Last I knew the Blue Plazma was in New York, but I also heard a rumor it was spotted in Florida. No one knows for sure where it is as we have no way of contacting Alex's family.
welllllll,...........jscott you have a pm.
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10:02 PM
Flamberge Member
Posts: 4268 From: Terra Sancta, TX Registered: Oct 2001
Is the red one (Laura) someone's daily driver, or is it sitting in a garage somewhere?
Would you or whomever owns it be willing to diassemble it to recreate the molds? At least the exterior molds. The car looks to be in really good shape. If the panels could be removed and copied.............
As I see it, there were only three cars modified with these Laura panels. Is that correct? If one is missing in NY/FL, and one is missing in Russia, then perhaps the Latvia one is the last chance we (the Fiero community) have of ever making sure we keep this design alive. If it is a daily driver, all it takes is one fender bender rear ending to take this design effectively out of the world.
And thinking out loud... is it possible the Plazma was sold by the family offline? Maybe someone in NY or FL that doesn't know PFF exists ended up with it, and doesn't realize what they've got.
Also, maybe the family moved back to Russia after Plazma-Man passed away. If so, would they take it with them or hang on to it as his legacy, or sell it to help them make it through this world without him? (I hope that doesn't sound heartless. Quite the contrary, I think his story and those of his partners is inspiring and makes me wonder :"what if".)
Thanks for answering. How many other Fieros are in Latvia, anyway?
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10:10 PM
exoticse Member
Posts: 8654 From: Orlando, Fl Registered: Jun 2003
Is the red one (Laura) someone's daily driver, or is it sitting in a garage somewhere?
Would you or whomever owns it be willing to diassemble it to recreate the molds? At least the exterior molds. The car looks to be in really good shape. If the panels could be removed and copied.............
As I see it, there were only three cars modified with these Laura panels. Is that correct? If one is missing in NY/FL, and one is missing in Russia, then perhaps the Latvia one is the last chance we (the Fiero community) have of ever making sure we keep this design alive. If it is a daily driver, all it takes is one fender bender rear ending to take this design effectively out of the world.
And thinking out loud... is it possible the Plazma was sold by the family offline? Maybe someone in NY or FL that doesn't know PFF exists ended up with it, and doesn't realize what they've got.
Also, maybe the family moved back to Russia after Plazma-Man passed away. If so, would they take it with them or hang on to it as his legacy, or sell it to help them make it through this world without him? (I hope that doesn't sound heartless. Quite the contrary, I think his story and those of his partners is inspiring and makes me wonder :"what if".)
Thanks for answering. How many other Fieros are in Latvia, anyway?
In one of his posts, alex mentions that his wife is american,..so i doubt they left the country.
Is the red one (Laura) someone's daily driver, or is it sitting in a garage somewhere?
Would you or whomever owns it be willing to diassemble it to recreate the molds? At least the exterior molds. The car looks to be in really good shape. If the panels could be removed and copied.............
As I see it, there were only three cars modified with these Laura panels. Is that correct? If one is missing in NY/FL, and one is missing in Russia, then perhaps the Latvia one is the last chance we (the Fiero community) have of ever making sure we keep this design alive. If it is a daily driver, all it takes is one fender bender rear ending to take this design effectively out of the world.
And thinking out loud... is it possible the Plazma was sold by the family offline? Maybe someone in NY or FL that doesn't know PFF exists ended up with it, and doesn't realize what they've got.
Also, maybe the family moved back to Russia after Plazma-Man passed away. If so, would they take it with them or hang on to it as his legacy, or sell it to help them make it through this world without him? (I hope that doesn't sound heartless. Quite the contrary, I think his story and those of his partners is inspiring and makes me wonder :"what if".)
Thanks for answering. How many other Fieros are in Latvia, anyway?
Hi,
The red Laura is not everyday driving. Since 1996, it has traveled only 3000 km. Since the year 2008 only 200 km.
