Ferrari: The Italian Stallion: Re: Re: Re: Budgets

» dancooper - Re: Re: Re: Budgets

In response to Re: Re: Budgets posted by humorous_sage:

Hi Henry,

Good question. I have often thought about that, too. The auto industry, floundering as it is, might do well to consider cranking out some replicas of models they created in the past.

They have played with the nostalgia factor, but not as thoroughly as they might have. The Ford Thunderbird is a good example. I have not driven one, but the idea to bring back the concept of the original was just wide of the mark (I feel). I think they should further extend the concept. I like the new T-bird, but I think they should have made it look even more like the original, rather than like a vague copy of the original. The running gear should be state of the art, but the appearance should be very nearly the same as the original, with only detail differences, or perhaps some obvious change like a very slight difference in wheelbase, or something (to differentiate the new from the old for collector car status, etc.).

While the Ford GT more closely approaches my idea (looks almost identical to the original, with a new dohc V-8), it isn’t going to make a lot of waves in the market at $140,000. It is still a great idea, though. And, if you've got the bucks to buy one and sit on it for about a decade, it should be worth over a million by then...

I wonder what it would cost to crank out Model-T’s today. Certainly a lot more than it did originally, but it would be interesting, wouldn’t it? There’s probably not much market for the T as it originally looked. And the best effort they came up with to simulate the concept in a modern dress, didn’t do too well. (The Maverick, remember?)

Dan

-- posted by dancooper