John Washington

In case it hasn't already been posted in this forum, there's now a Facebook group for GTO replica owners and fans: https://www.facebook.com/groups/GTORR/

I assure you, production of the Velo Rossa was NOT "shut down by Ferrari." I continue to offer the Velo Rossa kit in several configurations (roadster, coupe, coupe with fixed spoiler, coupe with trunk lid, one-piece bonnet, nose clip with fenders, etc.) http://www.ZTrix.com

Thanks for proving my point, Max. Please let us know how your novel international extortion purchasing technique works out for you. fyanrudger, thanks for your comment. I'm ready any time, but given Max is attempting to interfere with my business, I had to respond.

As I said, I'm happy to provide the email chain to anyone who wants it, as Mr. Abrahams could have rather than selectively editing to support his righteous indignation and attempts at passive-aggressive defamation. However, to keep this short, I'll only post the "pertinent information" that will paint a more accurate picture. >...simply cutting the standard parts in half to save effort on his end would be fine. The offer to cut the parts in half was made to allow Mr. Abrahams to utilize parcel shipping rather than the cost of crating and truck freight. Cutting parts does not "save any effort" on my end. It is EXTRA effort. >I asked if he could "closer match MSA's price" has it costs well under half what John's was asking for his "similar" piece. I never once stated the price was a deal breaker, but asked as an alternative, pending his parts didn't suit my needs (240Z signal lights), if would entertain the possibility of having me "drop ship" an airdam from MSA to be combined for shipping with his parts. This was a simply a question, I never once insinuated it be done for free, and it was not something I pushed. My request read politely, but the reply I certainly did not. My reply concluded with exactly these words: "No offense intended (and none taken), but think I'll pass on this one." If Mr. Abrahams thought this was impolite, he could have simply said, "Thanks anyway," or not replied at all. Instead he can't take "no" for an answer, and chose to double-down by saying, >"...you could not to provide [sic] an air dam at a price more competitive with other vendors," and accused me of "retracting your quote," when all I gave him was an estimate. >If my order did not make financial sense or seemed risky on your end, a simple explanation would have sufficed. I tried that when I declined the order the first time. Apparently it didn't work. >but offered you a simpler solution for the same shipping savings. Again, this was done to save HIM shipping costs, as he clearly understands given the statement, "I expected to pay for any extra costs you would incur." Not only should every vendor and HybridZ member beware of actually selling anything to this guy, clearly even responding to an inquiry is going to create trouble for you. So, I suggest you ignore such inquiries.

Well, interesting. No good deed goes unpunished. I really don't have time for this, but I guess I'll have to respond now. You don't have to PM me to get the "details," though I'm happy to forward the email chain with this "prospective customer" (he never actually BOUGHT anything) to anyone who's interested. Mr. Max Cline Abrahams <m_clineabrahams@live.com> from Newfoundland Canada contacted me to inquire about purchasing a few body panel odds-and-ends (stock-width airdam, bumpers, spoiler). I probably don't have to tell anyone here that international orders are quite a headache for any business, let alone a small business. I offered to explore some options for making parts for him that are NOT part of my regular product line; AND make modifications that I don't normally offer; in order to accommodate a more cost-effective (for him) shipping option which I do NOT normally use. I gave him a rough estimate of price. Mr. Abrahams didn't like my price on one of the parts. So, instead he wanted to order a part from a competitor, have it shipped to me, have me receive it and take responsibility for it, modify it at my expense, package and reship (international with customs paperwork, etc). Like anyone with more than three brain cells and reasonable customer service, I politely declined the first time. When Mr. Abrahams then accused me of reniging on a "quote," and implied that I was gouging him on the price of the part in question, I told him I wasn't interested in doing business with him at all. Let me reiterate for clarity: Mr. Abrahams never actually bought anything, or more precisely, I declined to sell him anything after I patiently (and then more directly) explained why. If a prospective customer is going to gripe and post public complaints about a vendor that's never actually sold him anything (after the vendor going above-and-beyond due diligence in trying to help), you can imagine how much of a pain he'll be AFTER the sale. Imagine having to arrange international shipping to accomodate the inevitable return. Caveat Venditor!

That's exactly what I recommend, but in all the years I've been doing this I've never properly documented it! Working on a BMW Z3 rebody right now and expect (hope) that will take me off in a new direction with little time to look back:)

Thanks for the kind words, guys. Yes, I can supply a variety of configurations including one-piece front end, conventional front end, and three configurations of coupe rear end...thanks to recent purchase of what I think is the original Alpha molds. Working on a new website right now, but for the moment you can see SOME pix at www.ZTrix.com. I have thousands of pix, so let me know what you need.

Thx, Dick! Last time I talked to Mike Renucci, he had an old basket case 250GT in the back lot. You might contact him. Or maybe you should build one of my new kits: www.fb.com/zgtcar

I didn't look closely, but you may be right JMortensen. And yes, whatever works for the application is good, but...I have had a couple of builders not cut enough and then have to expend a LOT of effort digging back down to the point where they could do it over, after blowing out tires from getting into the old sheet metal.

Someone asked me the other day if I am still making Z body parts. I am, just been busy with a different "Z" lately. Just FYI, www.fb.com/zgtcar And just so you know I'm still doing Datsun parts: www.fb.com/570YZ

Thunder Ranch was indeed sold to Carerra. Carerra was forced (apparently by Porsche) to change names to http://www.customcoachwerks.com. However, I understand that they've recently gone through some sort of split. The main shop guy (Ben Stoddard, VERY talented) went to Utah, but is still associated with company principals. I have emailed Ben a couple of times to check their progress, but have yet to hear back from him. Just by coincidence, I happened to acquire recently a set of tooling to build the Alpha One GTO replica. And of course, the Velo Rossa can be built as a coupe, with a couple of different configurations of rear hatch/spoiler. Hey, SpeedRacer...is that Dick Goodman? What have you been up to? www.ZTrix.com

That's a great series of pix, OldAndy, mind if I copy and share with a couple of my builders? Would like to give you credit, obviously.

VERY nice! Any updates since 2007? www.fb.com/570YZ

I can have it ready to ship by Monday. All you have to do is let me know (and pay me:))