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Without the aid of much more than photographs and hand tools, building a great replica used to be an arduous blend of solid engineering techniques and an artful mastery of the materials available. And lots of trial and error. Now, molds, laser scanning, crate engines, and a huge motorsport industry mean that—while not easy or inexpensive—great replicas are more attainable than ever. So which classic car should get one?
We’ve featured replica Ford GT40s, Datsun 240Z rally cars, Porsche 550s and Speedsters, Frazer-Nash sports cars…it’s getting to be a long list. As you’d expect, the heavyweight classics are better-represented in the ranks of well-engineered replica machines: Jaguar C and D-Types, XKSS, and XJ13; some Ferraris; early Porsches. Oh, and sports cars called the “Cobra” and “7”.
Add to those the scores of reproduction bodies, chassis, and reissued parts—Ford Mustang, Volkswagen Beetle, Mini, and Porsche 911 owners, for instance, could splurge on an internet shopping session and find the parts needed to build a complete car delivered in less than a few weeks.
For every one of those machines, though, where are the replica Alpine A110, C1 Chevrolet Corvette, Citroën DS, Cisitalia 202, and Mercedes-Benz W196s? Surely there’s interest among enthusiasts to have other vintage designs resurrected and reborn for today’s roads.
Which vintage car deserves a modern replica?
Photography by Afshin Behnia, Ted Gushue, Nat Twiss, & Brian Bassard
Some great examples here for sure. I am mostly an Italian car fan but I have some friend with Factory 5 cars etc and it seems that so many people snub their noses at folks that have replicas. The effort and sweat that my buddy put in to building his cobra was far more than I’d be willing to do as well as many others. He gets the “it’s not a real Cobra” all of the time. Well, it’s real and it runs like a scalded dog! It’s not a factory, period cobra, no, but it sure is nice and he made it personal.
My rant is, that too many snobby folks like to talk smack to guys that appreciate the art of automotive design and construction enough to build there own which I think hurts the replica market.
My favorite Petrolicious video is, for sure, this guy. He epitomizes passion, dreams coming true and piss on the haters – https://petrolicious.com/building-your-dream-is-a-beautiful-thing Those who mocked his car and said it’s not real…they were correct, it’s unreal!
1936 Cord 810/812
https://youtu.be/YimaE-4Wt6w
Yeah,
Alfa TZ sounds good!
My vote sounds boring compared to Cisitalias and W196s but I wish there was an early Porsche 911/912 kit available. I, and probably lots of others, always wanted one but now that’s a distant dream. It could be super simple, like a light-weight 911R using (of course) Volkswagen or maybe even Subaru mechanicals.
Griffith 200.
I saw one at a New Car Show in Boston in late 1964.
It was a Scotch Plaid Red.
Many years later I still can’t figure out how they had achieved that finish.
Today I’d settle for a Fire Engine Red G-200 with a 302 and
a forest of Webers on top spinning a 5 Speed to 4 wheel discs. A stout roll cage, an A/C system and a Scotch Plaid Red interior completes my wish.
” ……where are the Alpine A110, C1 Chevrolet Corvette, Citroën DS, Cisitalia 202, and Mercedes-Benz W196s? ”
Alpine A110 – Dig around Banovsky . They’re available
C1 Corvette – Seriously ? …they were available … once many moons ago and nobody bought them . Now a C2 replica .. ahhh .. now that might be worth the effort
Citroen DS – Sure it’d be great . Problem is the things are so complicated the chances of ever getting it right without massive development costs are next to nil
Cistilia 202 . Now there’s an idea . Problem is .. its a cult car therefore it’d have very limited appeal . But damn it’d sure be nice
Mercedes W196 – 1st off its a race only car thereby severely limiting its appeal . But 2nd… head down Argentina way … they’ve already done at least one … and for a price I’m sure they’d do another
As for my vote ? No doubt about it . The Mercedes Benz Uhlenhaut coupe . A replica who’s time is well overdue .