Daytona Replica Information

The late eighties saw classic car values rocketing and Daytona values went through the stratosphere!
A Daytona originally bought for £2000 in 1967 was on sale in 1989 for anything up to £1 million in fact one of the seven right hand drive Daytona Spyders sold for £1.6 million twice and a second reached £1.25 million in 1989!
This created its own market for more affordable cars and cars that could be driven more affordably.
Those who owned them couldn''t afford to insure them for the road so bought replica''s. Others who had owned and sold them couldn''t afford to buy another one later too. Once manufacture ceased the demand for spyders continued to grow meaning there was a shortage of them and finally there were those who could never hope to afford a real one but would settle for something close.
This, in the US, was at a time when the NSA under Ralph Nader had decided that convertibles were unsafe, hence only 125 were produced as they were considered dangerous by the NSA and discouraged manufacturers from building convertibles.
But the purchasers wanted spyders!
So the replica industry was born to fill the void created.

Between 1968 and 1974, Ferrari built what many old-timers consider the last “real” Ferrari, the 365 GTB/4 Daytona. A front-engined, 350-horsepower, 4.4-liter V12 cruiser equipped with a six-pack of Weber carburetors, the Daytona offered effortless high-speed touring coupled with stunning acceleration.

The Pininfarina-designed and Scaglietti-built body offered phallic good looks with a long nose, abrupt tail and an aggressive nose-down, tail-up stance that has become one of the design statements of the 1960s and 1970s. A well-tuned Daytona will do 60 mph in first gear, 85 in second, 115 in third, and 150 in fourth, leaving one more gear for those brave enough to exceed 170 mph in a car designed and engineered in the 1960s.

The Daytona was a legend in its own time, the weapon of choice for Brock Yates and Dan Gurney in their legendary 1971 36-hour trans-continental Cannonball Run. In its October 1970 issue, Road & Track magazine called the Daytona “the best sports car in the world. Or the best GT. Take your choice; it’s both.” Buyers obviously agreed, and the Daytona became the most popular front-engined V12 Ferrari two-seater built to date. In addition to the 1,279 coupes, another 122 spyders were built by the factory (these are the most recent, updated production numbers and replace those in the most recent SCM Price Guide). These are the “real” Daytona Spyders, and were also designed by Pininfarina and built by Scaglietti.

GET OUT YOUR SAWZALL

In the late 1970s, prices for used spyders climbed to the then-shocking heights of about $75,000, while coupes were selling for a mere $25,000. This led to a cottage industry of converting often well-used coupes into spyders.

While many attempted conversions, four shops did most of them: Autokraft in England did about 10 cars; Auto Sport (a.k.a. Bacchelli) in Modena, Italy, converted about 25; my shop, Michael Sheehan’s European Auto Restoration, in Costa Mesa, CA, did about 28 conversions; and the Richard Straman Company, also in Costa Mesa, CA (on the same street and only a few hundred feet from my front door), converted about 35 Daytonas. Throw in a dozen or so cars done by long forgotten shops and you get a total of just over 100 cut coupes.

THE MYTH

While sellers and auction houses often proclaim that some of these cars are “Scaglietti conversions,” implying that the cars were sent back to Scaglietti for a “factory-blessed” chop job, this is simply creative used car salesmanship.

Scaglietti built its first body for Ferrari in 1948, became an exclusive Ferrari supplier around 1961, and was absorbed into Fiat in 1969 as the in-house Ferrari body builder, much like Body by Fisher at GM. Scaglietti neither could, nor would, take on the process of turning a Daytona coupe into a spyder, just as GM would not take back your 1974 Cadillac Coupe de Ville and chop its top three years after you bought it.

The reality is that Scaglietti did supply body parts out the backdoor for a variety of Ferraris, including Daytona Spyders, well into the late 1980s, and so Auto Sport in Modena simply went down the road, bought new-old-stock rear body clips, deck lid frames and skins, top bows, header bars, latches and door glass from Scaglietti, making its spyder conversion process faster, but not necessarily better or worse than those of us who had to fabricate new upper panels for our conversions.

