." There are countless recountings of his disdain for the "retail" aspect of car making...The "old man didn't care, wouldn't care now, the current regime doesn't care, and won't care...These numbers are sooo small, that only an outside shop can build such cars, and the CURRENT branding power of Ferrari SPA is so tremeandous, they would NEVER allow such a scenario as a "liscensed" re-pops...

It is, after all, the 3rd, or 4th most recognized Logo ON THE PLANET(I read its behind Marlboro, Coike, the MB star, and yet, ahead of McDonalds...so said the article..this sort of stuff changes frequently, but the point is made, I think... and, FWIW...

 

Crush the lot of 'em.

 

While not a fan of replicas of any nature, if I owned such a car bought and paid for, anybody trying to remove it from my garage would be met with superior fire power.

 

I think of the cars that have been destroyed in order to build these fakes.

 

I guess one only cares if one is a vintage Ferrari enthusiast.

 

Or an enthusiast with a family.

Our 365 GT4 2+2 was our honeymoon car, which was a 600 mile trip each way. There is zero desire to turn it into something else, it really is perfect for what it was designed to do, cover large distances at speed and in comfort.

 

Yes of course. I would rather drive my ratty old original 250gt over any nice shiny replica any day of the week. However if I decided to buy a trashed out Ferrari and rebody or hot rod it, it would be my private property and I would defend it as such.
This whole concept is like having Rolex bust into your house and seize your knock off you bought in Bangkok for 20 bucks. I'd be one uncooperative dude.

 

That is not true, they are not fakes. It is exactly the same as going to Gieves & Hawkes
and have them recut your grandfather's suit for your pleasure. So? Will it be A FAKE?

A lot of the replicas are questionable in their delivery, etc. but look at how many suits hang badly on their owner's shoulders...Point is, you want one, go ahead and get one, just make sure it is aka a re-body. And if your tailor is not so good, well...that is entirely your fault.

Why doesn't anybody complain to Ferrari about their phoney Cali spider? I personally could not care less, and if they do it, weeeeellll, then it must be ok, no? Would anybody be willing to bet that the Cali FAKE will remain, even if you went to Interpol, because in this world, treatment is not equal to all owners as it mostly falls into WHO you are and who you know.
I mean, the Holy Pope can say and do as he pleases, right? I wonder why...

Or criticize the fantastic 156F1 replica? So far I have not seen or heard anything but praise, and rightfully so, even though it is a FAKE, made of a lot of original parts, yet still a fake.
This is a car that was at Goodwood, admired as few others, yet continues on showing at the major events. I am certain we'll see it at PB next year and I fully applaud it and encourage it. I, for certain would want one, then you can call me a fake sharknose owner...
Yet if you or I have a beautiful GTO, that is equally a FAKE, you won't even be invited to your front lawn. Why?
It appears as usual, that double standards abound.

And as TomS has so eloquently expressed, it is the law of the jungle and it is a reality.

If you don't like it, buy them and restore them, or don't sell them. The little animals are always eaten by the biggies. Their only safety is in numbers. If you are a GTO no one will touch you, yet as Attila you pillage poor 330's and why not? Because you can. So did he.

You can rest assured that Daytonas will remain as is, a few chops and darts maybe, and hot rod versions possibly, due to the nature of it being incompatible with the larger animals in the jungle. A porcupine.

Otherwise, do not complain. You are an innocent bystander, so why don't you do something about it instead of passively watching this cannibalization. You complain about crime, yet do not react in front of violence and do not do the old "Good Samaritan" bit.
You just wish that "they should do something about these horrible people"...and send to Siberia, and then we'll all be happy. Right.

You are just as guilty, so lighten up.

Regards, Alberto

 

Point of reference...
When the F-40 was initially launched, the "big money" guys here in US and "on the continent", were all told that like the 288, less than 300-350 were likely to be the projected run....some ponied up thinking that like the 288 in the late 80s, would spike to well in excess of 1million US...
A freind of mine-while in the employ of FNA-was brought to the wherehouse where the 40's frames already had been mass produced, accounted for, and seen above in the rafters hanging from a mechanism not too dissimilar from what one sees at the dry cleaners!

1250 for production, 50 as spares for wrecks, and 4 for TUV and DOT crash write-offs...
In this instance, they had a winner, and there was NO problem selling off all units. This despite watching several guys walk from 300K deposits{this situation ,combined with lemon law lawsuits were why all dealers west of the rockies got franchise termination notices during a reorganization in the early 1990s}....they were available in late '91 at "Monroni"...$431-433K, plus T&L...

The 550 is another story...again, all frames made at onset...they had to do SOMETHING with all of the frames...when sales started to crash post DOT-COM bust...here is the Barchetta, then the 575...ad nasuea....
The 250/330frames used in the old days are not much of a different story...
Ever wonder why the weber carb types are swithched in mid-production, for no apparent technical reason-MONEY...Weber probably came and said; "Hey, if you buy all 1500(?) of these things, we will give you the smokin' deal..." You get the picture, just bizness...
Ever wonder why they made the short hipfake foray to Bosch distributors, and dynamos,circa 400SA SWB copues and cabs??....leverage with Marelli-d'ya think???

Farina coupes, 2+2s, 400SA/500SF were strictly revenue streams...to not really care about what happens to the non-racing cars certainly IS NOT an issue of being a "Ferrari Vintage Enthusiast"..merely one who doesn't particularly care-as was the case back when they made them-as to who, what, when, where, or how many and how much....they are, after all, "only street cars"....

