F355 replica's
Discussion
I own several MR2's and I've been contemplating doing one up with a 355 body style. In my research, I came across this forum and didn't realize there was so much hatred towards kit cars (and their owners) of this style. Let me add my Yankee 0.02 cents worth:
My favorite car body styles are the Ferrari 308 (Euro - not the ones with the ugly American DOT bumpers), 328, 288, 348 and 355. The 208 is also a head turner, but it was an Italy-only car during the mid-80's when Italy introduced draconian taxes on cars with engines with greater than two litres of displacement.
So being a mid-30's, fat, balding American looking for my "mid-life crises" car, I went shopping for a used Ferrari a couple of months ago.
Being 6' 2", and having quite long legs, I couldn't even fit in a 308 or 328. Even after considering with the sales person that we could replace the seats with direct floor bolt-ins, bend the gear shifter and replace the steering wheel, it still looked like an excercise in clausterphobia to drive one.
On to the 348 Targa, it looked more hopeful - by removing the roof (and not storing it behind the seats) I was able to comfortably drive it for about five minutes before my legs began to cramp up.
Next was the 355 - not quite what I would describe as comfortable, but at least I could drive it for a few minutes without having to visit my chiropractor. Still, I didn't want to spend much more than $60,000 USD and the 355 at the time was almost $100,000 USD. It struck me as a lot of money for a car that didn't really fit me that well.
Add to that the glory and priviledge of living in California - yearly vehicle registration includes a property ownership tax of 6% on the vehicle, as well as the most stringent emission tests in the United States (and quite possibly the world) in order to keep the damn thing on the road.
So when I consider using one of my Toyota MR2's as a platform for a replica kit car I consider the following:
1. The car is comfortable as hell to drive. I have done road trips in excess of 3,000km and loved every minute of it.
2. They pass California emissions with flying colors each and every time. Unlike some of the Ferrari owners here, I don't need to find a dodgey mechanic to get my car passed to renew the registration.
3. They are mechanically reliable. I want to be driving my car, not waiting for parts to be imported so it can be fixed or tuned properly.
4. MR2's are inexpensive to buy, maintain and operate - which means more money available to use on the things that really matter in life; like family, friends, charity, travel, etc.
So does anyone have any useful information on 355 style body kits for the MR2 beyond the "your just a w*nker with <insert social disorder here>" comments?
Thanks in advance for any serious replies.
My favorite car body styles are the Ferrari 308 (Euro - not the ones with the ugly American DOT bumpers), 328, 288, 348 and 355. The 208 is also a head turner, but it was an Italy-only car during the mid-80's when Italy introduced draconian taxes on cars with engines with greater than two litres of displacement.
So being a mid-30's, fat, balding American looking for my "mid-life crises" car, I went shopping for a used Ferrari a couple of months ago.
Being 6' 2", and having quite long legs, I couldn't even fit in a 308 or 328. Even after considering with the sales person that we could replace the seats with direct floor bolt-ins, bend the gear shifter and replace the steering wheel, it still looked like an excercise in clausterphobia to drive one.
On to the 348 Targa, it looked more hopeful - by removing the roof (and not storing it behind the seats) I was able to comfortably drive it for about five minutes before my legs began to cramp up.
Next was the 355 - not quite what I would describe as comfortable, but at least I could drive it for a few minutes without having to visit my chiropractor. Still, I didn't want to spend much more than $60,000 USD and the 355 at the time was almost $100,000 USD. It struck me as a lot of money for a car that didn't really fit me that well.
Add to that the glory and priviledge of living in California - yearly vehicle registration includes a property ownership tax of 6% on the vehicle, as well as the most stringent emission tests in the United States (and quite possibly the world) in order to keep the damn thing on the road.
So when I consider using one of my Toyota MR2's as a platform for a replica kit car I consider the following:
1. The car is comfortable as hell to drive. I have done road trips in excess of 3,000km and loved every minute of it.
2. They pass California emissions with flying colors each and every time. Unlike some of the Ferrari owners here, I don't need to find a dodgey mechanic to get my car passed to renew the registration.
3. They are mechanically reliable. I want to be driving my car, not waiting for parts to be imported so it can be fixed or tuned properly.
4. MR2's are inexpensive to buy, maintain and operate - which means more money available to use on the things that really matter in life; like family, friends, charity, travel, etc.
So does anyone have any useful information on 355 style body kits for the MR2 beyond the "your just a w*nker with <insert social disorder here>" comments?
Thanks in advance for any serious replies.
I saw a 355 rep' @ SCR yesterday..