The conversion process varied considerably, in that many cars simply had the top chopped off and the original coupe trim pieces modified, while a few underwent a complete remanufacture, with subframe and wheel well modifications included to match those of the original factory Spyders.

While the frame and basic body structure of a factory-built coupe and spyder are identical, all coupes left the factory with fiberglass inner fender wells and a fiberglass bulkhead between the cockpit and trunk, while the factory-built spyders were fitted with steel inner wheel wells, both front and rear, and a steel reinforced bulkhead between the cockpit and trunk area, all meant to stiffen the body shell.

The factory-built spyders also had extra bracing between the front wheel well and the firewall, in the front cockpit foot wells and through the rocker sill panels. Ferrari did this to improve structural rigidity, but few clients were willing to spend the many thousands of dollars required to change these panels, meaning most spyder conversions kept the fiberglass inner structure, making them slightly less rigid than a factory-built spyder.

DO THE MATH

So what ever happened to the shops that made a living giving coupes a haircut? Well, we had a good run, but eventually the economic realities of the Ferrari market put us out of business.

In 1977 it cost approximately $20,000 and up to convert a coupe, depending on who did the work and what additional repairs were necessary. (Many of the cars we used had been rolled or heavily crashed.) By 1984 this number had risen to about $45,000.

At the same time, the prevalence of spyder conversions led to their being valued not with the factory spyders, but as a bump to the price of a coupe. And as the prices for all things Ferrari began to soar in the late 1980s, it became a lot easier to make money buying and selling, rather than going through the arduous process of transforming a wrecked coupe into a convertible.

At the peak of the market madness in 1989, both Daytona coupes and spyder conversions sold for about $500,000, give-or-take, while factory spyders went for well over $1,000,000. Today things are a good bit more realistic, with nice coupes selling for about $150,000, while a conversion will fetch $175,000. Original spyders are going for $500,000, a big premium, but nowhere near the high water mark.

Today the price to complete a conversion would be astronomical, far more than the $45k it cost 20 years ago. For a $25,000 bump in value, it just doesn’t make sense. That’s why no one is even attempting spyder conversions anymore—not to mention that the patterns for the sheet metal and top bows are long gone and the experienced fabricators have since scattered.

In my opinion, if you value open-air motoring, and don’t mind driving a conversion, a properly-done chop-job Daytona represents a terrific value. They will never be much more highly valued than stock coupes, but there’s nothing like having the top down at 150 mph with the sound of the Webers sucking in front and the four tailpipes spitting out the melody of the V12 in the rear.

MICHAEL SHEEHAN has been a Ferrari dealer for 30 years as well as a race car driver and exotic car broker.

This is without question the most accurate replica of the marque. Dimensions are exact and allow genuine Ferrari parts to be used if required.
E.G. Autokraft/PKA/Arrow was the work of Emilio Garcia and Peter Jacobs. Emilio had been turning berlinetta Daytonas into spyders for years so it was a logical step for him to engineer a replica. He turned to Peter Jacobs to make the bodies, Peter was the man who built the bodies for the RS200 Ford rally car and the GTD a very well made Ford GT 40 replica.
The E.G bodies were Kevlar reinforced composite and could even be had in aluminium at extra cost.
Uniquely they also built berlinetta''s too and sold around seven in all. Ironically the rareity in the original was in the seven right hand drive spyders but the rareity in the Arrow replicas is there are only seven known coupes! Other replica makers never attempted to build berlinetta copies.

Unfortunately Emilio was no business man, hence Arrow and PKW, and after going out of business twice suddenly disappeared to Germany leaving many kit buyers with half built cars or no car or money at all and Peter Jacobs to handle the flack!
But if he hadn''t made the cars the world would have been a lesser place and he should be thanked for that.

