Before you get your collective panties in too big a twist, let’s make it clear that today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Gallardo is really a re-bodied Saturn. That’s actually quite amazing, but we’ll still need to decide if this Sky-ardo is worth what its seller thinks it is.
It’s always alarmed me that racehorses get euthanized after suffering a broken leg. Apparently, that sort of injury is egregious enough for a horse that it’s considered most humane to put the animal down rather than put it through a painful healing and rehabilitation process.
A similar fate was suggested by many of you for yesterday’s 2002 Ford Focus ZTW wagon. Though a number of you praised the little wagon’s fun factor, that adoration was tempered by the car’s rocker rust, which an equal number saw as a fatal flaw. At $2,100, it was unlikely that even parting the car out would prove less trouble than it was worth and in the end, it fell in a 77 percent Crack Pipe loss.
I may have mentioned this before, but Halloween is my favorite holiday of the year. It’s not the candy mind you. Outside of Old Fashions, I don’t really have much of a sweet tooth. It’s the costumes and the opportunity to dress up as someone—or something—else that I dig. That’s fun. Last year I went as George Washington.
Halloween is a long way off, but we can enjoy an off-season reminder of it by way of this 2011 Saturn Sky which is dressed to impress in a Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder costume.
Now, the Sky is a perfect candidate for this sort of mimicry seeing as to begin with it was cobbled together from bits out of GM’s vast parts bin. The Kappa chassis underpinning the car was shared with the Pontiac Solstice, Opel GT and Daewoo G2X as was the oddball convertible top. Other common parts—steering wheel, door latches, HVAC controls, etc.—were donated by other cars in the GM family.
That Mulligan Stew background makes it less of a shame for this one to have been converted to Italian Stallion duty. This is claimed to be one of three cars so re-bodied, and with over 34,000 Skys built during its production run, I don’t think anyone will really miss them.
The car does look like a Gallardo too. Well, a good bit. Maybe not so much in broad daylight. Get liquored up a bit and you probably wouldn’t be able to distinguish it from the real deal. Maybe.
Somewhat comically, the proportions do seem a little off seeing as this front-engined roadster is attempting to mimic a mid-engine car. The bodywork at least looks to have been very well done with clean shut-lines between the fiberglass panels and a top that seems not to have been an afterthought. The odd windshield surround extensions, on the other hand, do.
The smoked headlamp covers give the car a dead-eyed look but do seem to be functional. Wheels are 20-inch alloys of questionable origin and those give glimpses of yellow-painted brake calipers with the Lamborghini script. That’s a nice touch.
Power comes from the Sky’s turbocharged Ecotec 2-litre four. That DOHC mill is said to have been breathed upon to the tune of 300 horsepower. Backing that up is the stock Aisin AR5 five-speed manual gearbox for some fun factor. That should also make this a fairly quick car. And, seeing that it’s still reasonably light, it should handle and stop fairly well too.
The interior looks to be a reasonable place to spend time while testing that theory out. It features two-tone leather and lots of Lambo badging. You’ll never mistake it for something conceived in Sant’Agata, but it doesn’t look all that bad, save for the pimply ostrich on the armrest and brake snood.
Everything is said to work here too, including the A/C and the power windows. Doors are operated via solenoid poppers, while the top and hard tonneau are electrically actuated.
The ad says that the car comes with a clear title, and also notes it to be registered via California’s SB100 exemption which allows a handful of homebuilt cars on the road each year. Sadly no mileage is given, nor is the actual model year of the underlying Sky.
The asking price is $32,000 and before you go off on a rant about the value of provenance and getting shunned by both Lamborghini AND Sky club members, consider this: If you wanted to have a real-deal Gallardo Spyder you’d probably have to spend three times this car’s asking. Not only that, but this car’s clutch will likely last more than 15K and periodic services won’t require a black market kidney sale.
Much like the gig economy, this is a Gallardo for the rest of us—for people who want the sizzle but can’t exactly afford the steak. With that in mind—and your bile quelled for the moment—what do you think about this custom car and that $32,000 asking? Does that seem like a deal to fake it until you make it? Or, in this case, is imitation really not the sincerest form of flattery?
You decide!
Los Angeles, CA Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to brianhaase for the hookup!
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