It's all in the bodywork!

[N9THX]

Its amazing how the style of a car can take it into a different league.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ferrari-430-S ... 230wt_1397

One day there will be a designer at somewhere like Toyota that'll design a car to mess with the bigboys

[Al-sw20]

I think I'd rather have an immaculate late model MR2 for half the money of a try hard Ferrari.

It doesn't really matter which way you look at it, it isn't good value.

You have just paid well above market value for an MR2, that will never sound or handle like the car you are replicating.

[N9THX]

The point i was making is that the MR2 is the "Go to Car" for most supercar copies due to the performance. It's pretty flattering to the marque that so many supercar fakes use the MR2 to carry off the illusion

[Peter Gidden]

The point i was making is that the MR2 is the "Go to Car" for most supercar copies due to the performance. It's pretty flattering to the marque that so many supercar fakes use the MR2 to carry off the illusion

I think it has nothing to do with the marque or performance.

The MR2 is a popular, cheap, mid-engined car, easy to maintain, with a plentiful supply of cheap s/h parts. That's all a body kit manufacturer needs, else he won't sell many kits.

As to why anyone would drive around in a cheap, look-alike copy of another car, i have no idea whatsoever. I presume the owners have a Rolex bought on ebay on their wrist to match.

BTW, on a different note, i have great respect for the skills of some of the guys that put them together, since most of the kits are crap quality.

[Super_red]

I love kit cars but hate these rebodies, they are not kit cars they are body kits.

Before the MR2 it was the metro that was the base of choice, the Audi TT replica came out the same year as the TT with a 1275 A series (74bhp) engine!

At the last show I went to one of these was on a stand, the build costs were broken down and came to just over £14k, this included £1,100 for the base car. Why anyone would spend another £13k on an £1,100 car is beyond me.

Proper kits in my view, bin the body work or monocoque compleatly and just use the mechanicals and possibly the registration if they comply. An example here http://www.murtaya.com/Diary.shtml Take a high power saloon, shed nearly half its weight and make it a 2 seater convertable.

[craig]

Not my cuppa. Can appreciate the skills and effort involved, but fail to understand why people modify an MR2 to look like something it's not.

For example, an MR2 with a Ferrari kit may look deceiving, and I've seem some great kits out there for the MR2 to make it look like a F355, but....

a 2ltr 4 pot turbo doesn't really really match the Ferrari noise of the 3.5ltr V8

[Ren0W]

What's the switch for on the steering wheel ?

[Zemi]

Just check item 271000907054 ... Awesome work there...

[Super_red]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271000907054

Without doubt that is beautiful but its still an MR2 underneath with massive wheel spacers added, it will handle worse than an MR2 with the same suspension. The brakes you can see are dummies, the real MR2 brakes are inboard of this, the disks wont even spin with the wheels as they are bolted to the calliper!

Even with a Woodsport V8 conversion this would still never match the car its based on and you can buy one of them, keep it a few years then sell it and only loose in value a similar amount to what you will loose on a kit replica. The replica will cost less to start with but over the course of 3-5 years cost the same in servicing and depreciation since it wont depreciate anything like as fast.

[synXero]

The only part of these cars I want is the H-gate shifter

Still wanting to build one!

[Zemi]

These cars are mainly for posers I think. Nothing else...

[gnzyza]

I can't see any calipers on that car

[craig]

I can't see any calipers on that car

Dummy disks.

[JayUK91]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271000907054

As replicas go, it's not bad. But thirty grand? THIRTY effin' GRAND!? Wow - I'm in the wrong business.

[A.BLAKE]

OMG im going to have to vent a bit on this subject..

This is much worse than the fake Rolex thing..

Thing is with these, who are you trying to fool... Car enthusiast will know, women who are impressed will only be impressed because of what it represents, so when you arrive back at your mums council flat in your fake lambo your not getting any fanny, your just going to have to pay an angry woman,s cab fair home..

Im a watch collector and when i meet people wearing fakes i always say "nice watch" just to see what they say.. Test there integrity... LOL

I think the fake lambo/ferrari what ever thing is probably the biggest "i am a complete willy" sign you could ever pin on yourself..

On the other hand i would LOOOOOVEEEEE a GT40 kit car... Thats completely different.. If it was my money i would prefer the kit to the real thing.. Or an Shelby cobra these are things of beauty..

However.. That is not to say the design of the MR2 can not be improved.. My uncle is a panel beater / coach builder.. Basically he turns sheets of steel into wings for 300sl gullwings with a hammer and a few pieces of wood.. Its amazing to behold.. Now I was recently showing him some pics of the TRD wide body and the RX7 Veilside fortune.. Im a designer by trade, not in the automotive industry but i love form and aesthetics and its always been a dream to design my own car, or at least FULL body kit... When i finally sort out a garage to store my car (not easy in central London) Im thinking of doing something pretty radical with the body work... BUT IT WILL BE UNIQUE!!! Not a copy of some rich mans toy im to poor to buy.. Ahhhh and thats my two cents...

[JohnnyC]

women who are impressed will only be impressed because of what it represents, so when you arrive back at your mums council flat in your fake lambo your not getting any fanny, your just going to have to pay an angry woman,s cab fair home..

[sidewaysmk2tubby]

The only part of these cars I want is the H-gate shifter

Still wanting to build one!

I would love an H-gate shifter also, think thats gotta be the next interior mod.

Anyone made one of these?

Admiration for the guys who build the kits and get some of these cars finished to a great standard but not my cuppa tea.

[A.BLAKE]

H gate shifter!!! +1

Dont think they still have these in ferraris/lambos, its flappy paddles these days

[sidewaysmk2tubby]

Found some pics of some one who has made an H gate but branded it lambourghini inside, the shifter gear stick and surround look good i think.

Half way down the page
http://extremeoc.co.uk/index.php?topic=2074.0

Im going to attempt to have one made i think....

[MR2O12]

i hate them 430 reps. and the 355's dont look much better. ive seen a few murcielago ones that look good on ebay but you never know in real life.

i think the main problem is the mr2's tiny wheelbase all them replicas look squashed from the side