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Italians are used to buying bogus Gucci bags or Rolex watches to look stylish but police found a new height of craftsmanship and cunning when they broke up a ring selling fake Ferrari cars for a fraction of the real price.
Police accused 15 people of building the blood red sports cars and selling them to car fanatics on a budget, most of whom knew they were buying a counterfeit classic…
Some of the cars sold for about 20,000 euros, about a tenth of the going price for some versions.
Delightful. And worth every Euro.
Saw this on the news last night. These are just kit cars. Looking at the engine, it says “Fiero”. A fool and his money are soon parted… Or is this just Ferrari protecting from infringement on it’s own turf?
yeah, and im sure Ferrari will love it when these things are on the road and someone dusts one with their 1990 mustang gt POS. I can understand fake hand bags or watches, but when people fake up cars it pisses me off. I cant tell you how many fake BMW’s i see in nyc, where they slap an //M badge on it and not only do they look lame, but what would posses someone to do that. The Enthusiasts all know its a fake, and the non-enthusiasts don’t care enough to even notice…so in essense, most people don’t care and the ones who do know your a moron. CRIPES!!(in the words of John D.’s dad)
#2 “I can understand fake hand bags or watches, but when people fake up cars it pisses me off.”
Why’s that? It’s the exact same thing.
#1 – if you click through to the article – click through to the photos attached to that article – you’ll see an engine with a Ferrari-badged intake manifold.
That’s probably as far as many would look.
No, it’s not the exact same thing. The clue is in this quote: “im sure Ferrari will love it when these things are on the road and someone dusts one with their 1990 mustang gt POS”
What he means is that under the body of the fake sports car you’ll find a completely different engine, transmission, and drive train.
A fake Gucci bag will hold your crap. A fake Rolex watch will tell time. But a fake Ferrari will not perform the same as a real Ferrari. That’s the difference.
#5: Likewise, a fake Gucci bag will fall apart, and a fake Rolex will not “swoop” and will run slow…
Every product short of a completely static museum piece “performs” in one way or another, and copies will generally perform worse than their genuine counterparts. (But only generally – there are actually a few kit car copies out there, mainly of “classic” vehicles, that “perform better” than the original since they’re built using modern parts. Although, I guess, some would argue that performing different is equivalent to performing “worse”.)
In addition, the people buying these things won’t be racing with them – like the purchasers of “Rulex” watches, they’ll know the limits of what they’ve just bought – so Ferrari won’t lose any street cred, as it were.
A Gucci bag is a fashion accessory. In other words, you “wear” it for only one season. For example, a summer Gucci bag would be “worn” for three months, tops. You can’t use it the next year, because then you’d be “wearing” last years fashions.
I’d guess that a fake Gucci bag would also last three months.
A Rolex is also a fashion accessory. You don’t spend that sort of money to tell time, you can get that from your phone for free. And even a Rolex would run out of fashion, maybe three years, five years tops. “Why is harold wearing that old Rolex? Is he broke?”
As I’ve had $19.99 Timex watches that have lasted decades and have kept perfect time, I’m assuming the Rolex knockoff could last at least five years.
You’re right. But as I explained above the fashion knockoffs will perform adequately for the price. While the knockoff sports car will not.
See, even you admit that they are severely underpowered compared to their real counterparts. Once again, proving mcosmi2’s point: There are huge differences between knockoff sports cars and knockoff fashion accessories. Thus, they are not the “exact same” things.
#3 – Tippis
“#2 “I can understand fake hand bags or watches, but when people fake up cars it pisses me off.”
Why’s that? It’s the exact same thing.”
No it isn’t, it’s nothing of the kind. If you actualy think that, then you must think that cars like Ferraris are built to pose in rather than drive. Driving a make-believe Ferrari delivers exactly none of the extreme and exquisite pleasures that are the reason for the car’s existence. It’s about what the car DOES, NOT what it looks like.