We think make a copy of the emergency to restore the car if some incident will happen. We also thought make a copy for sale, but when we tried in 2008 to sell this car, no one was interested in buying them. https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum4/HTML/042768.html
It looks like that was created only 3 machines, one in Russia (black) only rolling chassis with kg`s of foam, one in USA - PLASMA and one in LATVIA - LAURA.
In 1981, in Sankt-Peterburg (Leningrad in 1981 y.) was a regular car race for homemade vehicles, organized by the magazine "Technique-youth". Perhaps this event has pushed the two friends to the idea of building their own car, two cars - that no one was hurt. And they called his creation "Laura"
The name of these guys was Gennady Hainov (at that time he worked at a shipyard) and Dmitri Parfjonov (shirked from the army). Having found on the outskirts of the city garage with holes in the walls and roof, they started to weld out of old water pipes, two identical frames.
Winter was in the works with the hardware: installed engines, assembled undercarriage. Once warmed up so when can work with epoxy began construction of the body.
Body was made by the following technologies: frame glued to the foam blocks, as close to the drawings and cut out surface, pasted the top few layers of glass, putty, skin. In the case of the need for fine detail - and pick out the foam is glued strengthening of pipes.
In the spring of 1985, both "Lauras" had been completed. As you can see, the machines turned out a little bit different. Parfjonova "Laura" was with more rounded ahead, painted light beige color and with blackened side bar. Hainova „Laura” was made with a "chopped" face and painted all the dark-green color.
Rear lighting was also made independently.
"On-board electronics”, looked impressive, but in fact was very simple: in the first screen when you press one of the buttons shown and the corresponding figures of one of the sensors, and a second display with the buttons - nothing as simple engineering programmable calculator with boarded in memory of several simple-program (for example, to calculate the average fuel consumption). Data, of course, had to enter manually.
"Laura" had a front-wheel drive. The machines were equipped with engines of VAZ-2105 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VAZ-2105), which docked to the "expanded" manual gearbox on „ZAZ” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZAZ) and then transmitted to the rotation of the front constant velocity joints of the"Niva" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lada_Niva)
Parfjonova "Laura" graced the exposure of the USSR at the international exhibition "EXPO-85" in the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv. He with Hainov in a second car (repainted to the similarity, too, in a beige color) went to the car race on the route Moscow-Plovdiv Sophia. Hainova "Laura" on the flat straight confidently made up to 170 km/h.
In the 1986 Hainov made a "facelift" of his car, changing the design of bumpers, making the lining on the sidewalls, redesigned lighting equipment and painted it red.
In the exhibition "100 years of automobile" held in Prague, Hainova "Laura" was interested in participating in the exhibition Nuccio Bertone, and he was genuinely surprised that such a modern car is built by two people in the barn.
[This message has been edited by Janisv (edited 09-30-2009).]
By the 1988, the road of Hainov and Parfjonov diverge. Each registered the company, hoping to do business in the manufacture of cars. Parfjonov finally also modernizes the appearance of his "Laura" and repaint it in the colors dark blue top, and bottom - dark silver.
Around in 1990 Parfjonov decides to radically upgrade their car and with the participation of its designer Sunteev fundamentally alters the appearance of "Laura." Ruthlessly cut down the corners of the body at both the front and rear, plasticine adjusted later narrow and round "face" with developed spoiler, rear appeared in relief. After removal of the matrix and make new body, "original" building was smashed and ripped from the frame.
But ithen happens "the luck": Parfjonov, gets for free a "Audi Coupe" (3-door hatchback) with almost new two-liter engine. Dmitri decides to do with this car units of a mid-sports car, placed in the base expanded to 180 degrees motor with a box of "Audi". For this new designed body "Laura" is shortened to (reduced distance between the door and wheel arch), and, consequently, lengthen ass, there is the side air intake. In 1992, the dull layout with nonopening doors was shown in Moscow at the International Motor Show. They called it "Laura Xc-20".
Determined to put "Lauro-2" to production, Parfjonov throws the remains of primeval "Laura" in the garbage, weld still frames for the "XC-20" and make few more bodies.
