Where's the Engine?

It may seem that way from California but I don't see it happening nationwide.

 

Down here in Australia,new law passed any car coming in ,regardless of age must be to manufactors orginal specifacation or no entry.

 

That's a bit different from demanding a retrofit to meet standards not in place at time of manufacture. Which is how I read the previous post.

 

I'll guess that such a law will simply never be made. The few times they've tried to do similar things sema and leno and other rich people and hobbyists have squashed it.

Even if you did subject older cars to emissions requirements, the only thing you could do is make them pass a tail pipe test with emissions limits. I suspect any rebuilt old engine can be made to pass any reasonable emissions test by tuning the engine. At the very worst you could make them pass modern emissions tests by putting megasquirt and fuel injection on them.

These old cars *don't have emissions equipment on them from the factory* so there is no visual inspection or check engine light or self-contained diagnostics to worry about.

A modern car, on the other hand, has lots of computers that can't be duplicated (legally). If they fail, the car simply can't be made to work (legally on the street). No long term vendor support == no cars on the road when things break. Full stop.

Hence my belief that modern exotic cars will simply depreciate to zero and be gutted for interesting suspension / power-plant bits and the rest squashed and turned into cans. (modern being some vague line around obd / obd-II)

 

major issue is if say a GTC comes into Australia and it has modern discs or radiator or modern A/Cond it will not be allowed in.

 

Given the cost of the car and taxes retrofitting it shouldn't be too much of an added cost.
What level of modification is acceptable?

 

non.

 

To try to drag this back to the original topic ---

That law sounds good for the vintage ferrari community that's upset at older 2+2s getting turned into 250 TdF tributes.

If I put modern AC and alternators and such on a 330 gtc and try to import it to australia, I can just put the old stuff back on, import it, then put the new stuff on and drive it.

If I chop a GT/E up, I can never get it to pass muster with these inspections. This will make the vehicle less valuable because it can't be imported to australia. If you have similar laws everywhere, the market for chopped cars vanishes.

 

Ironic that the gov't can establish what original specs are when marque aficionados can't.
Yes I know that's an over simplification

 

days of importing a fake/replicar are over here,thank goodness.

 

Take careful, clear pictures of the car in question.

Write up a specifications sheet that
details EXACTLY the way YOUR car is.

Print a brochure with logo's from the
"Ferrari Special Vehicles Division."

Change the car color in the brochure.

Point out to the inspectors that your car
is "standard in every way."

It wouldn't be the first time....................

 

Any links to the new law?

 

How about exporting??? New Zealand included?

 

no issue as long as the car has no heritage issues. ie say a 1910 RR Ghost,would be hard to get out of Australia.

 

So, it's OK to make reproductions and export them , just not import them???

 

Surely a stupid law. What about cars modified for historic racing ...

It is not for the governments to make these silly rules and laws, it's up to us "the old car enthusiasts" to make people getting into our field of interest understand what being an old car enthusiast is via our clubs, etc. Maybe ...
Pete

 

I'm talking about one of these.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

i think thats an issue to.

 

Let's stop looking out for black helicopter and worrying about if the law mandates that the car must have the air from the factory in the tires.

Read the law, become involved. The ferrari club of australia, or whoever you are, should present yourselves to the authorities as experts on the marque and offer your services as experts gratis in vetting imported vehicles. A 250 gt/e with a 330 motor? Sure. A gtc with an american V8? well, okay. A chopped pf coupe made into a gto? No.

As far as vintage racing and such? Guys, when these things get imported, it is likely that the importer / purchaser brings along an expert with lots of documentation who is going to argue the case that this vehicle should be imported for whatever reason. The idea that the breadvan would be denied entry is just silly for lots of reasons.

Worry about it when it happens, get involved, argue your case. Don't just complain about potential issues that won't ever affect you anyhow....

 

Thats why we have a military government.

 

I've maintained a Ferrari Website for 11 years, and one of my dreams was to get an opportunity to hear about a Vintage Ferrari before anyone else. Through the years, I heard of a few, and have even passed them on to owners that are now members of the Vintage Ferrari Community. I've been watching the story about GTE 3787 and how upset most Vintage Ferrari enthusiasts are about the splitting up of this car for the benefit of a more valuable Ferrari. I now may have the opportunity to save a GTE, and would like to know if this is possible with the right person. There is nothing we can do to save 3787 now that the engine has been removed, but I'm offering the VIntage Ferrari Community a chance to save one. Can I prove to the capitalists and uncaring that these cars are worth saving? If not, then this may all be talk.

If you're interested, contact me.

Tom Yang.net

 

Nothing to be done to save 3787? Really? The car seems pretty intact to me. It seems like this sort of thing is just part of the lifecycle of an old ferrari.

Certainly the value and provenance and quality of 3787 has been diminished, but it isn't absurd to think that it could continue to be a road-going car and possibly even get its old motor back at some point in the future where other non-original ferrari cast blocks are available from somewhere else for whatever the 3787 motor got used for.

My advice about 3787 (which is probably worth less than the time it takes to read it) is to buy 3787, put a weber carbed ford 260 in it (or whatever suitable vintage motor can be put in without mauling the rest of the car), drive it, then when the market for colombo motors drives someone to manufacture suitable replacement motors, buy one of those or the original from whoever ripped it out of 3787.

It may take 20 or 40 years, but such is the life many of these cars have already lived.

But it seems to me that this specific car is wounded, and not mortally so.

 

Better yet, how about if someone can come up with a 250 engine out of a crashed or rusted
250 and work out a swap with the owner of the 3787 engine?

Maybe there is an orphaned engine out there that the current owner of 3787's engine was not able to find or did not look too hard to find.

 

A far more plausible strategy would be to find a 330 engine-- as was pointed out earlier in this thread, they are much less desirable for replicas, and hence much less expensive. Although, would it be any less wrong to break up a 330GT to save this 250GTE and make it into a faux 330 America?

 

Somebody should buy a 250GTO replica and take it's engine out and swap with the current owner of 3787. The owner will be happy because he will get the 6 carb manifolds that he probably wants and hopefully 3787's engine has not been fncked yet because it is hard to un-race prepare an engine, but not impossible.

Now we have an engineless replica but we have a genuine chassis that with a little bit of work could be corrected and used to carry one of the many chassis-less 250GT bodies that can be found all over the world. There is a really good one mentioned on this site and TomYang's, still fully trimmed and would not even need a repaint ...

... but of course this car would now need an engine but we would be in a heck of a better position, ie:
1. One less heap of **** replica poluting the world. I'd be happy to pay $50 to the now replica shell owner to come along and ensure it is 100% destroyed, and I'm sure a few other members would happily join me ... and once we have finished there would not be a piece bigger than 5mm square so it most definitely will never, ever, and I mean ever be used to fnck a genuine Ferrari again.
2. SWB owner has his spare engine.
3. 3787 is complete again.
4. 250GT body shell has a chassis again.

Pete