The kits were around £20,000 plus the donor to be built and Emilio would build one for £25,000 for those who wished a built one.This was around 15 years ago.
Despite this around 80 cars were made or sold in kit form. The club are aware of around 30 but would love to learn of any others that are known.

There is a thriving owners club with members around Europe and the US, which has helped many of them to complete and improve their cars. The site is at www.daytonareplicaclub.co.uk
 

Whilst the original had six weber carburettors they are completely hidden by a huge black air filter that covers most of the top of the engine.
As you can see from this picture of the replica''s engine bay the fuel injected V12 is a much more exciting proposition. With the addition of Ferrari badging the illusion is complete. Many times have I heard the phrase ''this is obviously a real one''. The real thing is so precious they are rarely seen, like priceless paintings.

Other replica owners, with engineering expertise, have even offset the gearchange to the left like the original. This was meant to allow left hand drive cars to have an easier gearchange, even though it disadvantages the driver of a right hand car!
The replica makers allow many more to appreciate the irrestistible lines of the Ferrari 365 GTS/4.

The car featured in these first three pictures is one of the best Autokraft Spyder''s in the world it now resides in Belfast in the hands of a major motor dealer who acquired it by supplying a car in part payment, which proved to be totally unroadworthy and unsaleable despite promises that it was in perfect working order. Despite protests regarding this over a six week period no compensation was forthcoming. Meanwhile he was offered a £6000 profit on his purchase within a couple of weeks of recieving delivery of it. So, think very carefully before buying a car from Sere Motors in Belfast and dealing with millionaire car dealers who have no scruples or sense of fair play.

Having had lots of Ferrari owners ''chop'' their beautiful berlinetta''s into spyders I suppose it was inevitable that somebody would want a coupe berlinetta. So Emilio Garcia and Peter Jacobs created one. It is believed there were as many as eight made of which the club are aware of six.
The one pictured here is without doubt the best berlinetta example anywhere. The owner has even re-engineered the gearshift to the left hand side of the transmission tunnel because the original had it that way!

Emilio Garcia was a very talented engineer but this skill was inversely proportionate to his skills as a businessman. Consequently many builders and owners were left high and dry when he left for Germany.
In the interest of helping those still building to complete and the continued running of the finished ones a group of owner/builders got together to form the Arrow Owners Club which has recently changed to the, more appropriate, Daytona Replica Club.

It celebrated its 10th year anniversary in Oxfordshire on the 11th of September 2004, 12 cars attended at Woddesdon Manor a National Trust property previously owned by the Rothschild family. This was a very fitting and flamboyant location.
Couples from Germany with their car and Finland, a Swiss and an American attended on the day. The membership is growing year on year.

Also at this meeting another newly finished car arrived. This particular car has been 10 years in the making. The time was well spent and the car won the best spyder on the day.

Within the club of more than 30 members is a wealth of knowledge about the cars Anybody who has one and isn''t in the club should use the link in ''Links'' to visit the site and consider joining the club. A the very least Wendy Allan, Club Secretary, would like to log your car on the database of known ones.
Pictured here is the newest arrival to the club''s car fold.
The choice of Giallo Fly Yellow is a nice change from the Rosso Corsa of the other cars. This car took 7 years to build and has benefitted substantially from the acquired knowledge in the club in sourcing a way to do a job and parts provided by other members.
This particular car was built from a Series 1, XJ12 and as such has the extra benefit of being free of road tax charge. Unique among the club cars it also features front indicator units which incorporate sidelights and are a genuine Ferrari part . This means that the head lights don''t have to be ''popped'' until total darkness occurs retaining those beautiful lines on the road.

Here is the car, on the right, the members voted best spyder on the day. It took 10 years to appear and still needs a bit of detailing but it is a fine effort. Unique is the badge rail that runs along the front of the car between the quarter bumpers. This was a feature of the £1.6 million car featured elsewhere.

