When it comes to replicas and kit cars, some are definitely better than others. And perhaps, as time has marched on, the kit builders themselves have also found ways to make more convincing copies of high-dollar cars. This Ferrari Testarossa (or is it supposed to be a 512 TR?) replica is based on – what else – a Pontiac Fiero, but the proportions are at least moving in the right direction as far as authenticity is concerned. The seller is very respectful of avoiding any sort of “upbadging” and calls his car an Italian-inspired replica. That honest has attracted almost $10,000 in bids here on eBay, so people must like what they see.
I always wonder if there’s an underground group or some sort of kit car council out there where owners discuss their dreams of converting some old heap into an incredible exotic creation. It would be part support group, part motivational speaking, because there have to be numerous peaks and valleys when you’re in the business of creating a car like this from relative scratch. This is definitely an attempt to build a tribute to the early 90s Testarossa, and the taillights – though askew and obviously from a car that is not a Ferrari – do a half-decent job of fooling you if you look at it quickly. The quad exhaust pipes are aggressive, but I doubt that Fiero powerplant sounds very Ferrari-like.
The fake Ferrari sports a 2.8 V6 from the Fiero, paired to an automatic transmission. This is where these cars are always such a let down to me. I realize the kit car builder isn’t likely keen on fabricating engine mounts and other accessories to support the weight and complexity of anything other than what the donor car came with, but the Fiero is a somewhat easy chassis to swap in a supercharged Buick engine, or some other GM mill that makes more than 200 horsepower. That being said, the engine does run and the Fiero-arri runs and drives, so it has that going for it. This engine would make around 140 horsepower in stock form.
The interior looks to have been modified from the factory Fiero cockpit with a smoothed-over dash that is neither offensive or attractive. The seller has made some other tweaks to make the cosmetics more appealing, including Eibach lowering springs over a set of replica Testarossa wheels – but he’s not wrong when he admits that a bit more lowering would make it look much better. The biggest enhancement he has made is to stretch the chassis so it’s more in keeping with an actual Testarossa, and you can see that right away in the pictures. Kudos to this replica supercar builder for going a bit further than most Fiero-based conversions, and hopefully, the next owner will finish it off nicely.
Italian 🇮🇹 American 🇺🇸
LS Swap and Manual Swap
I’m not a big fan of this kind of thing, but this one appears to have been nicely executed.
Seller’s wife to husband: “Honey, there’s a lawyer on the phone with a thick Italian accent who wants to talk to you about your car.”
Yes this does look good from far away, like many of the photos are. The interior does give it away. That would be the last license plate i would ever have!!!
Not well executed . At all.
Body lines drooping , exhaust off kilter .
Iron Duke engine .
Hard Pass
Not Iron Duke, it has a V6.
Whats a “hard” pass?
A definite, emphatic “no”, as in, “I wouldn’t touch this car with a ten foot pole.” Would not consider it under any circumstances.
Not well executed . At all.
Body lines drooping , exhaust off kilter .
Poor weak as heck engine .
Hard Pass
I always cringe when I see these repli-cars pulling into the cruise ins. But…if they’re not held together with bale wire and there’s something interesting under the hood?
Odd there’s no front side marker lights. Or front bumper protection.
Faux rorry. Whoa oh, faux rorry. No, no no oh oh….
The automotive equivalent of the fake Rolex watch….. I never have been able to fathom why people are so desperate to pretend they’re something they are not, but I guess we are all different. You can just imagine taking this to local cars’n’coffee meet, …”hey is that a ?….oh, er nevermind”
That is a sheep covered in wolves clothing!
As these Fiero conversions go, this one doesn’t suck. Needs the Northstar swap.
Not an Iron Duke. That would be a four cylinder. 2.8 l V6.
Are you sure about that?!
Yes. Engine photos show the intake plenum and the rear-bank cast alloy valve cover of the V6.
The inline-4 had a stamped sheetmetal valve cover in front of a round carb-style air cleaner, even in the later “Tech 4” fuel-injected spec.
Well I have never heard of a 4 cylinder V6 engine.
he put a period at the end of the word “cylinder” then typed 2.8 v6 to state what it really was
Glass half empty or half full? Is this a crappy Ferrari or a great Fiero?
The Fiero as replica platform is not unusual in the kit car market, and it is an upgrade from the VW Beetle floor pan cars of decades ago. Those cars are more unseemly excepting the Porsche 356 replicas that result in better performance and ROI.
Damning with faint praise..”the dash is neither offensive nor attractive”! Also, the car looks pretty good, from 50 feet.
Garbage.
You guys and gals are a critical bunch. Are you all so insecure and unskilled that you find pleasure in criticizing what someone else accomplished? This car is not something that I would want, but it probably does what it was built to do, and that is to fool most of the people who see it. If you saw it drive by you would think you saw a Ferrari. When people see you in the driver seat they think you must have money, so it accomplishes everything it’s supposed to do. Someone likes it enough to bid $10K for it so I say happy motoring to the new owner.
