People ask me why I'd want to own a Ferrari 355 Spyder kit over the real thing. I think this perplexes people as I own a real Lotus (not that anyone makes an Esprit kit), but their logic is: "Once you've got a taste for the real thing, how could you drive an immitation?"

Well, allow me to retort.....

First off, lets start with the obvious. A used 355 is going to run you about $130,000. The day that I pay that for a car, please shoot me. I've really gone off the deep end.

A fiero kit car 355 will run you about $25,000 if you have someone build it for you, or about $20,000 if you do it yourself. If you work it out on paper before you do it, you'll have a figure around $12,000. Plan at *least* another $8,000 for the things you didnt expect. In either case, expect to save about $100,000. You could buy a house with that, and have somewhere to put the car.

Insurance. I doubt I need to elaborate, but consider the differences in insurance on a 10 year old Fiero, as opposed to a 3 year old Ferrari.

Property Tax. I have the honor of living in a state (Virginia) that has somehow deemed it fair to charge you tax on a vehicle. Not just when you buy it, but every year you own it. 4.5% of blue book. 86 Fiero = ~$1000. 96 Ferrari = ~$130,000. Yearly savings = $5805.

But its not just about money. I like to drive the car. If you look at used exotics (Lamborghini, Lotus, Ferrari), they all have very low mielage. Thats because you cant use them daily. A Fiero you can. However, the Lotus is generally considered much more reliable than a Ferrari or Lambo (and thus, also not as exotic).

People generally dont know the difference. People ask me all the time, what kind of Ferrari that is that I'm driving. I tell them its a Lotus, to which I get the standard response "Lotus? Who makes that?". So basically, if you have a 355 kit, most people will not have a clue, except for the car buffs.

The 355 kits on the market are nice. They extend the Fiero frame to fit the exact dimensions of the 355 mold. The body is taken RIGHT OFF A FERRARI. I would never buy a kit thats been modified to fit the donor car. That looks silly. Like a countach that fits on an unstretched VW bug. Come on, give me a break. No, the 355 kits, are as exact as they come. With a rebuilt motor, a few performance mods, and a little work, you could have a nice Ferrari knock-off daily driver.

Here is a few pictures of a kit by Warlock thats pretty good.

[PS. Lotus-listers, no I'm not Todd]