.....this is upsetting! that fabulous shop in the earlier pix of the red car turns out to be a chicken coop.... the Mk IV morphs into a countach replica.....one no longer knows what to believe...... is this covered in the updates of the Rossa Thread Mr. G.?
As Sharon Stone once said: "Anyone with 7 bucks knows I don't wear underwear." Those that want to know are just going to send the cash to Rob to find out.
Sorry for late the reply, Gentlemen .... Yes - definately a replica, as it's owner Kazuhiko Naiza (aka Benibuta) clearly states at the top of this page: http://www.benibuta.com/ferrari/benilife/21century_P4.html A Noble P4 replica (powered by a 3.5 litre Rover V-8 on Dellorto's, with a Renault transaxle) Chassis #031 .... and not a bad looking example of the (Noble) marque, IMHO Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
A question for Jim and P4Replica: What's the story on those small front "wings" attached to the wheel fenders? I notice your cars have them, but the Japanese Noble replica doesn't. I guess either state would be correct, but let's hear it from the experts please.
Not professing to be an 'expert', but .... They were obviously an early (and rudimentary) experiment in generating downforce - one would assume, designed to prevent lift at high speeds. The cars also carried adjustable rear tail spoilers, but these nearly always seemed to have been set in their lowest positions, for minimal drag. Most of the factory P4's (and the customer 412P's) seem to have had these front 'winglets' fitted at all of the races throughout the '67 season (including #0846 on the Targa Florio) - but with one notable exception - 330P4 #0858 - the second placed car at Le Mans ran WITHOUT them - the team obviously deciding to sacrifice top end stability for a couple of extra m.p.h. down the Mulsanne. Scrolling through my collection of photos, it was interesting to see how many of these front corner spoilers had been 'banged up' - particularly when the cars were driven by ('Wild') Willy Mairesse or Pedro Rodriguez. In fact, on a road-going replica, they are very vulnerable to damage (from getting too close to kerbs, when driving through towns), so in those situations I tend to leave them off my own car. Even cast in fibreglass, though, with the relatively moderate speeds my own P4 rep' is capable of - they obviously do work - Not long after I had fitted them, I noticed some minor gel-coat stress cracking around the rivnuts where they affix to the front (fibreglass) bodywork, after a 'quickish' run .... Image Unavailable, Please Login
These were different days. When my MK-IV went down the Mulsanne it generated 958lbs of lift at 223mph. Dan Gurney told me that to brake for the Mulsanne cornor you had to make an appointment, (Lift) 15 seconds before you could begin to brake in order to give the front wheels time to land. Today's Audi's by comparsion make 3500 lbs. of downforce at 185mph. There are many ways to plant a car and one is by using "canards" winglets on the nose and another is to induce rake. (Lower front/higher rear) I suspect 0858 used rake. The P4's top speed was 199mph. The MK-IV's were 223mph. Even though the P4's handled better in the turns when the flag waved 0858 was 32 miles behind J5.
I already have the engine, now can anyone tell me if there is a quality reproduction out there. The cars shape just moves me emotionally, especially after seeing the lot of them racing at Laguna Seca. Best regards Gary
Please don't insult a Ferrari engine by placing it inside a Datsun Z chassis like a lot of those replicas.
Horsefly, please don't insult me! I said quality repro. I didn't ask for opinions just information, you provided me with neither.
NNO, no, my engine is an early 1970's 4 cam V-12 so it would seem appropriate to put it into something ferrariesque. Gary
A P3 or P4 replica would be more appropriate for that 365GT/4 2+2 engine or yours IMO ... but Chelle I think has the same engine in a Datsun based GTO replica. Pete
Agreed, Pete. Especially if you were to replace the side-draft Webers with fuel injection, like this custom Haltech set-up in a Norwood P4 - it really looks the part. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thanx Don, Gary, Measure the width of the engine at it's widest point. If you were considering one of the fiberglass z-chassis cars you need to be able to fit it between the shock towers. The narrowest point between the shock towers (on top where it's most critical) on those cars is 31.5" The framerails are 25" apart. Firewall to the crossmember is 21.5". Firewall to the radiator support is 39.5". Engine compartment is plenty long enough in the stock configuration but if you have a sidedraft carb setup then you would probably have to switch to a FI system like the beautiful setup Paul suggested. If you were looking to do a GTO on a custom chassis with fiberglass body I can get you in touch with someonewho makes the only fiberglass body that is accurate. His panels can be mounted on a z-chassis but to do it you need to EXTENSIVELY modify the bare shell. The only part of the chassis you would be using in the firewall, floor, windshield, and part of the roof. Aluminum bodied GTO replica's come either built from scratch or built on the chassis of another old ferrari. We have one of the latter with the SOHC engine made from like six cars with downdraft setup. Expect to spend well into six figures for one made to order. We're currently redoing our z-chassied car with a 6 liter V12 and 6 speed. it's about 2300lbs with estimated 430hp. Anything can be done if you are willing to either spend the $ or do it yourself (or some combo of both) Where are you located? You're welcome to come look at our build up or at any of our cars. Let me know if you have some questions about these cars I'll answer whatever I can Pete - close- ours is single overhead cam though Paul - who do I contact to get one of those FI systems? I built a megasquirt system to manage the stock FI system on the new 12 in the Z-chassied car, but would be VERY interested in purchasing something like in that pic in a downdraft configuration. Chelle
chelle, thank you, the possibilities are limited only by the imagination and yes, my side draft motor. I,m not in a hurry so I will pick wisely. I would love to see your car. I have already checked into EFI for the motor and look forward to a unique build. Thanks again for the info. Bert regards Gary
Sorry, Chelle, I really dont have an answer for you. The reason that I suggested such a system, was not for its compactness, but following on from Petes (PSk) suggestion that Garys 365GTC/4 motor might look more correct, installed in a P4 replica, rather than a 250GTO replica. A real P4 motor would, of course, have been a 4-cam V-12, with fuel injection between the camshaft banks. Im not that au fait with Haltech myself. The fuel system in the photo in post #8 is fitted to Ed Cohens Norwood P4. This is the same car that was built for Dr. Bill Gordon in the early 90s. When I was doing some research on the car, for my register, going back a year or so ago, I was fortunate to come across David Moore (speedmore). See this recent post of his. David said that he had worked on this car (amongst others) when he worked for Bob Norwood. He told me that the fuel injection set-up was a custom Haltech EFI system so you could try asking Dave or Bob Norwood, himself. I did a little googling on Haltech fuel and came up with these two: http://www.racetep.com/haltechframe.html?src=overture&keyword=haltech http://www.haltech.com.au/about.htm Of course there are plenty of other U.S. based fuel system manufacturers you could try, like: http://www.kinsler.com/ Heres a photo of a scratch-built custom fuel injection system on a 330GT single cam motor, built by Jim Carpenter (then of Phoenix, AZ) in the back of another P4 replica. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Chelle, sorry to hijack but, didn't you once mention that you also had a Lusso-based replica? If so, do you have photos and would you mind sharing the s/n? You can PM me directly if you wish.