There was planned even to manufacturing version of the cabriolet. But in the early 90's was not interesents who willing to buy "a self made car" from used units at the price of new foreign cars. Therefore, the project successfully stalled.
There was only one enthusiast-rich from Smolensk, who bought one box of removing the roof and completed the same machine, adding a removable hard top.
Instead of mirrors, this machine is equipped with video cameras.
P.S. Sorry if some language mistakes in the text
[This message has been edited by Janisv (edited 10-12-2009).]
The difficulty of the Laura is the same as for all kit cars, very few people want to pay new car money for a home made car built on the chassis of a used car.
This is why Alex had difficulty selling the Plazma kit. Many people admire it, but when it comes time to purchase they change their minds.
However, there are people in America that want to buy the parts to put on their own cars. There would be greater interest in just the front or rear bumper for example.
i think they should release info on the molds so we can make our own... make copies of the molds and share them....
They have a unique car, yes they could give it away to everyone but then theirs would not be unique. If there is value in their car, then I would never expect them to just give the molds away. I would say do a test market to see who would be willing to buy body parts and then see if the potential income justifies the effort. As far as selling or giving the molds away, how many people have tried to steal other people's sales by making knockoffs of someone else's body kits? Why should someone else profit off of their car? That's just my opinion, but I believe it to be reasonable.
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08:54 PM
Khw Member
Posts: 11139 From: South Weber, UT. U.S.A. Registered: Jun 2008
The difficulty of the Laura is the same as for all kit cars, very few people want to pay new car money for a home made car built on the chassis of a used car.
This is why Alex had difficulty selling the Plazma kit. Many people admire it, but when it comes time to purchase they change their minds.
However, there are people in America that want to buy the parts to put on their own cars. There would be greater interest in just the front or rear bumper for example.
It is not possible to put the front and the rear bumpers without other body parts. I made a photos with the removed body so you can see it. I`ll put the pics soon
[This message has been edited by Janisv (edited 10-02-2009).]
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03:30 PM
labbe001 Member
Posts: 814 From: Alabaster, AL Registered: Jun 2008
Just something I noticed while looking through the other pics with whale tails. A confederate flag? =p
But yeah, it's nice to hear more about this kit. I love it without the whale tail.
looks like it may be the georgia state flag...anyways, i'm from the deep south right in the middle of alabama....i don't understand what the big deal is about the confederate flag anyway...i mean, it's a sign of heritage not of hatred...i mean every day you see symbols of and signs that represent differnet people and their cultures and beliefs...i just don't see why people who represent their heritage by flying the flag should be rediculed to much.....maybe it's because so many people abuse it and try to present it in a negative way....i don't know.....anyways, not trying to de-rail the topic i just wanted to throw that in there...i digress
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04:05 PM
jscott1 Member
Posts: 21676 From: Houston, TX , USA Registered: Dec 2001
It is not possible to put the front and the rear bumpers without other body parts. I made a photos with the removed body so you can see it. I`ll put the pics soon
I completely understand that... I was just saying from a business perspective more people would be interested in individual body parts compared to the complete body kit. Nevertheless the Laura 1, 2 and 3 are very nice looking cars.
In 1994-95 emigrated to the U.S. A. Alexander Kulygin (creator of "Pangolin" I will place info about this car later) proposes to Parfjonov to organize in Russia and in the U.S. production of cars on the principle of "KIT CAR". It was decided to produce a new body panels and interior on a mid-serial "Pontiac Fiero". The project was named "Laura-3".
At tis time on design worked designers Pepeliaev, Kulikov and Sunteev
To produce the layout and matrices Parfjonov and his partners going to America to visit Kulygin.
All interior was made in the US, but body in Russia.
This kit was not go to mass production too, because the main problem was Hi quality (like new) Fieros! Customers want to have a new chassis!- It's problems, and they stop made this kit cars
One car is the rolling chassis (The black one):
One car was sold to Latvia for 30 000 USD:
One car is in the USA, The Blue Plazma:
Maybe is some others kits, but I don`t have any info
.
