[Martin]

Hi P,
Your post made me think back to my childhood when I got the first ever issues of Alternative Car and Kit Car magazines. Probably still got them somewhere. I used to dream of building a Eagle SS or a Nova (With the roof that tilted open). Back then there really weren't any replicas, just cars that took their inspiration from other well known cars.
To call them replicas would be stretching it too far. I still loved them though. As the years have passed, the industry has moved on and I'm a fair bit richer and count myself very fortunate to be able to build a GT40 'Replica'. That doesn't mean I don't have respect for those that have gone a different route.
I think cars like the laser fall into the catagory of 'cars that took their inpiration from a a well known car' (917) but is not a replica of one.
I think the derisive comments come from calling it a replica. Stand it alone and call it a Laser and I think there is no problem. I like querky cars that stand out from the crowd, even if they may not be to my taste. Everyone to his own. I think the problem comes when it's called a replica, then it's open season to find how it differs from an original and if the body isn't correct, then most won't look any further.
Martin