Ever have your car called a Replica?

I once stopped by a local Fiero club show with the 328. Several people gave me some very helpful hints on how to make it look like a real Ferrari. I get it a lot. Most of the time I just ignore it.

 

The guy in the gold [sic, ] cart was just a total rusty bullet hole; definitely an idiot...

The other guy, though, pointing stuff out to this friend, was just obnoxious... i doubt he knew your car was real and decided on lying to his friend just to act big... He probably really had no idea and was just misinformed...

 

psychologically speaking, some who cant attain the greater things in life that they dream for, associate other's belongings with being fake to make themself feel better about not being able to afford it themselves....

~hope it helps you, (PSY105 finally comes in handy)

 

I just let them look at the registration sticker . It has year and manfacture on it. Then I tell them someday they to can buy one .

 

Honestly, what do Ferrari Owners think of replicas? I'm sure nothing probably. Maybe a laugh here and there? As a life long ferrari admirer, I get the biggest kick out of them. The 'decent' ones make me laugh, and the terrible ones, just make me sick(i.e. Lamarossa, although his is good for a round of laughs as well). I just don't understand the reasoning behind own an exotic kit car. I mean some go for as much as what, close to $45,000? To me why not save up for the car you want. Buying an older model, not only fulfulls part of your dream, but you also don't look ridiciulous starting up a Chevy motor.

Clyde, I actually saw something on Neil Cavuto's show that discussed why the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor. One analogy they gave, was that "The Rich Admire the Rich." Whereas, "The Poor Resent the Rich." There were a few others they gave, but I thought they were rather interesting.

 

I've been asked the "kit car" question several times in my TR. But the best story is when I was at a local Car Quest store looking for some copper washers for.....well....the TR. They had free hot dogs for the customers which I thought was cool....till I got a close look at 'em. They looked more like they were the remnants of a surgery gone bad then a hot dog! Well...I was waiting at the parts counter, and some fella was actually eating one of those so-called hot dogs, and looking out the glass store front at my car. He keeps looking and nodding...and finally says: "that's the nicest looking kit I've ever seen...who made the body?" I said the body was made by a company called Pininfarina in Italy. Then he said..."that looks longer than a Fiero, is it based on a Camero or Firebird....who made the frame?" I said the frame was made by Ferrari. He nods again....still clueless. Finally the parts guy comes back and says they dont have the washers I need. So I walk out and start to get in the "kit car" and that guy comes out and asks to see the motor. He says..."That hood is awful low (pointing at the front bonnet) and I'd like to see how you stuffed a motor under there. So I pop the trunk and he almost drops what's left of the so-called hot dog.....and says "What The...!!!" I tell him the motor is in back. He says "So.....it is a Feiro!" I pop open the engine bay and he says "Holy....$%&# !! Is that a helicopter engine in there?" I finally say "Buddy...I'm sorry to disappoint you, but this is a real Ferrari". He starts laughing and realizes how foolish he looks...and most everyone else in the store is laughing too! It was an amusing time.

 

I get the kit car question all the time. Yesterday was a first though; I overheard someone point to my car at the HSR races and tell their friend that it was my "Lamborghini". Never heard that one before.

 

I was in Kona yesterday manning the SCCA tent at a Big Island car show, and a couple of folks asked if the 328 was "real." So I popped the engine cover and just left it up. Other folks who came by later could then nod sagely and pronounce to their gf's that it was real. What a hoot. There are apparently several Fiero-based counterfeits in the area.

 

Until tonight no. Then tonight at a garage someone looked under the car and asked if it was a kit car! And we are talking about a 308GT4, not a Pinninfarina wonder 308GTB.

 

I think that I am going to buy some Fiero badges... and stick them on the next F-car I get, just for hoots and hollers.

 

The famous 250 GT California. Which was a kit built on an MGB. Ferrari sued the company who built it for using it's symbols and badges. Ferrari should file suit a bit more often!

 

I hd not heard much about exotic kit cars - wasn't interested. I had purchased my first Fcar, a 328, and had taken it in to the local car stereo shop to get the system updated. All the sales guys ran out to look at the car. One of them asked me if it was a kit. Suprised, I asked why they thought it was a kit. Apparently they see a lot of kit cars around here and this was the first real ferrari that they had seen.They all were very appreciative that I didn't have an attitude and showed them the car. They just had never seen the real thing.

 

I thought it was the Fiero guys they went after in a big way.

 

I'm asked ALL THE TIME if my 308 is "one of them kit-cars" or they'll ask "Is that a real Ferrari?". Depending on the mood I'm in I'll answer yes to both.

I've been asked why I put the Ford Mustang horse on my car. I told him Ferrari copied it.

I had one woman admire my car, she said the Ferrari was smaller than she'd imagined but it looks like it has a big trunk. I showed her the "trunk" and when she saw the engine stretching from fender to fender her female shopping gene kicked in and she realized that this was not a "practical car". I just said, "No.......it's not."

I've often had guys come up and ask me questions about my car and then immediately launch into a speech about why their Camaro/Mustang/Nissan is better than my car. To those guys I'll usually respond that I would expect GM/Ford/Nissan to make performance advances in the 25 years since this car was built, but when was the last time someone came up to your Camaro and asked you if it was a real Chevrolet?

 

I've been asked whether mine was a kit-car in the past. Never bothered me.

 

Which car? The 328 or the other 328 or maybe the 2nd to the last 328 or maybe the current 328

 

Once it happened. And even after I showed him the engine and the plaque on the door post, he still wasn't convinced. "Oh anyone can do that!" he exclaimed.

 

i have but i do tell them its a ferrari with a toyota mr2 kit on

 

Never heard it until I bought the Lambo, then first couple times irritated me, now I hear it so much I don't think about it.
Mark

 

I find it funny that almost every car has some type of response it gets from the general public.
F-cars and Lambo's get the "Is it a Kit car?"
Lotus gets "Is it a Ferrari" or "who makes Lotus"
My Pontiac gets "Is it a 66 or 67" or "I used to own one of those"
and the list could go on.

 

Wiseguy...

 

when do we get pictures?????

 

Only once - so far. Stopped at a parts store on the way to the regional FCA event in Houston to pick up a couple of small items. The Mondial attracted immediate attention from some folks in the store when we pulled up. As I was paying, one of the other customers asked if it was a kit or a real Ferrari. When I told him it was real he responded with a couple of questions about it (age, model, etc) and several other customers drifted up to the front of the store for a look. As I was leaving, everyone in the store had come to the front to watch us drive away.
John