After a seriously good replica - £100k to spend

Well, I've been lurking around on this forum quite recently, especially with regard to the new GT. I put my name down for a new GT as soon as I could, but alas was not one of the lucky ones. Never mind.

I therefore wish to have a top quality replica built for me. My budget is between £100k-£130k and I'm ready to get the ball rolling. I presume that should get rather a good replica that could out perform one of the new GT's.

My question though is which replica is most likely to suit my requirements?

I have searched the forum, but it appears as if various companies have gone under, changed hands etc. I couldn't keep track of exactly whats going on in this industry. So you'll have to excuse my complete ignorance.

Thanks.

Steve Hamilton.

Steve,

I have sent you a personal message.

I think you will be a popular amn on the forum!

Best,

Rick Chattell

Where have I heard this "If you can't buy 'em, beat 'em!"

scenario before? It sounds strangely familiar! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif



Bill

It does indeed sound familiar. But you can easily beat the performance of the new GT with £100k.

I strongly suggest you contact Mark Sibley at MDA www.gt40uk.com, he will be the man to talk to.

I've sent you a private message to let you know what's going on with MDA - politics etc!!

Regards,

J.P /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Steve, no politics here - for 130k Pounds, I'm your's (I'll even throw in my DRB GT40) !

Just joking ! Seriously, if you are prepared to spend that sort of money, there is no doubt that you will get a replica '40 that will put the new GT to shame in all departments.

The best advice I can offer is to knock 10k off your top price & spend it on visits to the key players in US, UK, Aus & NZ. After that, your decision will be a lot easier, & you'll have met & made a lot of good friends.

Unlike buying a new car from a dealer, going with a replica builds a life-long relationship with the supplier, and with his immediate (same brand) family of owners, and also with all other replica owners. You won't regret missing out on the new GT !

Kind Regards,

Peter D.

How about a lightweight (carbon fiber),500ish horsepower(or more depending on your needs), ZF gearboxed car, built by Indy car techs?

read this thread, [url="http://www.gt40s.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB1&Number=36318&page=1&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1"]http://www.gt40s.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB1&Number=36318&page=1&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1

then go to web page http://www.GT40NA.com

Thank you all for such a quick response. I must admit that I would rather have the kit built by a U.K company, mainly to track progress etc. As you can imagine £100k is a great deal of money to spend, the closer to home th better.

With this in mind am I right in saying that narrow's my choice to MDA or Tornado?

JP, thanks for messgage about MDA. Sounds like a very good outfit. And I never knew a GT40 had been in a bond film!

Rick, thanks for your comments, most helpful.

I should have stated that I will use the car for track days, and it would be nice to drive it on the roads.

I presume a fuel injected 347 is my best bet, along with a new quaif or zf gearbox - according to what I've read so far.

I welcome anymore thoughts,

Steve Hamilton.

[ QUOTE ]
My budget is between £100k-£130k and I'm ready to get the ball rolling. I presume that should get rather a good replica that could out perform one of the new GT's.


[/ QUOTE ]

You Brits certainly do have a flair for the understatement, don't you? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I'm sure you'll end up with a great car. I think Bill's recommendation to travel and look at various manufacturers' cars is very good advice. Here's what I suggest:

[*] Carefully evaluate the reputation of each manufacturer. How long has he been in business? How many cars has he produced and delivered? What is the wait time for your car? How successful are his cars on the track? An objective answer to these questions may lead you to look beyond the UK for your car.

[*] Are you going after dead-nuts originality or are you looking for a top-notch performance car? The former will mandate a monocoque and 40-year-old technology, and the latter opens you up to some very good space-frame chassis cars and modern engine, chassis, suspension and braking systems.

[*] Assuming you are going for performance over originality, the sky's the limit. On my shopping list would be an aluminum-block dry-sumped 351 stroked and bored to near 400 cubic inches, a Quaife 6-speed trans (or perhaps a Ricardo from the new GT), electronic fuel injection, a full cage and fire system, and possibly a carbon-fibre body. I would also go for the absolute best wheels, tires and brakes that money could buy. You'll need wide rear tires and Gulf flares to get all that power to the pavement.

[*] If you want to out-perform a Ford GT, you should specify that your finished car weigh less than 2,300 pounds and make at least 500 hp at the rear wheels.

Welcome to the forum, Steve. Good luck with your car...I'm sure we'll all be interested to see how it comes along.

Would a chat to Ray Mallock be appropriate ?

Steve,

That price range should get you the best kit car available.

For that kind of money you should be able to get a car with a monocoque chassis, it's superior to a space frame in that it has a better weight to rigidity ratio.

Other mandatory items would be programmable EFI with 8 throttle bodies, Quaife 6 speed, and an aluminum block stroker.

Kalun, I'm not sure I'd agree with a blanket statement that a monocoque will always have a better weight-to-rigidity ratio, especially when you consider a well-designed and constructed space frame. As I understand it, the Roaring Forties space-frame chasis has a higher torsional rigidity value than the original cars. And the RF cars weigh in around 2,300 pounds (with air conditioning)...isn't that the same as or less than the original cars? I also think you could get RF to revisit the design of the space frame and use smaller or thinner-wall 4130 tubing instead of mild steel, with a resulting weight decrease (probably between 20 and 60 pounds if done right). It would also be nice to have a cage welded in right along with the space frame.