Carrying a fake Fendi bag, it still does everything the real one does. But the bogus car does nothing like the real one except resemble it. But Ferraris aren’t built for appearance and façade, despite all the fools with too much money who buy them just to impress others.
#2 – mcosmi2 –
Thank you, brother. I thought I was the only one irked by that idiocy.
It’s been going on since the ’70s, when jokers with M-B 300SEL’s would buy ‘6.3’ emblems to replace the ‘3.5’ or 4.5′ on their car. A friend working at an M-B parts dept. told me they were a popular item. At the time, it was looked on as a harmless vanity, but it never made any sense to me, since it would inevitably get you a challenge at the stoplight GP, and you’d have to decline or be humiliated.
But the silliness level had nowhere to go but up, so when the 6.9 came along, naturally the wannabes had to do the same thing, namely stick it on the trunk of their 450SELs. But this is where, as you noted, the stupidity and pointlessness kicked in; no one alive but a serious M-B connoisseur had the first clue what a 6.9 was or would be impressed. To Joe Public, it was just another Mer-say-deez, but everyone who knew what one was, knew instantly from the smaller rubber on the bumpers that it was bogus. So, all the people who would ever see your so-called ‘6.9’ either a) didn’t know enough about M-Bs to know, and therefore were unimpressed, or b) knew you were a poseur, rendering the exercise pointless.
It’s an interesting note that this bogus-rebadging fad took off around the ‘look-at-me’ phoniness of the disco era. Someone at Chevy noticed the sales of Z/28 badges and stripes, so they started selling an option package of wheels and stripes and suchlike to be stuck on what were, underneath, secretary’s cars.
I’ve personally always believed in doing the exact opposite; dressing down a hi-po car to appear to be an ordinary ride. I got started doing that after buying ex-State Troopers’ cars at auction. Once repainted, they were (except for the oversized tires and rims) indistinguishable from Granny’s 318-powered Monaco or Fury 4-door, while underneath was the drivetrain and suspension of a GTX or Charger R/T. Always a hoot to blow the doors off of unsuspecting dupes in their mediocre ponycars, and the cops were just as unsuspecting as anyone else, so fewer tickets into the bargain as well.
It’s gotten to be a habit, and today my E28 535i has a 528e badge on the trunk.
a fake is a fake. Someone is making money from someone else’s creativity. It is illegal in most places for a reason.
#7 – Tippis
“#5: Likewise, a fake Gucci bag will fall apart, and a fake Rolex will not “swoop” and will run slow…”
Not necessarily so. These bogus status watches by now have cheap but accurate and reliable quartz movements.
As far as bags, a couple months ago, an investigator from the WSJ went out and bought a number of street knockoffs and took them to the sellers of the real goods to compare them, and in many cases, the quality was surprisingly high. (Well, not that surprisingly when you consider than most of those obscene prices for the real ones are many, many times the cost of manufacture.)
At Fendi, the company rep admitted that the knockoff was, for the most part, made just about as well as their legitimate product, and if not for the fact of the interior being unlined, would be hard for anyone to tell from the original.
# 4 – I saw that too. But the Fiero “version” would never pass for 95% of the population.
To tack on another saying, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. A new “Ferrari” for 10% or less of the cost of one from a reputable seller? First thought should be it’s a stolen car. But perhaps some people don’t care. In that case, they deserve the fake.
SN,
A Gucci bag is a fashion accessory. In other words, you “wear” it for only one season. For example, a summer Gucci bag would be “worn” for three months, tops. You can’t use it the next year, because then you’d be “wearing” last years fashions.
Really? Gee, my wife received an expensive Vera Bradley purse almost two years ago as a gift. The women who gave it to her, as well as my wife, all use the same purses today. I don’t know fashion, but I think you’re stretching that one. What is seen on the fashion runway and what is fashion in the real world are not the same thing.
By the same token, isn’t a Ferrari also a fashion accessory?
A Rolex is also a fashion accessory. You don’t spend that sort of money to tell time, you can get that from your phone for free.
Well, doesn’t a Rolls Royce get a person from point “A” to “B” as well as a Ford Taurus? So what if the RR is expected to last a lifetime while the Ford is expected to last an average of maybe seven years. A 30 y/o RR can draw as much admiration as a 30 y/o Rolex or diamond necklace. Not all “fashion” is short term transitory.
Great argument though. You really made me think.
#9, THC,
you must think that cars like Ferraris are built to pose in rather than drive.
While Ferraris are pretty and great to drive, unfortunately you make the assumption that that is how they are driven. Which is not true. There is not one stretch of road in the US where there are not some speed and driving limits. Most very expensive cars will never be truly tested to near their limits. Nor, by the way, will the inexpensive “consumer” cars. If you own your own race track then good for you.
In the mean time though, as with most cars, Ferraris are stuck behind the next slowest vehicle in their lane. With the driver posing and possibly swearing.
And if you only drive your Ferrari on the German Autoban, good for you. May you see that old Fiat doing 90 KPH while you still have time to avoid him.
But the bogus car does nothing like the real one except resemble it.
Not true. It still takes you from point “A” to “B”. That is all an automobile is supposed to do. Anything else, such as comfort, electric windows, A/C, air bags, etc., are just bonus. The same as a counterfeit bag can still carry a woman’s “things”. With or without a lining.
It’s gotten to be a habit, and today …
That is worth a good Sunday morning chuckle. You’re giving me some ideas for my Dodge Grand Caravan.
*
The biggest difference in price for “quality” products has to do with their exclusivity. It doesn’t cost $10,000 to build a Rolex or Piaget watch. The same with the Ferrari. In the case of Ferrari, the profit ends up financing their race program. Which, I agree, is part of the Ferrari badge allure.
Women’s fashion and designer dresses are a mark of the exclusivity of the designer, but has no bearing on whether they are any better than a Joe Blow design.
The same with patent vs generic drugs.
I’m reminded of of an incident a few years ago. A Maserati was involved in a very minor accident. The Maserati dealer sent the car back to Italy to be repaired which required some new paint. The repair cost ended up being something like $30,000. The other insurance company refused to pay and the Judge awarded the Maserati owner $300 as fair compensation for something that could have been repaired quite easily locally. What did the manufacture do that the local shop couldn’t do? Use Italian air to spray the paint.
#9 or #15 probably covered this, I don’t know, their responses were too long to read.
That’s still like $30K plus (American dollars), which is like $537,000.00 in South Dakota. Are they knocking off Dodge Jeeps yet?
I’ve always wanted to build a Ferrari 355 convertible on a Fiero chassis with a GM Northstar V8. The kit car industry is very legit. Those who don’t like it should get over themselves. As long as the purchasers know the car is a replica, there shouldn’t be a problem.
This one is the best fake Ferrari, the Lamarossa. It even has its own website.
Hmmm… the link above did’t work.
Go here http://www.blert.net/ai/4.html
Fake Ferraris do have one useful purpose — cruising to pick up bleach blondes with silicon breasts. There’s an unspoken rule that such women don’t complain too loudly about fake cars 😉
There is a stock broker down the street who drives a Lamborghini (I assume its real?) and once in a while we both leave for work at the same time. I always get a laugh when we travel 2-3 miles at exactly the same rate of speed from light to light. One day, his window was rolled down and I yelled at him–hey, our cars are both gray! Now, that would be even more funny if I were driving a fake Lambo rather than a real toyota.
#8
“See, even you admit that they are severely underpowered compared to their real counterparts. Once again, proving mcosmi2’s point: There are huge differences between knockoff sports cars and knockoff fashion accessories. Thus, they are not the “exact same” things.”
Of course they are underpowered – that’s the whole point. Just like the Rolex and Gucci knockoffs lack the precision and stitching of the originals. Again, the key word here is “perform” which is a highly subjective term. When talking about cars, it’s generally about oomph. When talking about watches and bags, it’s about the badge.
