RE: MAT Stratos: Driven

[vz-r_dave]

Nelsons Club said:

Sadly on seeing one; most people will think this to be nothing more than a 10k kit car..... There seems to be a trend in 'retro styled' evocations - David Brown Automotive use a Jag XK convertible to make a 750K Aston lookalike and a 100k new 'old' Mini... Also surely this could be done much more economically with say a Maserati engine - co developed with Ferrari anyway - or even the original 'Fiat/Ferrari' engined 2.4 from the era for a more 'true to to life' evocation?

A 10k kit car??? Just from the pictures alone you can see how well this car has been put together.

[pSyCoSiS]

I quite like it, but it does have a very high price.

At first glance looks like the Fiat Turbo Coupe, that used to also come in a similar shade of blue.

[Nelsons Club]

'Most People' - I am sad to report I had a fairly decent Lancia engined Dino kit car some years ago - foiled 'most' but the true discerning - I am glad to report I have learned the errors of my ways. Whatever happened to Lancia - surely that marque has shrugged off the rust issues of the 80's and could now be brought back as an alternative/mmid premium to the FIat brand as VW Group is doing with all of theirs?

[RacerMike]

Loved the original black 'one off' made 8 years ago, and love this one too. It's not for everyone, but I really like these evocations. Quite nice to see the whole coachbuilding style business making a return.

[Tuvra]

hammo19 said:

Such a thing of beauty...

REALLY?!? I don't see any beauty there at all, just a sad looking Stratos Replica and a ruined F430

[Kenny Powers]

Love it! What a great thing for those with a bit of cash to toy around with. I’d have one in my millionaire’s garage

[rodericb]

Lot's 'o power etcetera but to ruin a 430 for one is a bit too much of a stretch. If I was running it I think I'd be looking at the V6 from the Giulia. Or working something out with Alfa and all the distributors around the world to get them building that darned 6C!

[PAUL500]

A lot of £££$$$$ when you have to supply the base car on top.

Very nice car but they are aiming at the limited Singer type market with a healthy profit margin included.

We are doing something similar for ourselves, finished build quality, spec and materials will be on par but for heck of a lot less money.

Plus I think an F355 fitted with a full F40LM carbon body and a V12 575 engine will look a lot nicer than this example and be even more rapid than the original road car its emulating :-) and no messing with the wheelbase required either, and it will produce the sound a Ferrari should make not a muted turbo one as a result of FIA regs back then.

[Resolutionary]

Side by side, you can sort of see what they were aiming for. There are some obvious cues from the original but it, to me of course, looks like a kit car of a kit car. You'd have to really, really want one of these to chop up a 430.

Those headlights on the new one are unforgivable though <sadface>

[RacerMike]

Tuvra said:

hammo19 said:

Such a thing of beauty...

REALLY?!? I don't see any beauty there at all, just a sad looking Stratos Replica and a ruined F430

Ruined an F430? C’mon, it’s hardly a classic and certainly never will be. I thought pretty much everyone viewed it as the awkward F360 facelift it pretty much was before it was thoroughly blown into the weeds by the 458!

This is a far better use of an F430 imho

[RacerMike]

Resolutionary said:

Side by side, you can sort of see what they were aiming for. There are some obvious cues from the original but it, to me of course, looks like a kit car of a kit car. You'd have to really, really want one of these to chop up a 430.

Those headlights on the new one are unforgivable though <sadface>

Weird. The original one off that was commissioned back in 2010 was generally welcomed with praise. But then I suppose the PH forum hadn’t quite reached the level of hyperbole it’s at now back then....

[Resolutionary]

RacerMike said:

Resolutionary said:

Side by side, you can sort of see what they were aiming for. There are some obvious cues from the original but it, to me of course, looks like a kit car of a kit car. You'd have to really, really want one of these to chop up a 430.

Those headlights on the new one are unforgivable though <sadface>

Weird. The original one off that was commissioned back in 2010 was generally welcomed with praise. But then I suppose the PH forum hadn’t quite reached the level of hyperbole it’s at now back then....