[ QUOTE ]
And the RF cars weigh in around 2,300 pounds (with air conditioning)...isn't that the same as or less than the original cars?

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The original Mark I's weigh about 1800 pounds, dry.

That is an extremely generous budget to build a car to outperform the new GT. Easily obtainable, without doing anything but writing a check. If you're willing to do some work you could get two.

There are many good cars out there, but if you're going to limit yourself to just UK based companies you're going to miss some of the best available in my opinion. ERA is based in the States, RF in Australia, just to name a couple.

Undoubtedly, by now you've received numerous messages informing you of which is the best car and why "the other fellow" is full of bunk. I'd ignore all of that bickering/salesmanship/name calling/ego. Some folks feel that they need to justify their purchase to massage the ego. Take $6000, and visit the companies as the other fellow said and make an informed decision. It'll be well worth it.

Ron
PS-In case you didn't know, the best GT40 is the one I have in my garage. Sort of like my favorite beer, the one I have in my hand!

You have mail.
I sent you a PM.

[ QUOTE ]
Undoubtedly, by now you've received numerous messages informing you of which is the best car and why "the other fellow" is full of bunk. I'd ignore all of that bickering/salesmanship/name calling/ego. Some folks feel that they need to justify their purchase to massage the ego. Take $6000, and visit the companies as the other fellow said and make an informed decision. It'll be well worth it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, now that I've received PMs indicating what I've said isn't appropriate I'll make a comment - I should have stayed out of this one! I apologize for anyone who felt I called them a name, that was not my intention. Ny intention was to tell the fellow to take all the PMs, emails, etc. as info but where he really should do is get out there to have a look around.

The comment above may be far reaching but it covers a lot of what I see. There is nothing wrong with salesmanship, so, if you fit this category then fine. But there is some of the other that goes on from time to time and a brand new fellow on a forum doesn't need that sort of thing. He needs help. Help would be in the form of some of what has been posted here, but not PMs of "XYZ does this so...". My 0.02 cents.

To be honest I've received 9 personal emails and 7 private messages. I am not impressed to say the least. This replica industry appears to be rife with back stabbers and slander!

What a pity! I certainly don't like dealing with companies that operate in such a manner. So I think I'll have to forget purchasing a replica GT40 and look at some other alternatives.

I'll thank the very few who have been honest and advise the "others" that sucessful businesses are run with an honest approach and NOT by bad mouthing your competitors.

Steve Hamilton.

Steve
Sad to hear that attitude. You are correct, but only up to a point. If you were serious, you can find honesty and straight talking.
If you can't be bothered to go looking for it, it sounds like you weren't serious.
I hope you do stick with it. These cars, any of them once built, are serious bits of kit.
All the best

Steve, on behalf of all the true enthuiasts here on the Forum - sorry for the BS ! The vast majority of us are totally brand-insensitive - while we probably think (or even still say) we chose the right one for the right reasons, all that really matters is the over-arching brotherhood of interest and passion for the breed.

I guess that dropping the kind of figures that you did got all the vested-interest guys tensed right up !

Please don't discount the car itself on the basis of a dozen dubious players when you have over 1,000 other mates here to guide & help you.

Change your name to "Fred Nurks", suggest you only have 20,000 pounds to play with, & see how keen the salesmen are then !!!

Kind Regards,

Peter D.

[ QUOTE ]
To be honest I've received 9 personal emails and 7 private messages. I am not impressed to say the least. This replica industry appears to be rife with back stabbers and slander!

[/ QUOTE ]

But were all the messages actually from the manufacturers, or just from members with opinions about different manufacturers? Often individuals rave about their own particular kit manufacturer, and point out the benefits of theirs over a particular other, and these can oviously be very biased opinions.

There is a lot of talk, hype & speculation (positive & negative) on the forum about a few particular models, even though the manufacturers themselves very rarely actually appear here.

Max (not expressing any opinions about any models at all)

Hi Steve, I guess that it is my time to chime in. I first saw an original GT-40 about 14 years ago and immediatly it became a life long passion. My first priorty was to have one of my own. Then I started to reserch and discovered that it would be impossable for me to build my own kit. In the first place I had no room, on tools, on time and no money. After I came to this realization I set out to start saving as much money as I could while raising a family with 3 small boys. What I found out in my reserch was that almost all of the kit makers could provide a car that could end up being a well assembled and finished car. I came to the conclusion that if I would ever own a 40 that it would have to be a finished product. Probably the most important consideration besides money was who was going to build the car for me. There were companies that could do it and others that would complete their own kits for you. Then money came into the picture again. Some of them were way beyond my bugget. Others seemed to be good guys to do business with. Then after 12 years of saving and I had enough to "get me one" a company offered a GT that was completely assembled that I could look at, touch, sit in and bring home from the dealer after he installed the motor and trans and had it runing and drivable like picking up a car at a regular car dealership. Beleave me I was scared to death because I had saved so long and now gave someone all that money and then there was the possability that I would have all kinds of problems with it and then have to fight with the importer and dealer that I baught the GT from. To make a long story shorter, I have had almost no problems with the car and am still amazed at how well that I have been treated by everyone I dealt with. If you find the right people (which there are many) to do business with I hope you have as good an experience as I have had. Joseph /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif