I have seen some ferrari 355 kits that look like toys, they look like something out of a cartoon, and couldnt fool a 7 year old. Which company makes the most factory correct, as far as dimensions and body lines go, 355 kit? Thanks, and any web addresses will be greatly appreciated.

Ferrari

I've never seen an accurate kit of any Ferrari. A friend of mine spent a year and a half to make his 355 look more accurate, but I could still tell it was a kit. The average person couldn't, but I don't think most kit builders will go to the extreme he did.

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Jay
1986 Northstar GT
www.members.home.net/jaygrande

99% of all the 355 kits were splashed off of IFG's kit or a splash off a second or third generation pull of their kit. IFG's kit was supposedly pulled off an actual car used in the movie The Rock.

Paul at Paul's Exotics in Florida did the most to straiten out the body and body lines front to rear before molding it.

Most of these guys just got in a hurry to get the kit out there they didn't bother to fix what was wrong with the kit to begin with.

I have a friend who "creates" faux-rarri355
spyders and I think they arn't very convincing but,I actually witnessed a guy
from LA hand over a check for 25500.00 for
one of these "things"-and it had a completely stock drivetrain and 4" wheel
spacers!!.He said he was going to drive it
back to LA-LA land and sell it for 35G!!.So,
aperently so people like them.
P.S.one day we were at a local bistro and
met a guy with a REAL diablo and he was show-
ing us all the cool stuff,when a couple teens
on bikes rode by and yelled-NICE FIERO!.I
was sure the man was gonna pop a major blood
vessel!!!!So,the moral of the story is,not
how much you spend as long you think your
impressing people.

quote Originally posted by Jay: Ferrari I've never seen an accurate kit of any Ferrari. A friend of mine spent a year and a half to make his 355 look more accurate, but I could still tell it was a kit. The average person couldn't, but I don't think most kit builders will go to the extreme he did.

I would have to agree Jay, his car WAS amazing, and for someone who doesn't know cars, it WAS a 355 to them. It was a great conversion... My opinion?

If you want one better than what he had - BUY THE REAL THING!

His was VERY impressive.

In our local enthusiasts car selling mag Unique cars I seen a Fiero for sale with a 355 body kit. Pretty convincing it was too, except the wheelbase, but it was unfinished and the guy was trying to get $65,000 for it worded along the lines of.

Powerful 2.8 litre mid mounted V6 fuel injected engine. He never mentioned the word Fiero once. Another line. Lotus style suspension, ok I knew 88 Fiero then. Race car style chassis. This guy makes a Fiero sond exotic doesn't he. He also didn;y mention what was probably a stock Fiero interior.

I should ring to see if he sold it. Will rebody my Fiero if he did...LOL

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When I was young I spent 80% of my money on Women, Gambling and Alcohol. I guess I wasted the rest.

Ive seen the ads like that, they say GM chassis, or something like that, nobody ever mentions fiero. So how accurate are the lamborghini kits? Id like to have a Diablo SVT roadster. I really like the 355 spyder though. I found a couple pics of replicas that in pics look real, at least to me. And there arent any 355's around here, so there are none to compare to, so who will know what is real, and what is not. check these out. http://home.kscable.com/ccheney/ryanpict/355.jpg http://home.kscable.com/ccheney/ryanpict/3552.jpg
Id like to see pics of both a real one and a well made replica together.
One more thing, Jay, you said a friend of yours made one look more accurate, what did he do?

He made a convertible top that works, He straightened the front bumper. He made a sail panel (for lack of a better word) that extends from the rear (top) to where the top closes. He made the hood close (hours of work to make it fit properly). He made the front headlights open (many a sleepless night). He sloped the front windshield, and reinforced the frame for the chop top. The body DOES NOT bolt on like the 308 kits, fabrication of brackets and mounting points were required. Drop spindles for the correct stance with coil overs and lowering springs. Newly designed interior to more accurately reflect the 355 with leather. 3.8 supercharged engine, custom exhaust, gauges, steering wheel. I'll dig out some photos of his car.

In the mean time check out this guys Diablo site, It is cool, Northstar and all!!! http://www.inetport.com/~van_blok/

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Jay
1986 Northstar GT
www.members.home.net/jaygrande

There is a guy floating around the net who did the most amazing ferrari conversion I have ever seen. He relocated the gas tank in the car to give the interior a more realistic look , and performed mod after mod to get this thing to be as close as possible. I believe the car stated off as an 88GT.

For some of the cost involved in doing a Ferrari conversion you could buy a real ferrari. My uncle recently sold a low mile 308 in Oakville Ontario grand , the car didn't need a thing , it would shake windows , really nice car. Shifter notchy as as hell , more of an open road car as Ferrari's tend to be. Maintenance is what will kill you int he long run. Forza said an engine rebuild for a 308 is worth around 15 to 18 Grand US.

I thought 911's were bad.

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Jonathan McCreery
86 GT 4spd
Koni's , Coilovers, Big Bars , 17" Trmotorsports Typhoons , 11.25" vented discs, Wilwood 4 Piston Calipers , Pirelli P Zero's, Short Shift, No cat , Cold air induction , Geni Stainless tips, White face gauges , Momo shift , momo pedals..Autocrossed , Tracked , abused.

JM I couldn't agree with you more. I had a Ferrari Dino kit. I loved it until I came to the realization that it is not a Ferrari. For the price my friend spent on his car ($35 000) he could have bought a 308/328. Besides, he was a body man, so he didn't have to pay for bodywork. My suggestion is to buy the real thing. The value is always there, unlike a kit car. A good 308 can still sell above $30 000. That is my plan, buy the real deal. What did he sell his for? I'm in the market for one as soon as I sell my car.

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Jay
1986 Northstar GT
www.members.home.net/jaygrande

Okay here is a pic I dug up for ya. It is actually taken infront of Ferrari of Ontario in Toronto. Remo Ferri, the owner did a double take when we pulled up and I jumped out to snap off a few!

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Jay
1986 Northstar GT
www.members.home.net/jaygrande

I just sold my 355 not more than 10 days ago.The kit was an Eagle and to be honest was fair.It seems all the kits I have seen look blocky and short in person,(much different than in pictures even with the 3" frame extension)-not long and sleek like the real deal.I had a problem with panels jarring loose over bumps, and door panels which no matter what would not line up.I tried rivets and epoxy,and finally used through-bolts.I recently replaced that car with a nice 308 kit which looks authentic other than the stock interior,the man I bought it from has no idea who built it.

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86' SE(308 kit)
88' Coupe

Got any pictures of your 308 kit??

Rob

Here are a few pics,I'll snap a few more hopefully this weekend.A decent job by whoever installed it.The things I don't like and possibly need to be changed are the rims,stock Fiero interior,and Fiero front lower air dam(which I think give it away).All-in-all a nice car...high miles though 159k!

Here goes a try at the images...
<img>http://pages.prodigy.net/parthur/p/fiero1.jpg</img>
<img>http://pages.prodigy.net/parthur/p/fiero2.jpg</img>
<img>http://pages.prodigy.net/parthur/p/fiero3.jpg</img>

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86' SE(308 kit)
88' Coupe

I fixed the pics, use a [] not <>

Thanks sluppy123!

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86' SE(308 kit)
88' Coupe

Ok, I searched around on the net, and found out some info I have been wondering about. The stock wheelbase of the 355 is 96.5 inches. the fiero is 93.4, thats why there is a 3 inch stretch needed. Now I didnt know for sure how large the 355 actually is, I have never seen one in person, and I know that the fiero is a small car. I measured the legnth of my car and it is within an inch of the legnth of a real 355. So Im guessing the outer dimensions of the kit will be accurate. Thats mostly what I was concerned about. I didnt want it to be undersized or something, or look like a go cart in comparison.
Next im not worried about the convertable top working, I was going to have a targa top put on it, just have the back section shaved or whatever is needed for that. I dont think there is one 355 in wichita, so I dont really have to worry about someone coming up to me and saying, "this isnt a real ferrari" and if they do Ill say "do you have one?" Besides Ill just have it to cruise around in saturday night and mess with chicks in other cars, mostly their boyfriends cars, that really makes the guys mad, my firebird is good for that too. But I think the ferrari will make more of a statement. What kind of window glass do these kits use? When you stretch the frame 3 inches what exactly takes place? Sounds dangerous. Any more info would be great. Websites!!!!!

By far the VERY best 355 kit I have ever seen was the Mirage F355 Berlinetta/Spyder kits.

I actually went down to California a year ago and paid for a IFG/Perry/Eagle x-generation 355 kit that NEVER arrived. So goes my 1st $5000 dollar investment into this "hobby".

Anyway, looking back over my $5000 video of my visit to the last known location in California of that kit, I am surprised how INACCURATE it really was.

First of all, I didn't realize how tacky a "one piece" kit is. The rear "clip" was everything but the rear decklid. The front clip was everything but the headlamps and decklid. From 10 yards the car looks great but... up close??? Forget about it! Especially when you open those ONE PIECE doors and the LACK of a door sill or rocker panel smacks you in the face!!!

Now, the Mirage kit... WOW!!! 19 full panels in all. The front clip includes each fender, the hood, the front upper valance, the front bumper, the headlamp covers.

The rear clip is the light panel, rear bumper, rear decklid, rear fender clip.

Door are DOORS ONLY with a FULL rocker panel underneath!

In fact, upon spending some time with a REAL F355 I can say that all the "panels" on a real car are the same as on the Mirage.

So, loosing that IFG kit was kind of a "blessing in desguise" as I am now the proud owner of a brilliant Mirage 355 kit complete with a full compliment of every other "part" being of GENUINE Ferrari make... Lights, markers, tails, grills, logos, badges, dash, vents, etc...

My vote definately goes to the Mirage

DKOV -

Here's one for ya!


Shipped to my door from the UK, I was quoted $6000.00 for the complete kit, everything and they dared me to find a flaw and wanted me to contact them if anything wasn't absolutely perfect. Could have been a bunch of BS, I don't really know, but it sure is perty! Oh Yeah, please excuse the T-Tops!
http://www.fierofactory.com/282.html

Peace, B2 OUT!

[This message has been edited by BAM-BAM (edited 05-27-2001).]

This has been discussed before. I could have easily bought a real one for what Ive spent on my kit. I have seen much better than mine too. My reasons were 1-its the way I want it, 2- I actually love driving, 3- I dont have the enormous upkeep of the real deal. It does fool most unknowlegable people, but my point is not to lie to them. I drive my car everywhere between 25K and 30K per year and thats as a second vehicle. It just as fast as the real (50hp more, 1000 pnds lighter) and I dont have to pay $3500 for a clutch, $1500 for a tune up, $20k for an engine rebuild. I can actually go out on country roads and thrash it around for fun without the constant worry of breaking it, or god forbid - getting it dirty.

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Roger i have seen yourr twice now and really like your car.
I'll never forget arguing with my dad in your drive way about whether or not it was real.
He didnt believe me till I pointed out your exhuast system.

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Harry Waggoner
1985 GT 264K+ FOCOSEVA,FOCOA
"Im not driving to fast, Im flying to low!"

All I can tell you is avoid a guy named JACK LUGAS like the plague!!!! He does business under a million phoney names like Lugas Design, Technodesign Inc., JLGI Inc., a nd probably a dozen others. He has a west coast partner named Jeffrey Williams who runs another BS company called EAS Design out of Santa Barbara. He is just as big a con artist and the two beling in jail for outright fraud and grand theft.

I have the bills, invoices, waybills, and correspondence to verify every accusation above so if you are reading this Lugas or Williams, I F*$&ing DARE you to make a legal issue about it. I'll destroy you in court.

>When you stretch the frame 3 inches what exactly takes place? Sounds dangerous.

Nah, not at all, provided you can weld worth a d@mn.
The frame is cut directly behind the firewall & replacement pieces are welded in.
Fiero frame metal is actually quite thin & the stretch metal replacement is stronger than the original frame. There is only a fudge factor of 1/32" that can be corrected by rear wheel alignment, so precise measurements & welding are critical.

The cradle is also stretched. I have always fabricated my own, stronger, stretch pieces for the cradle. -g