Didn't particularly like it then, and I don't really like it now. I know regulations deny it, but I wish they'd opted for pop up headlights - to my mind that'd improve the front end dramatically.

[Turbobanana]

Is the comparison to Singer fair? AFAIK they take an existing bodyshell and make it look like an old car. This takes a base car, resizes it and rebodies it in a brand new shell designed to look like an old car.

I love it, but agree it seems expensive at £500,000 or so. Also, I wouldn't want it in that colour scheme. Alitalia replica, anyone?

[TooMany2cvs]

RacerMike said:

Weird. The original one off that was commissioned back in 2010 was generally welcomed with praise.

So now unfawning praise should be expected on the unearthing of an 8yo vanity project/failed pastiche of a 45yo legend? And any dissent from that is somehow unforgivable? Hmm...

Whatever. It's still more expensive than buying a real one. And uglier. And, going by the article, drives worse than the donor. Woo.

But it's OK, because the parallels have been drawn with over-hyped mega-money hipster 911s. Which, at least, seems appropriate.

(I wonder if anybody's seen the black one and the blue one side-by-side? Or if it's just a respray...?)

[Tuvra]

RacerMike said:

Tuvra said:

hammo19 said:

Such a thing of beauty...

REALLY?!? I don't see any beauty there at all, just a sad looking Stratos Replica and a ruined F430

Ruined an F430? C’mon, it’s hardly a classic and certainly never will be. I thought pretty much everyone viewed it as the awkward F360 facelift it pretty much was before it was thoroughly blown into the weeds by the 458!

This is a far better use of an F430 imho

Absolutely! To my eyes it's an absolute dog. I didn't know everyone considered the F430 an ugly car, to my eyes its far better looking than an F360 and by all accounts it's a far better drivers car:-

If your going to spend £450k or what ever it is making a modern day replica, at least use a pretty car to start with Alfa Romeo 33, Lamborghini Miura, Ferrari Dinio etc.

Sorry, this has zero appeal to me

[E65Ross]

I am also in the "ugly" camp with this one, just the headlights IMO. The profile etc is nice. Everything else is a no from me.

[thegreenhell]

RacerMike said:

Tuvra said:

hammo19 said:

Such a thing of beauty...

REALLY?!? I don't see any beauty there at all, just a sad looking Stratos Replica and a ruined F430

Ruined an F430? C’mon, it’s hardly a classic and certainly never will be. I thought pretty much everyone viewed it as the awkward F360 facelift it pretty much was before it was thoroughly blown into the weeds by the 458!

This is a far better use of an F430 imho

Indeed. It's hardly a rare car either. They built over 10,000 of them, so losing up to 25 of them for a project like this is hardly a great loss.

[Tuna]

I'm a huge fan of the Stratos, quite like the styling of this, but... there is surely room somewhere for a modern Stratos-ish car out there that is neither kit nor garage jewellery? This seems to show that an updated design could work, but then falls between stools when it comes to something you could seriously consider owning.

[The Surveyor]

TooMany2cvs said:

Or you could have a real one.
https://rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/MO18/Monterey/l...
https://www.goodingco.com/vehicle/1975-lancia-stra...

You may well even be able to get a real one AND a nice rep for everyday use.

Exactly, the original was so much better looking and has some genuine class and heritage. This one looks lardy and bloated compared to the original.

I'm sure it's great, but not for me.

[cookie1600]

Money no object? I'd be on this like a shot. I like the nod to the previous Stratos and I love the idea of MAT (under the control of Paolo Garella who created some of the greatest ever bespokes for Brunei) fulfilling it. So much more than just another Bugatti special edition and something that can be used regularly if you please.

I just can't get my head around cutting up a perfectly usable F430 under any circumstances. A write off one which wouldn't make it back to the road again would be fine, but I guess the ali chassis would be so compromised as to make this unviable.

I wish I could start with this say:

https://www.eurospares.co.uk/cars-breaking-for-spa...

Or better still:

https://www.eurospares.co.uk/cars-breaking-for-spa...

But then if I had the conversion price, would I be so reluctant to find a concours donor?