To be quite honest, it looked terrible...
To start with, I didn't know that Ferrari had built a short wheel base 355, then as we got closer I saw the quality of the panels... it was shocking!
It really did look like a bad copy of the car as opposed to a replica...
According to the owner it had over 300Hp, but the performance just didn't back up the claim!
Not convinced I'm afraid!
slinky
To be quite honest, it looked terrible...
To start with, I didn't know that Ferrari had built a short wheel base 355, then as we got closer I saw the quality of the panels... it was shocking!
It really did look like a bad copy of the car as opposed to a replica...
According to the owner it had over 300Hp, but the performance just didn't back up the claim!
Not convinced I'm afraid!
slinky
Warlock / IFG had a kit that was taken from a mold of a real 355. This of course involved stretching the chassis and shaving the roofline of a doner. I don't believe they are in business anymore.
I came across this site:
http://hometown.aol.co.uk/curld7/myhomepage/auto.html
While the web site leaves a bit to be desired, it looks like the fit and finish of the kit are exceptional. They have a main web site at www.project355.com which used to be active, but is no longer. My attempts to contact the producer of this kit have failed. Does anyone in the UK know the current status of this kit/company?
While not an exact replica, it looked like an ideal kit on which to use as a base for creating perhaps a unique widebody MR2. With some work, it could be made into a project that doesn't strive to replicate a 355, but could be a much better looking widebody MR2 than TRD's offering.
I came across this site:
http://hometown.aol.co.uk/curld7/myhomepage/auto.html
While the web site leaves a bit to be desired, it looks like the fit and finish of the kit are exceptional. They have a main web site at www.project355.com which used to be active, but is no longer. My attempts to contact the producer of this kit have failed. Does anyone in the UK know the current status of this kit/company?
While not an exact replica, it looked like an ideal kit on which to use as a base for creating perhaps a unique widebody MR2. With some work, it could be made into a project that doesn't strive to replicate a 355, but could be a much better looking widebody MR2 than TRD's offering.
brutux said:
Warlock / IFG had a kit that was taken from a mold of a real 355. This of course involved stretching the chassis and shaving the roofline of a doner. I don't believe they are in business anymore.
.
this is what i've got! if you saw the finish of the kit you wouldnt wonder why they went out of buisness!
and to make it worse whoever fitted it to my car (i bought it half finished) made a bit of a mess of it!
The Warlock kit was the one that was used in the Sean Connery film "The Rock." Too bad the quality is so poor - it looked good on screen (prior to getting smashed up).
What a shame considering the Warlock guys were able to make the molds from an original vehicle. Sounds like they wasted the opportunity.
What a shame considering the Warlock guys were able to make the molds from an original vehicle. Sounds like they wasted the opportunity.
andygtt said:
[
After all whats the point it looks shite , as BTYank said why not make the Mr2 faster with the money spent making it look spaz
maybe because it would cost more to insure, be less reliable, more thirsty?...
not things I normally worry about, but some might.
You could spend some on performance and put a needed amount aside for running costs.
brutux the company called "BAD DESIGN" who created the supa corse 355 replica kit as seen on that site, went out of business, not sure why, I know they must have made a lot of money charging £15,000 to fit a kit, or £3,000 to sell it.
I've got one of the kits, call me a Max Power boy if you like, I probably am as I have had a few cars which are based on looks over performance, infact I own a company that sells bits to 'improve' the looks and performance of a car ( www.ModWorld.co.uk ) shameless plug.
Its still half built at the moment, I know its not going to be exactly the same or even that close in some aspects, but they are still very nice looking cars in my opinion and compaired to what I have owned in the past 240bhp is RAPID. As I'm not looking to take it on track days (well not many) it has plenty of performance to safely drive on the road and have a lot of fun doing so.
I am trying to make it as close to the original as possible, for example genuine wheel and lights which many people don't use, will I say to people I own a ferrari, no of course I won't. What to call it is an issue, currently its my MR355
As for costs, spent £10,000 now with everything so far(still need to replace the interior and exhaust) so looking for about £12,000-£13,000 when finished, still a hell of a lot cheaper than a real one. Then next year will start to work on the performance, an aim of 300bhp and 5 seconds 0-60 does not look too hard to achieve. Any more than that and it would start to need major engine work to keep it reliable.
Is it for posing? not completely but a lot of owning one of these is looks, my previous car demonstrates that this is important to me, that was a 1.6 orion (my first car) it had tv screens in the boot lid, so clearly was about possing, if that makes me 'SAD' so be it.
