Hi Pete, On my site I have no intention in critisising the other two cars. In fact if you read how I started, Chris Rea was a big inspiration, and I'm calling them beautiful cars. Just when I looked at the two cars, the Rea's car was at T.H.R.E. and although the 120° engine was somehowe mounted into the car there had to be done a lot of modifications on the chassis and body to give it the 61 look. The other car with a 62 enigine was still in a rough state. Of course they were racecars and even between two training sessions they modified the cars. I agree with you that there's no point in using a 206 or 246 engine (and we don't) becauce my goal is different from Rea when he built it for his movie . Please have some patience as we do and check the news session on the site to see the progress of the project and always feel free to give your comment. Regards, Jan
Welcome to FerrariChat, Jan! I'm sure that most of us have now bookmarked your site and look forward to watching your progress! for those of you who don't know, Mr. Biekens is one of those crazy europeans who drives his vintage Ferrari race car a LOT. He has run his car at the Le Mans Classic among many others. My father sends his regards, Jan. Welcome!
@ Jan Biekens Hello Jan nice to see you as a registered member on FChat - welcome. Looking forward to meet you at some races and rallies throughout Europe. You're a great quy and it's always a great pleasure to see you. ------------ Helmut Schnug Classics in Camera images of Historic Automobiles & MotorSport
Hi Jan, Nice to see you are on the chat, since I met you yesterday and talked about it.. It was a nice talk about your Sharknose project also and hope to see you soon again. Keep on going. Greetings, Vincent.
Thanks for the reply ... apologise if I came off a bit heavy handed . Will patiently wait for updates, and best of luck with the project. Pete
Hello Helmut, Vincent ,Steve and Bryan, Thanks for your welcome on the Ferrari chat. I hope I have time to cope with all your discussions because Im quit tied up with my work at this moment. It s very nice to hear the Sharknose site to be bookmarked. It will not be a site which will be updated every day. On the subjects Ill be as accurate as possible and hope to do the F1 section in the summer and the news section . we have to wait !!! Bryan also give my regards to your father. For me its a great honour to have been able to have some correspondence with him as for me hes not only the number one expert on the Mondials but as me being a Ferrari classic enthusiast its very special to know people with such great expertise. For instance the discussion on this chat about the sound of the 156 I cant tell, the only sound I know are recordings of the videos and old films I have of 1961 because then I was six years old and I remember the black and white TV screen but not the sound. Regards, Jan
Yeah, I know, it's a replica, but you guys know everything so here goes: Strictly by chance, I stumbled across a semi-local guy who supposedly has a 57 Testaross replica, left hand drive, that is fiberglass bodied on an aluminum monococque chassis with an aluminum early Buick V8 engine. He says that it has no actual Ferrari parts but was one of two(?) that were built by somebody named Doug Champlain around 1970. I haven't seen the car, but it supposedly is extremely nice and well constructed, unlike a kit car. Has anybody ever heard of such a beast? The price was too rich for my blood, but then the originals are also too rich. So in that vein, it's just as good as the real thing, because I won't be buying either one. But it did sound like an interesting car.
Are you sure this isn't a "Special" like "Old Yeller" another Buick powered homebuilt race car? Most kit/replicas would have a tube chassis not a monocoque chassis. This sounds more like a home brew race car. I've not heard of a front engined monocoque car circa 70ies. Others?
I was also puzzled by the owner's mentioning of a monocoque type chassis and not a tube frame. That sounds weird to me. Unless it is something bizarre like a modified Austin Healy floor-pan chassis. But it sounded much better built than some kit car. The owner knows his cars very well and says that it is definately a 57 TR replica. (He also owns an Intermeccanica Apollo coupe, a Lambo Jalpa and other things.) Another fellow is flying in to buy it. I don't know if it will be around long enough for me to even get a chance to see it. It supposedly was written up in an old magazine article which he mentioned but I didn't write down the info.
Could it be based on a Jaguar E-type or something? ... There were ofcourse actually many monocoque front engined production cars built in the 70's ... or maybe I should really say unitary construction, not true monocoques. So this car is either a very clever homebuilt club race car or possibly a terrible hacked family car with a homemade fibreglass body chucked on it ... pictures please! Pete
Jan, it was absolutely great to have a good chat last saterday at the reunion. I will follow this great project from very close, see you at one of the other meetings! Forza Ferrari, Cordiali saluti, Joren REMANS
At least 3 (three) replicas today! Back in 1980 already the firm of Carrozzeria Egidio Brandoli in Montale near Modena already built a 156 Spider Corsa Replica. I have old color slides, somewhere.
Hi Joren, It was indeed great talking to you and we were lucky to witness a new area in the Belgian Ferrari history: the pre-opening of the Galleria Ecurie Francorchamps in presence of people like Swaters, Beurlys, Langois and Scaglietti. Say regards to your father.
Peter: 156 Spider Corsa, also known as sharknose. The one in which Phil Hill became a champ (1961). Sharknose is an English word and wasn't used by the factory. (Trust me, I know what a 166SC would be).
Jan Here are two photos I took 21 years ago on 16 May 1984 at Egidio Brandoli's Carrozzeria in Montale (while he was still in his old premises) when he was constructing a 156 Spider Corsa replica. Back then he said that his client was an Italian. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Some can spend 1 mil + on the early road and race cars and some can't. Still, those who can't spend 1 mil + may be able to spend 100k on a perfect replica. What if you could replicate the car to original specs...all but the drivetrain. Same chassis, brakes, wheels and even a hand made aluminum body. using all the same processes that were used originaly. Mind you, not using the ferrari badge/name/model #. Would people buy/commision them? thoughts?
Good question, BUT I find the only problem is $100K is still alot for a hobby car, and most people who can afford a $100K car generally have taste and wouldn't otherwise be caugt dead driving something "that looks like the real thing". A good car you can contrast to your idea is the original Shelby Cobra. It's worth alot, and most of them out there are look-a-likes. Sure it's cool, but having to say "it's a replica" or having a Honda Civic burn your ass on the highway kinda lacks the prestige a person would like. I'm sure you might find a few people. Alot of people dig the hand-built very custom cars, but I don't think these could be mass produced. That's just my 2 cents...
I think Favre does this, but with a Ferrari drivetrain. I believe they use a 330 and convert it to a 250 GTO and they sell for around $250k. I read on this forum that some owners own the real GTO and buy this "reproduction" (not replica) as a car to practice on before driving their real GTOs. They also said that the feel of the car is almost exact. Since I doubt I'll ever be able to afford a real GTO, I wouldn't buy a reproduction as my first Ferrari...maybe as a 5th + Ferrari. Edit: Does anyone have a website for the Favre reproductions? I couldn't find their company's site on google.
That's a 156 Dino F1 to me, not a Spider Corsa. I've never heard that name (SC) used for a monoposto. But from the pictures I see we're talking about the same thing. I suppose it never came out in public? Was it ever finished?