This is a nice example of the RS Daytona which recently sold for £17000. This car was built by ERichard Stewart in Nottingham. He began by making Rover SD1's into Daytona Spyders giving a v8 engined car. However he didn't stop there and went on to V12 Jaguar Daimler cars. You drove a car into him he shortened it and removed the outer body and replaced it with a fibreglass spyder body. The car could then be driven away for finishing. He made many of these before then turning to the TR7 which he then turned into Daytona Spyders. Once again the engine size was smaller but it certainly looked the part!

He has gone on to make money selling Lotus 7 type cars called Robin Hoods. Much easier to create the panelling etc. and far easier to build.
 

LR Roadsters RAM R/T was a late entry to the marketplace and few were actually made before Ferrari caused them to stop work. It had plastic covered front light assemblies mimicking the early plexiglass cars which while easier to build are inaccurate. 
However, having recently had to strip out my pop-up headlight mechanism I can understand the manufacturer being reluctant to inflict it on their customers!

It had however two detail features that meant it stood out from all the others.
As it was made uniquely with moulds and dimensions from a genuine spyder the screen rake is as the spyder and therefore accurate, with the others the moulds were taken from a ''chopped'' coupe so all of them have the screen rake of the coupe which is less steep. However, the other difference is in the shaping of the boot lid. The copies all had an almost flat boot panel as it was manufactured to complete the chopped car. The original, and therefore this model, benefited from having a more concave bootline with much more shape to it.

This and the windscreen rake are the 2 clear identifiers of all ''chopped'' and replica cars apart from this LR Roadster.
 

The McBurnie/Southern Roadcraft car (convertible) is probably the best known, but least accurate copy of the car. It was made famous by the TV series Miami Vice and driven by Don Johnson who drove around Miami in a midnight black one.
As mentioned elsewhere Americans believed the car to be some kind of Corvette hybrid, ironically they were right.
The interior was prettty much Corvette, the doors were too long and lacked quarterlights compared to the original. It was still a very attractive car in its own right though some way from being a true Daytona Spyder replica.

 Back on home ground, Tom was at the wheel of his ''58 Porsche Speedster taking second in the SCCA Southern California Region in 1967 and setting track lap records at Riverside, Willow Springs, Santa Barbara, and Roswell. In addition to piloting his 356 Tom also built the mechanicals and maintained the car.

Southern Roadcraft was formed in 1984 by brothers Ian and Brian Nichols who saw a niche for a quality product available within a realistic price range. Together with their team of craftsmen Ian and Brian built an enviable reputation for quality products based on superior engineering, ease of assembly and outstanding value for money. 
Initial success came from the quality of their Cobra replica, the SRV8 which is still driven today by many satisfied customers.  Meanwhile, back in the booming 80’s with prices of classic Ferrari’s soaring Crocket and Tubbs in Miami Vice brought the gorgeous Daytona to the attention of millions. People were duly impressed with espadrilles, rolled back sleeves and the Daytona and they wanted them all! Though it was a Mc Burnie replica many Americans believed it was a hybrid Corvette, which it in fact was!

  Ian and Brian considered their options and contacted McBurnie (providers of the Miami Vice black Corvette based replica) in the States to see if they could become agents for them. A body duly arrived in Brighton but the brothers were not impressed and literally had to start again retaining only small elements of the McBurnie body. The rear end was completely changed, the flared wheel arches were removed and the doors were changed to accept the distinctive Daytona door handles and quarter lights. More importantly, the whole body was resized to more closely resemble the real car and accept parts directly from a Jaguar XJ12 Saloon or Daimler Double-Six. 
 The Cobra (although a great car) is a raw, loud, bum on the ground Sunday blast with no decent hood and no pretence towards comfort. The market was ready for a more refined replica that could be used ever day in all weathers and the Daytona filled the role perfectly.

