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February 29, 2008
Faux-rarri Counterfeit Racket Busted in Italy
By Jen
Editor
I didn’t think the whole Fiero-based Ferrari kit car thing was anything newmy neighbor’s dad rode out his midlife crisis in onebut these Faux-rarris are causing quite a fracas over in Italy. The Italian tax police have busted numerous individuals involved in a national network that produces the shoddy replicas, using parts from both Ferraris and other cars, including modified body panels. The counterfeits, of course, sell for a fraction of the price of the genuine article, and people who buy them typically understand that they’re not "real." So who suffers? Ferrari, according to attorney and counterfeit specialist Harley Lewin, who claims that the brand’s image is cheapened once there’s more than a few crappy fakes running around. The claim seems like a bit of a stretch, however, considering Ferrari’s success of late in making their cars look bad without any outside help whatsoever. See all the grisly crime-scene photos after the jump—it seems they’re making knockoff Lambos, too!
From Wall Street Journal, via Jalopnik.
Comments
Muff_dyvin
Mar 10, 2008 at 12:59 pm
the only thing i can say about the kitcars they look nice but it is bull that they put the ferrari logo on the car or anywhere near it if nots a real ferrari. that does make it copyright infringement but the limo is a real ferrari its jost SLIGHTLY modified.lol.
Anonymous
Mar 8, 2008 at 8:57 am
hahahahahahahahahaha
Anonymous
Mar 8, 2008 at 4:31 am
chelle… youre a douche
Dieselabstimmen
Mar 1, 2008 at 9:05 am
Agreed.
Chelle
Mar 1, 2008 at 5:47 am
None of the posted versions of this story I have seen looks at the issue critically.
The replica industry is worldwide and very diverse. There are replica clubs, magazines and large shows. Fans of various cars have made replicas of a huge variety of cars.
In my opinion the reason WSJ picked the story is twofold. First, it’s now run by Rupert Murdoch, so they want eye grabbing stories with headlines that sell (like the words Ferrari and counterfeit in the title of a business oriented paper). The second is the reporter. She’s a junior reporter who mostly does fashion and celeb stories, and is familiar with Italy. She’s covered fake Gucci bags before so she THINKS she knows something about cheap knock off’s and the motivation behind them.
Her name is Rosamaria Mancini (rosamaria.mancini@dowjones.com), I’m going to send her a note asking her to learn about the other side of the story.), here’s an index of stories she has done: http://findarticles.com/p/search?tb=art&qt=%22Mancini%2C+Rosamaria%22
and here’s a video story she did recently: http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=1428601198
This is WSJ quality reporting??? It plays like a college freshman marketing major’s submission for a class.
Basically rather than do some reporting and some research, maybe discover that there is a huge community of replica owners of all kinds of cars, she basically did a press release in the WSJ for the Italian tax police. To me she is just collecting a paycheck and not informing the public. The tax police are working hard to sell a few enthusiasts building replicas as a “counterfeit ring” because it gets them good press. She SHOULD have gotten both sides of the story.. that’s reporting… this is posting a press release for the prosecutor/police spokesperson who gave her one side.
Chelle