I've got one of the kits, call me a Max Power boy if you like, I probably am as I have had a few cars which are based on looks over performance, infact I own a company that sells bits to 'improve' the looks and performance of a car ( www.ModWorld.co.uk ) shameless plug.
Its still half built at the moment, I know its not going to be exactly the same or even that close in some aspects, but they are still very nice looking cars in my opinion and compaired to what I have owned in the past 240bhp is RAPID. As I'm not looking to take it on track days (well not many) it has plenty of performance to safely drive on the road and have a lot of fun doing so.
I am trying to make it as close to the original as possible, for example genuine wheel and lights which many people don't use, will I say to people I own a ferrari, no of course I won't. What to call it is an issue, currently its my MR355
As for costs, spent £10,000 now with everything so far(still need to replace the interior and exhaust) so looking for about £12,000-£13,000 when finished, still a hell of a lot cheaper than a real one. Then next year will start to work on the performance, an aim of 300bhp and 5 seconds 0-60 does not look too hard to achieve. Any more than that and it would start to need major engine work to keep it reliable.
Is it for posing? not completely but a lot of owning one of these is looks, my previous car demonstrates that this is important to me, that was a 1.6 orion (my first car) it had tv screens in the boot lid, so clearly was about possing, if that makes me 'SAD' so be it.
Paul
don't worry we can be SAD together.... the MR2 conversion may not be my cup of tea or personal preference (neither the orion) but I can at least understand your drive to be different.
sod the others do your own thing.
Here is my route for you all to laugh at.
second car (first was just a 'different' but fortunatelly I don't have pics)
just sold after 10yrs of ownership
my first 'kit car'
Sigman floyd's..... do your worst!
don't worry we can be SAD together.... the MR2 conversion may not be my cup of tea or personal preference (neither the orion) but I can at least understand your drive to be different.
sod the others do your own thing.
Here is my route for you all to laugh at.
second car (first was just a 'different' but fortunatelly I don't have pics)
just sold after 10yrs of ownership
my first 'kit car'
Sigman floyd's..... do your worst!
F1ACK said:
brutux the company called "BAD DESIGN" who created the supa corse 355 replica kit as seen on that site, went out of business, not sure why, I know they must have made a lot of money charging £15,000 to fit a kit, or £3,000 to sell it.
I've got one of the kits, call me a Max Power boy if you like, I probably am as I have had a few cars which are based on looks over performance, infact I own a company that sells bits to 'improve' the looks and performance of a car ( www.ModWorld.co.uk ) shameless plug.
[/pic]
ok, i'm not into the whole orion thing and tv's in the boot just seem to be a bit pointless to me?!!!
but anyway the car in the pic looks familiar, is that project ferrari website yours. if so its very good! it was a lot of help, mines at a similar stage to yours. and not having any kind of instructions your site came in very useful!
yeah the www.projectferrari.co.uk website is mine, I'm afraid its a few months out of date now as I haven't had time to update it, although I haven't had time to do much on the car either. Starting to worry about the insurance, I got a quote on an ish kit when I was looking into it which was ok, but not had a quote on this one yet, am only 22 so a bit 'high risk' for many insurers dispite full no claims (although not sure this can be used as its a second car) and no convictions (touch wood). No way could I get insured on a real one let alone afford to buy one. Glad the site was some help though 
As for the screens in the boot, was more of a sales thing as the car was used as a demo car for our audio range, the screen weighed nothing compaired to the rest of it, didn't really matter though, being an orion it had no performance or handling before the audio went in so nothing was lost
(remember it was a first car that I got at 17)
>> Edited by F1ACK on Tuesday 5th April 21:04
As for the screens in the boot, was more of a sales thing as the car was used as a demo car for our audio range, the screen weighed nothing compaired to the rest of it, didn't really matter though, being an orion it had no performance or handling before the audio went in so nothing was lost
(remember it was a first car that I got at 17)
>> Edited by F1ACK on Tuesday 5th April 21:04
its turning out to be a real pain in the arse now.
after 6 weeks of waiting finaly got the rear wheels only to find out that they were 15" wide insted of 14"!!!
and i've got a problem knowing what front wheels to buy
dont know what to do now. and it looks like the width isnt the only problem, something definatly got to be done about the ride hight at the back. lowering springs might work, but i doubt it! any ideas???
heres a pic-
and i've got a problem knowing what front wheels to buy, the wheel arches are just so bigfinding wheels to fill them that will also turn is impossible!
so, anybody want some 15x15 centerline wheels?
>> Edited by deathbyfish on Friday 8th April 22:48
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