Superformance recreates the GT40 MkII

They had one at Petit Le Mans and it looked great.

 

I'd take an ERA GT40 over a Superformance any day of the week.

http://www.erareplicas.com/gt/gt.htm

 

I had a chance to inspect one of their Daytona Coupes @ the Amelia Island Concours 2 years ago and was less than impressed with the overall construction and panel fit on the example I saw.

 

I had a chance to inspect one of their Daytona Coupes @ the Amelia Island Concours two years ago and was less than impressed with the overall construction and panel fit, at least on the example I saw. I have no idea if that was indicative of their product.

 

Ive seen the local demo here several times, sat in it and examined it in great detail. GREAT CAR. No question... High Tech Auto builds one heck of a quality product.

That said.... an RCR GT40 MkI w/ Gulf Flairs is my choice and will be my next car purchase.

The Superformance is steel and while very close it is not an exact duplicate of the original. They have purchased the rights to call their cars GT40s and give them continuation serial numbers and try to cast them as "real" GT40s. Hmmmmmmm lets see.... built in Slough UK? nope. Built at Shelby American or Holman Moody? nope. Built by Alan Mann racing? nope. Built in the 1960s? nope. They can play whatever games they want with names and numbers but the cars are REPLICAS no matter how you cut it.

Being as close to original as possible is good in some ways but not so hot in others. Lets face it, suspension design and geometry plus braking technology has advanced significantly over the past 40 years. If I am going to have a car capable of 200mph I prefer to have the best possible in these things.

Still, I love the look of the GT40. They are drop dead gorgeous and invoke lots of emotions due to the history and all.

This is why I like the RCR so much. Its an all aluminum seam welded monocoque that is a good bit lighter than original plus offers far greater torsional rigidity, but is still close to the original in appearance. Some guys are having the RCR chassis powder coated black which makes it hard to distinguish from original. The RCR has fantastic modern suspension design and 6 piston caliper brakes on huge rotors. So you get a lighter, more advanced performance package that still looks very close to original underneith and looks exactly like the original in body shape and design. THATS what I want.

The Superformance does have a steel roof. Thats VERY nice. The RCR comes standard with glass roof structure... but Fran can build it in alloy if you prefer. When I order mine, I may go that route.

A 2200lb RCR GT40 with A/C and full interior and a Roush 402R injected V8 with 500hp..... YUMMIE!




Terry

 

Quite possible. As I said, I don't know if that example was/is indicative of their product but I would hope not. I'd hope to see another example sometime.

 

I'd take a ford GT first... Since I have the choice I'd prefer the car that's been crash tested. I know it's not the same car, but since the Superformance car is a repro, the ford is close enough for me...

Now if superformance does a porsche 917 repro....

 

Fran at RCR is making a 917 replica.

I worked on a Superformance coupe and while it was a nice car, it was to modernized for my taste. I like the raw racecar look of the original. The rollup windows and plastic interior panels looked nice and finished, but don't look right to my eye.


I like the GT40s. I looked at the Superformance GT40 at SEMA last year and it looked pretty nice. RCR seems pretty dedicated to making a modernized version of the original without straying to far from what makes the car special. The problem with ERA is the 2 year wait (give or take a year). They make a great product though.

 

Check out this bulid site for an example of the quality product RCR is generating.


http://mygt40.com/


Comparing an RCR to a new Ford GT or the Superformance really isnt fair. The Ford GT is a modern production car with all the good and bad that entails. Compared to the others, its very heavy and while its performance is stellar its not in the same league with the others. Then again, its quiet, comfortable, has great stereo plus lots of power options and a factory warranty.... the others are barely tame racecars that squeek by being street legal. Not a fair comparison.

The Superformance comes fully built needing only engine and trans install. By the time your done, its going to run $125K. They dont sell in kit form.

RCR will do it either way. You can but the car fully built and turn key, or like the Superformance needing only engine/trans or as a rolling kit needing assembly and finishing. If your mechanically inclined, you can end up with an extremely high quality car that is blinding fast and very hard to tell from the real thing for under $75K. Thats my plan.

I thought long and hard about the RCR 917. Its my dream car. But reality is it would be a track toy only as driving it on the street would really invite disaster. Those cars are just too low, too raw, too small and uncompromising for the street. They are also very expensive....50% again over a GT40 by the time its done. Plus, with the GT40 you can install and engine that is just like the originals and looks right. With the 917..... Porsche flat 12's are not exactly lying around.



Terry

 

I looked as those as well. It's the pedals in front of the front axel that scares me... I like my feet/legs, and I suspect in a front collision your feet become the crumple zone...

 

You shouldn't be afraid. The kind of crash test standard required for a vehicle to be road legal is so low, that it is of no value whatsoever applied to a 200mph+ sports car!

If you are gonna hit anything at that kind of speed, it's gonna hurt! not only the legs!