Let’s not forget that imitation is the greatest form of flattery…or was that flatulence?

Interesting to read through the other side's view of this:

http://www.kitcentral.com/pn/html/in...4e069db7d636fe

Seems like all of the Lamborghini kit makers' sites have been going offline in recent weeks. The NAERC site is back up, but any mention of their kits have mysteriously vanished. They're now positioned as a miscellaneous parts seller. Wonder if this is just temporary, or if Audi has already succeeded in killing the Lamborghini replica market?

Is this thread actually for real? You're worried that a cheap kit car based on a Fiero (or other) can devalue your real Lamborghini? If that is actually possible, then I think I would be quite worried about my investment acumen. Do you think a vintage Ford/Shelby Cobra owner is worried acout the knockoffs reducing the value of his auto? If anything, it has helped prop up the value of the real thing. Also, the Cobra is the king of kit cars, the most copied. If you don't believe me, then just waltz down to your local Cobra store and tell them you want to buy the real thing. Then call me and tell me how much the kit car/knockoff's have reduced it's selling price. This whole thread just seems to be a bit frivolous for a forum that is dedicated to one of the giants in automotive history.

PS If you can't spot one of the kit-mobiles from over a hundred feet away, Then I would suggest a visit to your local optometrist!

debriga

Funny you should mention the Cobra...here's a personal anecdote that may provide some perspective on the points you've raised:

I was furniture shopping in Jamestown, California last summer and stopped with my girlfriend and her mother to inspect a Cobra parked by the curb. It was "obvious" to my discerning eyes that it was a replica because of the fresh Racing Green Metallic paint, and the fact that all of the metal, leather, carpets and interior parts looked brand new (i.e., with no fading, wear, discoloration, etc. that you'd expect to see some evidence of in a 50 year old car, no matter how well it was maintained). It was a beautifully done car, and visually looked like the real thing, right down to the Hallibrand knock offs, proper gauges, etc. The owner clearly had a lot of money invested in it.

So we're admiring the car, and my girlfriend asks me the inevitable question: "Honey, is that a real Cobra or a kit car?" To which I naturally replied "It's definitely a kit car", and then started to rhyme off the reasons why. By that point, the owner had walked up behind us - he'd heard our entire conversation. He shot me a contemptuous look and blurted indignantly "Oh, you think it's a kit car." He didn't refute or acknowledge whether it was or not, and was so incensed that he didn't wait for me to say how beautiful I thought his Cobra was (replica or not). He stormed past us, jumped into the car and took off, tires squealing. Man, he was soooo pissed...

Why was the owner so incensed? Well, a couple of plausible explanations come to mind:

1. He paid half a million dollars for an original, meticulously restored Cobra 427, and is ticked off that people routinely mistake it for a "cheap" replica.

2. It actually was a kit car, and he was pissed off that all of the money and effort he spent didn't fool us into thinking otherwise.

My money's on door number two, but my point is really that the quality of many of the latest generation kits cars is superb. The industry has come a long way since the eighties, when you could have easily spotted a replica a mile away. Today, the D&R and NAERC 2nd gen replica Diablos are what are referred to in the kit car industry as "exact replicas", and are visually nearly indistinguishable from the real thing. And at $70-$80K to build one right, they're not exactly cheap. If you spend the money to build one correctly and pay attention to the details, just about the only visual cue to its origins while the car is parked is that the brake discs on the replica are noticeably smaller than on an original Diablo - and even that can be fixed by installing larger rotors and Brembo calipers.

I can understand why owners of real Diablos and Murcielagos would be irked with having spent substantially into the six figures on the real thing only to be routinely (and legitimately) asked by casual passerbys: "Gee, cool car mister! Is that a real Lamborghini or a Fiero?" Even if some bystanders don't ask the question, you know that a good proportion of them are wondering it. The existence of kit cars may not directly devalue the originals, but they do definitely diminish the ownership experience of having the real thing.

Howdy, Im not an owner but a late blooming enthusiast. So I bought one of those highly unfinished kitcars from Ebay. I did so just as lawyers were closing up the kitmakers. The timing was purely accidental, as I pulled the buying trigger based on the deal I was looking at.

So why did I do this? Countasches never really turned me on, and the raw automotive performance is completely wasted in America. But the Diablo shape was very impressive and as I started to see kits on ebay the last few years, I got more and more interested. Then I discovered those forums for building these kits and all of the detailed instructions within, and I became hooked.

