telegraph.co.uk-motoring article by James May

[ozzie dave]

just some thoughts on replicas in general .Cant say I disagree completely.

www.telegraph.co.uk
motoring section

Dave

[cinqster]

Confirms my suspicion that the man really is a cock after all.

Some are good - yet some are not.

Excellent journalism!

[denisb]

So, all Lambo replicas are based on Beetles are they?

Seems Mr May has learnt from Mr Clarkson that you should never let the truth get in the way of a good story!

[Sam_68]

Jame May said:

My quarrel is not with the people who build faithful reproductions of great cars, accurately specified and feeling like the real thing. I have seen some superb Lancia Stratos recreations, and Chesil's new-build Porsche 356s are lovely things. Neither do I see the problem with buying a basic MkI Ford Escort and turning it into an RS, provided it's done properly and with the same components that the factory used.

It will offend the purists, but the driving experience will be right, and that's what counts.

Seems fair enough to me.

OK, the bit about Beetles and Countach replicas is technically inaccuracte, since I don't know of any current kits which still use the VW floorpan, but he has a point. Any 'Lamborghini Countach' which lacks a quad cam V12 and a centrally mounted gearbox is always going to be nothing more than a sad, naff, plastic pastiche, whether the running gear is VW or cobbled together from an assortment of dead Fords.

The engine is so much a part of the character of many classic cars (especially the Italian ones) that you really are missing the point if you try to replicate one with a different type of power unit. The Stratos can get away with it because the Alfa V6 is near enough in character, capacity and configuration to the Ferrari V6, but I do wish that people would leave the V12 Lamborghinis and Ferraris alone!

[kingb]

personally i dont like the mr2 ferraris but i really dont see the problem with it. sports car and cars of this type are ment to be exciting for the owner/driver. so if having a car that is barly distinguishable from a ferrari give you a buzz i think people should do it. unlike mr may we cant all afford to go and buy a new ferrari or lambo. the owners of these car never claim to actually own a ferrari or lambo they just like the look

[dern]

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions... it's just when someone suggests that what another person does is wrong and that they shouldn't do it because it conflicts with their own tastes (and they're serious) that I start to firm believe that they're a tosser.

However, James May and Clarkson don't write this stuff because they believe it they write it because they're paid to and it fits in with a current trend. In this way they can 'ring true' with a larger number of people and they will continue to get paid. It's irrelevant.

[ferg]

I have but two points to make:

4th paragraph before he actually gets remotely to the point....wanker

Only Aston 'replica' I remember was the Capri based car. Never a Herald......wanker again.

He knows almost as little about cars as Clarkson.

That's all.

[Dave Dax builder]

Some say he lives with his mum, Some say he wears cordroy trousers, all we know is that he's a tit.He Likes his British classics (Obviously never spent 3 months+ lying on his back welding one) and rants on about drinking Bitter which is astonishing (As JC would put it)
And on that bomb shell........

Edited by Dave Dax builder on Sunday 2nd July 22:09

[CorseChris]

Blimey....PPC had a picture of a Strat replica this month and said it's OK to have one ("one of the few replicas you can build and not look a tt" were the words I think) and now Mr May says a Strat replica is OK as well.

Cor, dead glad I built one now - so nice to now other people approve.

[meeja]

Dave Dax builder said:

Some say he lives with his mum, Some say he wears cordroy trousers, all we know is that he's a tit.He Likes his British classics (Obviously never spent 3 months+ lying on his back welding one) and rants on about drinking Bitter which is astonishing (As JC would put it)
And on that bomb shell........