They were then-and remain today-a company split in two: 1(-Formula 1, principally) is purely racing(road car Factory employess badges cannot gain entry into comp side of factory I'm told!), the other is road car manufacturing...just like Porsche, or anybody else.
The more things change, the more things remain the same...

Bryan, you and your family appear to be racing car guys, I would expect this position to be crystal clear based on your/the S2 Mondial(533 block?)???
It's nothing persona, good vs evil, perse, just a "race car" guys perspective...

 

The cylinder head on our car is a tipo 553 derivative, there is no block. The liners screw into the head and the head bolts to the crankcase.

Yes, I am extremely fortunate to have been born into a family where my older sibling was a Ferrari works racing car. But I was also a 2+2 owner for 10 years, so I am sensitive to the plight of these great, original Ferraris. I simply find it bewildering that Ferrari enthusiasts can be so blase about the destruction of the "lesser" Ferraris to create fakes. Believe me, I understand the economics of it and the inevitable (and pointless) assertion that is made in these discussion re: property rights. Of Course a person CAN do whatever they want w/ the cars, but it is more a question of SHOULD they and what motivates a person to turn a real Ferrari into something it never was when it left the factory.

The pool of remaining, viable GTEs/330GTs is dwindling. I ask the rhetorical question in every one of these discussions, and it never gets an answer; when will it become a tragedy that these real Ferraris are being butchered? When there are only 25 GTEs left? 50? We're going to be there sooner than you think.

 

I don't think anyones hard work should be confiscated and crushed. I think thats ridiculous regardless of how good or how bad the "copy" is.

Im not against legal action if the vehicle is being represented as a real car or they are manufacturing the car for profit... but if its someones pride and joy... we might as well crush the breadvan while we are at it.

if you feel so strongly about 330s and gte's being purchased and the motors stripped out then buy the cars up so no one else can do it... or buy the car and restore it for 150k... and then have a car thats worth in the low 100s... you have to be pretty passionate and wealthy to pull that off time and time again.

And as far as the other atrocities that are out there... BUY them and crush them... or mount them on a wall... or give it as a stocking stuffer... who cares... its YOUR property

 

Such passion,never thought of chopped cars in that way.
good points made in the need to turn OHOS into replicars .

 

More of a Bizzarrini of historical importance.

 

Agreed!

 

and a bullet proof head!

 

Imitation is the sincerest form of theft. Ferrari, Porsche and others absolutely should protect their badging and other copyrights.

Agreed, any car manufactured now has to have seat belts, passive restraints, crumple zones, bumpers, etc. There's no turning back the clock,

Amen.

The Chinese government probably still agrees with you and for a long time turned a blind eye to these activities -- product counterfeiting. Ultimately I think even they are coming around. Protection of intellectual property is essential to capitalism. Ferrari has invested decades in their brand, and yet people don't think twice about putting the logo, badge, etc., on fakes or home-built project cars.

It probably is legal to copy Ferrari/Pininfarina designs from decades ago due to expiration of the design copyrights, but the badge and logo are still under lock and key. I would guess that if you steal the Ferrari badge, iconography, etc., the Fiero or other Frankenmobile they are attached to comes into play as well from a legal perspective.

 

For me it is a shame that Ferrari attracts so many people who really can't afford them, but must at all times think about how much money they put in and what the car is worth. Enthusiasts? Yeah, right... Best wishes, Kare

 

Ferrari would be better of making people remove the Ferrari logo's rather then crushing the OHOS.

 

I agree with you, Bryan, that original Ferraris should not be turned into kit cars. It's a matter of respect, as I see it: I just have a humble 308 GTB, but I wouldn't dream of re-bodying it to make it look like a GTO, or adding turbos to make it perform like one. This is the car as it was manufactured, and I love it for what it is.

I guess the upside of the number of 330's or GTE's dwindling to around 35 is that they would then be as rare as 250 GTO's - and maybe almost as valuable. (?)

I agree with you as far as the ridiculousness of confiscating and destroying another person's car, no matter how atrocious (or, to some, like myself) offensive the car may be. I think it is reasonable to say that any car may be replicated if it's not badged with the trademark or prancing horse. But I still don't approve of cutting up one Ferrari to replicate a different one.

As for the "It's your property" argument regarding cutting up certain old Ferraris to replicate another one, I see your point - but I don't have to approve of doing it.

 

I guess Ill throw the same argument back at you (all in good fun of course)...

I bet the communist governments would love to take peoples property out of there hands and dispose of it at their own will.


Don't get me wrong... I would hate it if I had a product and it was getting knocked off etc... I would be upset... if it didn't affect my bottom line...id be aggrivated... but things could be worse

to me... if its a guy who builds the car in his garage etc... and isn't selling bodies and kits etc... I don't care. its someones pride and joy... i think people should have the FREEDOM to do what they want with there money, time and there own two hands. if they want to build a hideous replica out of a car.. by all means... should anyone confiscate it and crush it??? no...

However... if someone built say a 375 replica or a 250tr replica and tried to represent it as a real car... for illegal personal gains...Lock em up... and burn the car... hell take the tools that were used to create it as well

 

having read all these posts, there is one thing i know for certain

Ferrari laywers could and rightfully shut down & even crush cars still in possession of & made by a replica manufacturer, with blatent infringement of thier intellectualt property, which includes promotion of as a Ferrari, name or crest emblems used

I do know that if i had previously purchased one of these, be it Ferrari based, or outright replica, once registered to me and privately owned by me, there is 'no legal' recourse for them to take or claim what is now my personal property

Even if an order were made by some court, it would have had have included my name in its petition, and even then a change-of-order could immediately sought, in light of being personal property and possession, restricting action without adequate compensation being made in return, and only then only by agreement