I’m getting error 403 when I tried to post a comment?
on the page for 1800ES today.
It worked here so not sure what happened there.
Every kid has a dream, the aftermarket auto industry in the US is a 3 billion dollar a year racket. How many kids put a fortune into a Neon TURBO how many of them do you still see runnin around?!! I can relate I bought a good running 83 Mustang GT for $3000 in the late 80’s. I then put at least 5k into it.
First a junkyard 91 5.0 motor (car was rolled at 18K miles and I needed forged pistons for nitrous) for $950
$950 for a brand new T-5 trans with improved synchro’s and 2.95 first gear.
$500 for a brand new 8.8 rear with 4.10 gears less axles and brakes.
$500 for the Ford SVO catalog T-5 install kit with the king cobra clutch kit that had 30% more surface area than the standard clutch plus a “high RPM” flywheel, Teflon lined clutch cable and double hump cross member.
$200 for the Ford motorsport B303 roller cam with .480 lift and 284 duration.
$200 Edelbrock performer rpm intake (took the fuel injection off)
$200 Mac equal length shorty headers.
$200 for the Ford motorsport off road stainless steel H-pipe, 4 cat delete.
$250 for a nice complete 1984 gt350 interior.
$650 for new Prime 5 star wheels with new BFG “blem” tires.
$950 for the Holley projection throttle body fuel injection. That didnt make good power took it all off put it back in the box and sold it for $150. I put a Holly 650 4brl with a 1/2″ spacer plate and it ran like a rocket!
$300 for NOS power shot nitrous system.
$1200 for all Alpine stereo, $375 for cd player $225 4 channel amp, $100 6×9, $100 5-1/4″ door speakers $200 for 11 band Eq with sub crosser. 10′ subs in a box.
$100 for a new paint job Porsche guards red my grandpa had a body shop I just had to buy the paint.
$50 for Saleen new take off front and rear springs.
Anyway I bought the car for 3K put 5K into it kept it for 2 years and then sold it for 3.5k. I did take the stereo out but lesson learned I will never do that again.
If I spent that money on a diamond ring for my girlfriend she might still be with me. Learn from my mistakes kids!!
Unfortunately it’s always too late for regrets, Rob. I sold a perfectly good Kawasaki KZ650 to buy an engagement ring. It’s been 44 years and I still miss that bike.
On the other hand she agreed to the Rx7, Mustang convertible, and two Corvettes.
No regrets.
sweet
You’d be far better off with the Mustang. You think you took a loss on the car? Wait until you get married…
With the right engine swap, this could be a pretty cool car.
“If I spent that money on a diamond ring for my girlfriend she might still be with me. Learn from my mistakes kids!!”
Or, she might not be. Do I have things that I wish I might have differently? Maybe. Do I wish I would’ve traded my high school 68 GTO in for the 69 Trans Am or bought the 69 Shelby convertible that I didn’t buy because I didn’t like the white spoke wheels on it? Maybe. But I learned and moved forward. I love my life as it’s turned out! Don’t look back, you’ve already been there. Kids, live your life as it comes to you!
the mid-engines are all great to me. No lambos, or the M or F 1st initial cars tho. If I can get in and out easily I need to talk myself out of them as they do not earn their keep here. I want toys (specially SCCA types) but those days are gone. Nice memories~
> The seller is very respectful of avoiding any sort of “upbadging”…
…aside from the prancing-horse nose badge, wheel centers, and Ferrari Testarossa scripts on the tail. But hey, at least he didn’t add giant yellow Scuderia shields on the front fenders, so there’s that.
The seller’s greatest restraint was in not choosing Ferrari Red as the body color.
Sonny Crockett would’ve painted it white and ride around with Ricardo Tubbs in Miami looking for crooks, drug dealers, pimps and prostitutes 1984-1989 Loved that TV series!
If I recall some years of Fiero have issues with catching fire? If I also recall the Ferrari its identifying itself as also had problems with catching fire at least your back will be warm for a while.
It helps to pull off the illusion if the copy retains as many of the salient characteristics of the original as possible…
Nice color, but the right side of the back looks to be drooping
Or is it just the photo ?
Although I like this car, give me a Fiat X1/9 for an inexpensive, mid engine “exotic”.
Blue collar guy here, Ferraris have always been some of my favs, but I have an Audi and a VW to play with [ read I can afford]
Testarossas are beautiful to me, as are the Boxers, but to see that in the driveway and then the interior would let me down greatly.
as I have matured I think the only kit car for me would be the 356 speedsters either oe style or fat tired like in King of the Mountain, and a Cobra as the interiors can look very good in these, and they all have good driving experiences as well.
SOLD for $14,500. Remember, there’s an a** for every seat.
“Ferrero” – perfect license plate!