So, with the body sorted and the moulds produced the next challenge was a chassis that could facilitate a big front mounted V12 and still allow the car to handle well. This is where Brian Nichols’ experience working for Hansen Engineering paid off. Hansen was involved in Formula Ford and responsible for the early DAX Cobra chassis. Using this experience and everything they had learned in the development of the SRV8 Cobra Brian and Ian produced a fantastic chassis that comprised a rigid lower section with tubular
The chassis was designed to accept the suspension units from the donor vehicle without the need for retaining the original sub frames thus simplifying reconditioning and assembly. This approach greatly increased the strength of the car in the area of the rear suspension and improved the handling. The mounting points are also there to accommodate left had drive steering columns, a true indication of the thoroughness of the design. However the driver sits high in the car and the over 6 foot drivers had their heads over the top of the windscreen rail!

When you first see a car the shape is always the first impression but the interior and exterior fittings are a very important aspect of any replica and in this area Southern Roadcraft excelled. Not many people know but many of the moulds for the fitting were taken directly from a real Daytona. These included the heater slider controls, bumpers, front and rear lights, seats, 5-spoke alloy wheels and the exhausts. Each one beautifully made, making Southern Roadcraft accessories the most accurate and sort after.  

The desirability for these items can be seen in how many Daytona from other manufactures are now using Southern Roadcraft wheels and seats. Apart from the many Jaguar parts most other items for the build were easily available from the usual sources to keep costs down and guarantee availability into the future. These included the windscreen and side windows sourced from a TR7. In order that customers could use their cars everyday, comfort was provided with a full set of carpets for the cabin and boot, leather seats and a high quality hood. The result is a very spacious and comfortable interior that tweaks all the right senses and prepares you for the drive ahead.
Although not an identical replica the SRV12 bears a very, very close resemblance and when seen in the flesh virtually indistinguishable to anyone except those with a well trained eye. Ask yourself this, how many Cobra replicas are exactly the same as the real thing? The answer is very few. When looking at these cars it is important to remember that component based replicas are generally designed to be built by enthusiasts.  They give the owners huge satisfaction and create the impression and joy of owning the real thing at a fraction of the cost.

The myth is that the Southern Roadcraft SRV12 is a McBurnie some even expect to see a Corvette V8 under the bonnet.  This is clearly not the case and although the bodies do share some distant genes the two cars are very different and should not be confused or referred to as the same car. Southern Roadcraft were a late entrant to the Daytona Replica market but that proved an advantage as all the experience the team had gained on the SRV8 was used to deliver a quality product, straight off and there were many satisfied customers. You only need to look at the customer cars to see the difference.

At just under £10,000 ex vat in 1988 for a semi-complete car the SRV12 appealed to a world market. In all Southern Roadcraft sold over 100 cars in right and left hand drive to the UK, America, South Africa and Australia to name a few.  In 1991 with the boom times ending and people becoming more cautious with their money Southern Roadcraft had to make a decision and decided to only continue with the SRV8 Cobra.

The activities of Ferrari in sueing many of the Daytona Replica makers must have also played a key part in the demise of the SRV12 at SR. It is a pity that more attention was not paid to making the body more accurate, this would appear to be a Mc Burnie legacy as it too has elongated doors and a reduced distance between the rear of the door and the wheelarch.

The McBurnie was extremely successful following its appearance on Miami Vice. This was appreciated by Southern Roadcraft who launched their replica around this time It seems they were disatisfied with some of the detail on the McBurnie car and made some worthwhile changes.
They found a manufacturer to produce copies of the wheels and made the rears 7 inch, an option on the original. Copy three eared spinners were attached as per the original.
The McBurnie used a Corvette chassis, clearly impractical in the UK, so a custom chassis had to be built which accomodated a more accurate body.
Southern Roadcraft also had detail parts such as heater slider controls, instrument binnacle, dash and seats re-created.
All these changes made for a far more accurate car than its father back in America.
It was a very successful, in the style of, Daytona Spyder replica in the UK.

Whilst it lacks the attention to detail that the Autokraft car offers it is a very presentable car and can be made an even closer replica with some work to the lights and details on the doors.

