This Fully Functional Ferrari 312 F1 Replica Is the Most Fun $9,000 You Can Spend
Set phasers to drool! Many of us dream of being race car drivers when we are young. Typically two things stand in the way of this dream; ability and money. Obviously, some folks have enough money to pretend to be racing drivers, while most of us have neither the ability nor the funds. However, this fully functional Ferrari 312 F1 replica only costs $9,000. Owning this Ferrari won’t give you any new abilities, but it can certainly make you look the part.
This F1 Ferrari 312 replica is too cool
While this little Ferrari racer looks a bit intimidating at first glance, it has been built for nothing more than a good time. Sure, it’s modeled after a bazillion-dollar legendary vintage F1 race car, but it’s just not that serious in reality.
According to Silodrome, this replica F1 racer was built on a tubular steel chassis topped with a custom body wearing Ferrari livery. It sports era-appropriate drum brakes all the way around and *chef’s kiss* gold-painted steelie wheels. To punctuate the underpinnings of this Ferrari replica, it has a four-link coil-over rear suspension with double A-arm Coil-over front suspension.
Now for the fun part. This replica receives its power from a 110-hp, air-cooled, Corvair flat-six engine. The snappy little engine is a Protronics electronic ignition, dual carburetors, and short carbon fiber mufflers. If all that hasn’t been exciting enough, it’s also rear-wheel drive with a four-speed transmission. *drool*
Where did this joyful “Ferrari” come from?
The story is, this car began its life as an Indianapolis parade car in the 1970s. The car’s original owner, Jim Shillington, was a member of the Indianapolis 500 Shrine Club. He and every other member of the club had cars like this.
After Jim’s death in the 1990s, the car eventually landed in the hands of Mike Sassaman. Sassaman was the brains behind the operation of turning this little parade car into the replica Ferrari F1 car that it is today.
His favorite car was the 1967 Ferrari 312 piloted by Lorenzo Bandin. He realized, with a little elbow grease, he could have a close replica to his favorite car without spending tens of millions on the real thing. He went to bending, cutting, and welding bodywork until he had something pretty close to the 312.
Although the replica job is pretty impressive, the Corvair flat-six engine is a far cry from the 312’s Ferrari V12. Since he wasn’t going to get a 1967 Ferrari V12, he did the next best thing by making an engine cover that made his six-cylinder look the part.
Can you drive this vintage Ferrari 312 replica on the road?
Now that Sassaman has decided to sell his Ferrari 312 creation, he has been flooded with one question more than any others; “is it street legal? Unfortunately, it is not. The rad Ferrari F1 replica is relegated to only closed circuits and tracks.
Although you can’t drive it around the neighborhood legally, this is still the most fun way to spend $9,000 that we have seen all week. Hell, even to have it on display would be decent. But that would be a waste. Buy this and drive it hard. Check out more photos of the replica for sale here.
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