#9
“No it isn’t, it’s nothing of the kind. If you actualy think that, then you must think that cars like Ferraris are built to pose in rather than drive. Driving a make-believe Ferrari delivers exactly none of the extreme and exquisite pleasures that are the reason for the car’s existence. It’s about what the car DOES, NOT what it looks like.”
It’s about what the car does for you, and that’s my whole point.
A petrolhead will notice that your faux Ferrari doesn’t have the oomph, and will scoff at it, just like a chiquehead will notice that your faux prestige bag doesn’t have the right badge. In each instance, the copy “underperforms”.
However, not everyone is a petrolhead or a chiquehead – they just want the flash appearance to, as you put it, pose with it – and each of these groups infuriates the people who admire the original for the right purpose. Mcosmi2 is annoyed by people who are content with a visual replica with none of the oomph, but don’t understand what “oomph” consists of in the fashion world, and is therefore content with a fake rolex.
When I say “it’s the exact same thing”, I’m pointing to the fact that there are people for whom the relationship is the exact opposite: they’d like to knock the teeth out of anyone who denigrates the Paris fashion house brands, but couldn’t care less about people kit cars – after all, they still look just as good…
Basically, it’s you standard geek problem: computer geeks are annoyed by “typists” who don’t care about RAM brands, FSB speeds, and who have no OS preference; the typists, otoh, may happen to be food geeks who are annoyed by nerds who don’t care that you just can’t have ketchup on filet mignon.
No matter what you’re looking at, you’ll find the exact same geek/”who cares” split – and the annoyance and lack of caring (respectively) is always exactly the same.
#14, pedro,
Yes, but not in the same comfort as an automobile. A donkey will not exceed more than a few miles per hour or carry a weeks worth of groceries. But hey, whatever you’re used to.
A fake donkey? Geeze, maybe Venezuela is in even worse shape than I first thought.
#23, Tippis,
Good comments.
Just to add though. Very few drivers will ever be in a position where they would notice the difference between 600 HP and 300 HP. Over a quarter mile it would be less than one second. For top speed, you would still be in the illegal range. For a “rumbly” sound, just try different mufflers. Even 200 HP will propel most automobiles quite decently. So what does underpowered mean?
Anyone remember a few years ago when the fad was to put a Roll Royce grill on a Volkswagen Beetle?
#23–Tippis==yes, good post.
I think watches are a good handle on most of what is going on.
Does anyone (geek or who cares) care how precise the jewel movements are or does everyone care about the actual final performance–ie does this watch tell you the right time?
The right time within seconds per year are provided by a ONE DOLLAR
stick on digital watch as well as the $50K Rollex–so whats the difference besides snobbery?
Cars are a bit different as they do have that performance edge. But I still like a watch analyogy there. How good is a rolls royce if its actual cost peer mile is 5-6 times more than a chevy? Its still mostly snobbery. And thats ok. From the who cares camp most of the time, I say let snobs do as snobs will–just leave me alone.
#28,
Now that was just plain mean !!! I sprayed semi melted ice-cream all over my keyboard. That is worse to clean than coffee.
I feel sorry for all the gold diggers who will be fooled by one of these, poor things.
why not just buy a kit car, and then that old trans am into something close enough?
What I don’t understand about fakes — is why they just don’t go legit.
If these guys can produce a super-cool car for $35,000, then good for them. They could put their own brand on it. People will buy a sportscar for that price — without being a fake.
I cry tears of rage for poor Ferrari!
Tell me again why I should care?
Some of these Ferrari replicas look great and perform great and will not require you to sell your kids to own one. Nor will they require you to take out a second mortgage every time they need a replacement part or service like the “real” thing. Ferrari built cars for the market to fund his racing habit and he didn’t care that they require an inordinate amount of $$$ to 1) buy one and 2) to maintain it as that all went in his pocket.
I laugh at the purists.