Ferrari Mailing List: Re: My Experience with a Kit Car Owner

[Dennis Liu (BigHeadDennis]

My $0.02:

Broadly speaking, there are 2.5 categories of "kit" or "homebuilt" cars.

A:  unique cars from small manufacturers, like the Ariel Atom or Caterham
and other British cottage shops
B.1:  cars designed to resemble of imitate other cars, like replica C-types
or 250s or 355s or GT40s or Cobras or Beck Spyders
B.2:  same as B.1, except with all of the badging and trademarks of the
original


I don't think any of us looks down on category A.  There are some NIFTY cars
there, and I'd love to have something like an Atom in my garage.

I suspect that most of us are in the "great/ok/acceptable/I guess so" part
of the spectrum when it comes to B.1.  Hey, it might be a practical way for
enthusiasts to enjoy the thrills of driving a GT40 or Cobra or 550 Spyder.

Where I draw the line is at trademark infringement.  A copy of a 250 or
C-type is not an authentic one.  So don't be putting trademarks on it and
pretending that it is.  It diminishes the value of that marque and dilutes
the value of extent examples.  

Now, this is clearly a very thin line.  When I see a Cobra on the road, I
just assume that it's a knock-off, because they are so prevalent.  This is a
situation that must surely aggravate owners of real Cobras.  This is why
Shelby has been so particular over the years to sue and enforce his IP.

Would you wear a fake Rolex?  Give a fake Louis Vuitton bag to your s.o.?
We all have a line in our internal monitor; we might wear a knock-off piece
of Ferrari F1 team clothing, and rationalize it, but we may just as well
never wear a fake GP Ferrari watch or drive a 355 kit car.

Personally, I'd probably buy that 250 Cal Spyder replica, at an acceptable
price, and drive it and have lots of fun it.  But I'd definitely pry all of
the Ferrari emblems off of it.

Vty,

--Dennis




-----Original Message-----
From: Britt2Asa [at] aol.com [mailto:Britt2Asa [at] aol.com] 
Sent: Thursday, December 07, 2006 12:00 PM
To: Dennis Liu
Cc: ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com
Subject: Re: [Ferrari] My Experience with a Kit Car Owner

I think this is a great topic.
When I was 15 I got a ride in a Kelmark that a boat owner had at a marina in
St Augustine Florida next to my dads boat. Got me hooked on cars, on Dinos,
and 2 years later I got in a real Dino. 

BTW - Why doesn't anybody ever get worked up about Replica Boats? Is there
such a thing....Oh I couldn't afford a REAL Hunter Yacht so I built
one.....No, a person like that would get great respect for having the
ability to build their own boat....whys a car so different??

I would have loved to build or own a kit car when a teenager but couldn't
afford it so I got a Triumph Spitfire which was easy to work on, easy to
take apart and was everything a kit car would be except it was a "real" car.

I don't want a kitcar that much anymore but here in England its a BIG
business. I have helped a good friend build TWO DAX Cobras which were very i
mpressive. Each cost the equilivant of £90k US Dollars and sold immediately
for a profit....very high standard and in big demand when done right. The
Ultima is a kit car and thats a pretty impressive car as well...

Havr you guys ever seen the Chesil Speedsters? http://www.chesil.co.uk/
Sold here ready to go for £25k or thereabouts and its a great looking little
car; many owners use them every day and they are always featured at the big
Classic and Sports Car Show at the NEC every year in Birmingham....

There is a company in Devon that makes a fantastic copy of a Jag SS100 with
a fully detailed chassie pretty much identical to the real thing and then
there are the GT40 copies (The GTD as well) which are probably the only way
any of us will get to experience a car like that.

I don't really have a problem with kit cars/copy cars, ect. Hey if it floats
your boat then why not? I wonder if it is something in us ferrari owners who
see a copy of a Ferrari and think "Hey that guys cheating. He hasn't gone
thru the pain and expense of ownership like I have yet everybody thinks he
has the same class/money/style/(or whatever you think the car says about
you) that I have"

Not for me but frankly we need more car buffs in the world before they are
legislated away from us all into some kind of electric pile of crap. And I
can't help thinking that if guys who build their own BOAT or PLANE are
thought highly of, whats the difference with somebody who builds there own
car...

Britt
BR in the UK
1986 328GTS (LHD 89,940km) Died August 19, 2006 Shrewsbury UK 1980 400i (RHD
72,000 miles)
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