BMW Z3 with Ferrari 250 SWB kit

[e30m3Mark]

These look way better without the Ferrari badges anyway.

[98elise]

Nerdherder said:

There is something about this thing that I like.

I think its the chrome trim around the screen that makes it work. The biggest giveaway of the modern underpinnings is the thickness of the A pillar IMO. the trim makes it look less bulky.

[smash]

Steve Ascot said:

Hi all, I'm new on here. I picked up my Ferrari 250 tribute at the end of last year, built by Mr Bird.
I am both delighted with my beautiful new car and frustrated at some of the "finishing" that Mr Bird has left me with.
Apparently Ferrari have put him out of business so he can't put the snags right, I saw someone posted something about this sort of thing on here hence me joining to make comment.
A couple of questions to anyone who's in the know;
What makes theses cars illegal, is it just the badges? An easy fix to remove if necessary.
Also can anyone recommend someone competent who can take my car and sort out the snags? I'm outside west London so someone in the south of England would be ideal.

Steve - not what you're going to want to hear but hold some money in reserve for inevitable repaint of some panels. The grp on these kits isn t great and settles quite a bit after a year and you will start to see rippling and matting showing through - even with the best preparation. I'm not aware of any cars that started with high quality finish that haven't needed remedial paint at some point. I had the bonnet on my car repainted (the double skin pulls and starts to show) before sale and was also considering having the doors skins done. The real plus point of the design (which is actually really clever) is that the panels come off easily - the door skins come off in 10 minutes so easy to get to a paint shop making life easier.
As always though with kit cars it's horses for courses with what bothers and what doesn't.

[jaguartvr]

Paint has been on mine for almost a year now and it lives outside. No signs of sinkage so far (famous last words) or any other problem, however I didn't use any filler only GRP paste. The panels were baked in an oven before the build commenced to show up any air pockets in the GRP, only 2 tiny pockets came up. The body panels were also painted in 2K polyester (reface, as suggested by Jeff666) before finally priming and painting. It seems to be that body filler will shrink more then GRP which is what causes the problems.
Preparation is the key to getting a good finish.

Edited by jaguartvr on Thursday 22 March 14:33

[smash]

I dunno. Last Ferrari I saw was arrow straight.

Tribute bodies are not - especially the door skins. If you haven't used any filler I can't see how your doors at the very least are going to be straight.

Your car must be much better than mine was.

[jaguartvr]

I wouldn't describe it as "arrow straight" but it's not bad. Being a lighter colour is much more forgiving, black as you found out shows every imperfection.
I think not putting any problems right on a build that has been paid is out of order. There shouldn't be any more money changing hands so I can't see a problem.
Maybe the small claims court to get some money back so it can be rectified by someone else. Very cheap and simple process.

[smash]

Nowt to do with Richard - that was a machine polish issue.

Ultimately I stand by my comment that all high quality builds have needed remedial action to the body.

Like I say, everyone's acceptability threshold is different - if you're happy with it not being straight but good enough enjoy the car. It's a great looking and actually practical drive.

Putting F badges on something that looks like it's come out of the Chivers product development depot however....

[jeff666]

A lot of the problem with the Tribute bodies is they are over catalyzed,

The owner of Tribute told me they come out of the moulds after 20 mins, they do pull and sink on the flash lines and where the inner and outer skins are bonded together on the boot lid and bonnet.

It doesn't help that to get them to an acceptable level they do need a lot of filler, add to that the air pockets and blisters in the gel coat and you can see why they have the reputation that they do.

Some people who own them accept them for what they are, others think that at 6k for the kit the quality should be a lot better.

[Fastpedeller]

jeff666 said:

A lot of the problem with the Tribute bodies is they are over catalyzed,

The owner of Tribute told me they come out of the moulds after 20 mins, they do pull and sink on the flash lines and where the inner and outer skins are bonded together on the boot lid and bonnet.

It doesn't help that to get them to an acceptable level they do need a lot of filler, add to that the air pockets and blisters in the gel coat and you can see why they have the reputation that they do.

Some people who own them accept them for what they are, others think that at 6k for the kit the quality should be a lot better.

Crikey - 20 minutes! should be more like 48 hours IIRC.

[PAUL500]

Fastpedeller said:

PAUL500 said:

It will be the use of the Ferrari name by association in any marketing I would imagine. Ferrari cannot stop anyone making a lookalike,

I wouldn't be sure of that - There was a famous case between Caterham and Westfield. C have a 'copyright' on the shape of their car, and Westfield were forced to change their vehicle. This sort of thing can be very complex (and can depend to an extent on whether funds are available to fight an action!).
It could be that time elapsed since manufacture is a factor, or whether the original manufacturer is still selling the model. I don't believe they can stop anyone making a lookalike for their own use (I may be wrong), but when it becomes an income stream as a business I believe that changes. Also If it was your own car and you sold it, I don't know what the position would be - probably ok if you had no F badges on it, but (understandably) not ok to pass it off as a genuine item. The use of F badges but specifically stating it isn't one may be ok for a 1-off private sale. Best just avoided IMHO.

You hit the nail on the head about them changing the shape so that it was not a copy, these 250 reps are not copies in that respect, they are simply "sort of look alikes" if you squint and its dark!, a big difference between the case you highlighted.

[Carsie]

pingu393 said:

tricky360 said:

http://youtu.be/FjIGKt3eQV0
Or this is an alternative

Not too shabby .

Personally, I'm not keen on using distinctive parts from other cars (like the MG rear lights), but I'm sure there are alternatives I could use instead.

Thought it looked quite nice actually; you did realise that Pininfarina styled the MGB as well?

[minerva]

saaby93 said:

Ferrari probably wont sue them for passing off as it would give some credence

How is it registered as a 250?

Is it missing chrome bumpers?

Now back up for sale. Was £39,000 in 2017 and Specialist Cars seem to have seen more potential in it than before.. £85,000

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1078419#descr...

Edited by minerva on Tuesday 12th February 13:15

[Google [bot]]

Lovely car. People having a laugh.

[LaurasOtherHalf]

minerva said:

Now back up for sale. Was £39,000 in 2017 and sepcialist cars seem to have seen more potential in it than before.. £85,000

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1078419#descr...

Good ol' SCoM, ever the optimists

[e46m3Mark]

I like these but even £40k seems a little strong. £85K is just plain silly. You could build a hell of a car for £85K!

[Fastpedeller]

e46m3Mark said:

I like these but even £40k seems a little strong.

Only a little? I'd say 40k is way over as well

[ibarlow91]

Hi

I’m new to the hobby so go gentle please...

Is there any difference between the Tribute package and that offered by Classic Coach Works? Design looks indentical.

Are there any other manufacturers to look at for a similar style/priced build?

Thanks

[jeff666]

ibarlow91 said:

Hi

I’m new to the hobby so go gentle please...

Is there any difference between the Tribute package and that offered by Classic Coach Works? Design looks indentical.

Are there any other manufacturers to look at for a similar style/priced build?

Thanks

They are the same kit from the same moulds.

Classic coach works are the new build agent / after sales agent for Tribute.

The only other manufacturer that does a fiberglass 250 is the Automirage one, quite a bit more money but a very high quality bit of kit.

[ibarlow91]

Thanks, makes sense given coachworks have some poor quality pictures from Tributes website.

Are there any other companies to consider for a similar build/price. The auto mirage is outside my price range but as you say a very nice piece of kit.

[ukcerb]

First trip out to Goodwood Revival. Lucky there was a friendly female mechanic to help out!