I live in the Redditch area and was so interested in this I phoned up DNA to see if I could nip down and have a look. Brian was busy painting his house because he was waiting for some FG to set, but even so he said to go down in 20 minutes and he would meet me there.
Sure enough he was in the middle of taking a mould, so it was a bit difficult to see much, but what I could see looked great. We chatted for half an hour, he really is a nice bloke, and I told him that I reckon he is on a real winner here, for the following reasons;
This is replicating an iconic car - something that us mere mortals could only dream of owning, even further out of reach than other Ferraris.
Even the Ferris Beuller car was a replica - and that sold for over $100k
Being a replica of an older vehicle having some miles on the clock don't matter - in fact they add to the illusion
The interior of the 250 Cal was simple and functional - so it could even be possible to copy it at some point in the future
The choice of donor - I would not want to pull apart a 3litre M, as it is likely to become a classic in its own right, but the 2.8L is a great choice. Lovely straight 6 and you should get performance very close to the original 250
The Z3 was/is an ugly monkey anyway - nice front end, shame about the rear. The 250 shape is just the party frock it needs.
And finally...price. I said to Brian that at last we have a quality "homage" that falls into the "hobby" money category rather than one that would require, in my case anyway, some extreme sacrifices, to afford.
So you are not dismantling an already beautiful car, but improving a bit of a pig. You are not breaking the bank, you should be able to get a beautiful one for about £15K (although for those who want to just keep going, Paul 79 I'm looking at you!), the skys the limit - replica dash, replica seats, in a fact full replica interior is perfectly possible AND at the end of it, when you do want to move on you should at least get back all that you have spent.
I don't see any downside.
I have talked it over with the other half, and we are almost ready to commit...BUT, just as you would not buy a flat screen telly until it was assembled and working, so it is with this. As soon as we have seen it in the flesh, and it meets our expectations, the cheque book will be out. I'm sure DNA will understand that we really need to see a completed one first.
However, to show I am serious I just bought the Bentley BMW Z3 service manual off Amazon, it cost a whopping £55.00, and currently I don't own a Z3.
Can't wait.
Sir P