There are hybrids out there, especially in the US. This one is one of 12 built on Corvette chassis like the McBurnie. It looks a very nice job with much better replication than the McBurnie. Apparently Mad Mick took moulds from a real spyder and then built the cars, knowing the work involved his nickname is accurate!

Mike has been in touch recently to advise me that he is still producing Spyders using the C-4 Corvette with changes to windows and doors. Anyone wishing to contact him should email:

madmike-49ford@earthlink.net

Apparently these cars were developments of the Mc Burnie. The flares they built in ranged from the acceptable to the totally bizarre, detracting from the clean lines of the true Pininfarina design.

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Here are some images of a car created by Jay Ball in the US, where else? He has spent over $50,000 creating thi masterpiece. All th detail is there, it has a genunine plexiglass nose and front indicator lenses. The interior is true to the genuine car too.

Possibly the most amazing thing about this obcessed person is that, having spent so much creating it he now wants to sell it for $37,000. I wish him all the luck in the world. My experience is that he will need an equally Daytona obcessed buyr with deep pockets. At thisprice level he is competing with Porsche ana number of other supercar makes.

Personally if I had the funds I would buy it, but then I don''t have he deep pockets!

It is a V8 but it is a very powerful V8 which will never sound as wonderful as a V12 but is definately not scraping the barrel!

Again the interior is very well detailed. I am not happy about the steering wheel but otherwise it is pretty sharp!

Once again there is lots of quality detaling. The quality paint finish is really evident here, it is so difficult to get a quality finish with black. Note the copy door panelling, excellent.

This was another, US based Daytona Replica maker. They are based in Rowley Massachusetts. http://rowleycorvette.com/ and are still a very successful business.

The car pictured is on sale now for $42,500. Jim who owns it flies a Pitts Special stunt plane when he isn''t cruising around in his Daytona GTC. It features a 400 bhp V8 engine and achieves 20 mpg!
He clearly isn''t driving it enthusiastically enough.He plans for his next Daytona will be even quicker, that should sort the fuel economy out then!

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Basically, allegedly, Ferrari back 40 years or so ago became disturbed by the profusion of replicas and they decided to do something about stopping their production.
Ironically, it was the popularity of the ''Miami Vice'' series and the misunderstanding of the viewers in thinking that the car on the show, a Tom McBurnie made replica, was real and the fact that it was never referred to as a replica by the characters that was a main driver for Ferrari taking action against the replica makers.The arrival and success of this car, described as a Ferrari on the show that probably caused Ferrari to sop the replica makers producing cars.

They had approached Ferrari to provide cars for the first series but had been refused so I guess they were partly to blame.

For the second series Ferrari co-operated and supplied a car.The McBurnie replica on the show was destroyed by a ''Stinger'' missle and was replaced by a genuine Ferrari Testarossa instead, possibly at the request of Ferrari themselves.

I wonder if it was a condition imposed by Ferrari that the McBurnie be blown apart on screen for them to get use of the Testarossa!
They didn''t in reality as it survives to this day in the US.
They contacted all the replica creators threatening legal action if they continued to build their replica cars.
In reality as the design was well over 10 years old they could be legally produced, provided they didn''t claim to be Ferrari''s or carry Ferrari badging. Most had produced badges for their cars which were non-descript.
The purchasers merely went along to a Ferrari dealer and purchased the appropriate badges and put them on themselves if they wished.The problem for the replica makers was the cost of proving their case in court would have put them out of business anyway so they stopped manufacture.

Richard Stewart had already moved on to his ''Westfield'' type pocket rockets, Arrow had gone out of business and LR were busy creating Cobra replicas.
The cars were a very costly and complicated car to build anyway so their demise was financially inevitable. A kit that cost almost £20,000 plus donor car to buy before it is built is a very limited market product.

However, in 2003, an American called Floyd bought all the Arrow moulds from Peter Jacobs and plans to build the cars again in the US. But not only will he build spyders and berlinettas but also Competitione berlinettas. Such is the desirabilty of a design now over 40 years old!