Most of these people on the forums are bent on duplication. I'm a little different. I have a great looking lamboghini shape and door function that I can build as I see fit. I cant go 220mph without being imprisoned or killed. So I am content with a chevy supercharged v6 easy to maintain to get me around for the time being. I also plan to do some cool things with hydrolics that nobody would even think of doing on a real lambo. And how about a digital hi-tech updated interior to match the cool exterior shape. I am researching my options but I saw how they did a Zonda and I like some of those ideas. I may even consider buying another body kit on ebay and streach it into a 4 door Lambo where more people could jump in.

The point is that hauling that rough, unfinished, primer painted fiberglass body, with those P-zero ultra wide tires absolutely drove people everywhere nuts. Imagine whats going to happen when the thing is finished. And if I can somehow manage to make more room on the inside, more ladies from the local bars are going to want to pile in with me.

All this, and I don't have to spend anywhere near what the "real" lambos cost. So from my point of view, its all good. And these things are only limited by our imagination. Thanks in part to Monster Garage for getting me motivated. When I get done with my car or cars, I suspect people are going to be offering me good money to purchase my creation. For me, I see no downside and everybody should have the same opertunity to build their dream car in the manner they see fit. Hopefully, the body makers will figure out a way around the legal harrasment, so all that wish, are able to exercise their creative desires.

And as far as putting Lamborghini names and emblems on all our backyard creations as everybody seems to do, Lamboghini opened that can of worms with that wonderful shape and those fantastic doors. Now people everywhere are retrofitting "Lambo" doors on everything with wheels and doors. Home hobyists can't help but take it further to capture the buzz in something more practical to own and maintain. Certainly, if it were illegal, we wouldn't be able to do it. Thats freedom in America baby.

I am not a Lambo owner nor will I ever be. I do however have one problem with this ordeal. In the U.S. you are free to do pretty much as you please as long as you don't break the law. And as I see their is no law stating you can't build a car for personal use and put whatever name you see fit on it. Now on the flip side you cannot build a car put Lamborghini on it sell it and make a profit with the misrepresentation of it being a lambo. Now on with the facts. Take this website for instance If you notice down at the bottom they are not affiliated with Automobili Lamborghini spa or volkswagon/lamborghini for short. They still use the lamborghini insignia and other insignias The bull the name and such. This is legal cause I'm sure their not making a profit and since their not making a profit or degrading the lamborghini name it's all good right. So in short I guess if I put that my car is not affiliated with lamborghini on the bottom of it and I don't belittle or degrade their name through the use of my car then It's all good Hmmm problem solved.

Besides if you can own a Lambo what do you care what people think it's your car you know the real deal and that's all you need to know and the same goes for owning a replica.

I get enough people asking if my Gallardo is a Ferrari to know that most people would not know a kit car is not a Lamborghini; and if that kit car leaves them with a bad impression of the marque, thanks to its Fiero underpinnings or whatever else may be wrong with it, then the kit car owner has effectively done an injustice to Lamborghini.

The bottom line is every replica is one to many, and this thread is not for the Lamborghini owner wan bees this thread is to have people jump on board that are tired and fed up with these crappy replicas that are being knocked off still by a few companies in England and a few guys in the US that are now using eBay as there avenue to market these replicas..

And unless you are a Lamborghini owner you wouldn’t understand, I am on my second Lambo now I had an 86 Countach and now a 6.0 and there is always an asshole with some kind of kit car comment and I didn’t spend 250k on a car to have some asshole ask me if its a kit car or ask me some other stupid question relating to kit cars and it happens all the time...

Now I will also say that it happened allot more with my countach then it did with my Diablo so I would imagine if you Have a Gallardo or Murci then it would be less frequent because there isn’t as many of those replicas as there are Diablo and Murci's but either way Audi needs to be made aware of these few companies still in full production including the eBay sellers and guys on that Kit central forum still selling these kit cars.

I agree - I don't really have a problem with the Kit car's, and IMO they should also be welcome on this site as well.

Come on guys.... don't give them a hard time - lifes too short!

Regards

Ian

The trouble with history... it's just one thing after another!!

Dude, honestly... who gives a **** if someone has a replica lambo or a real lambo. it doesn't make the person with the real one at any chance better than the person with the replica. Just let the people with replica's, be. I mean there not bothering you, so theres no reason to put them down