The title for today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe was pulled straight from the ad for this Mitsubishi 3000GT modified to look like a Ferrari. Lose money or not, that bold pronouncement of course leads to the question: is the price for this replica reprehensible?
Dust off your Whitesnake cassettes and slap some neon spandex on your girlfriend because yesterday's I <3 the Eighties Camaro IROC Z grabbed itself a Bon Jovilicious 75% Nice Price win for its triple pedal threat and seemingly reasonable price. What a magical season this truly is.
Magic, in case you were home schooled by Platypuses, is the art of illusion as performance or entertainment. Today's 1996 Mitsubishi 3000GT has seen some extensive body work, intended to give the illusion of its being some sort of Ferrari.
Which Ferrari, you might ask? Well, gazing over the car's multitude of modifications I'd have to say. . . all of them. There's some Enzo in there, a little bit of 599, a dash of F430, and, based upon the overspray on the front struts and springs, a Revell 1/25 scale Magnum PI 308 GTS I once built as a kid.
Underneath all of that iconic red paint and cornucopia of Italia is Mitsubishi's massive coupe, the 3000GT. Here that's the non-VR-4 model meaning that the car might actually be dependable as all the twin turbo, all-wheel drive, four-wheel steering bits of that model are absent, and that was all the stuff of legend as far as poor reliability goes.
Instead, this one has the 220-bhp, DOHC, naturally aspirated 2,972-cc V6 driving the front wheels only, through a five-speed manual gearbox. The ad claims that the shifting and clutch action is very good and smooth, and that the fuel pump, rotors, and breaks have all been replaced. The seller notes in the ad that English is not his primary language, so we'll give him a brake about that last one.
Mileage on the car clocks in at just under six figures, remarkable for a car of this age, until you consider how long it took for all the fauxrrari to be applied. I mean, Rome wasn't desecrated in a day! The leather on the interior - the parts not covered in Ferrari seat shirts - do exhibit signs of age and wear, but then staring daily at that prancing horse emblem glued to the center of the airbag cover may be enough of a distraction.
It's hard to say exactly to whom this car speaks other than its creator. That's what makes its appearance on Craig's crazy list such an enigma. Do people who personalize cars to this extent think that their taste is sufficiently ubiquitous so as to be recognized by the broader market? I mean, most people think their own farts smell just fine, but let loose an ass-clapper around others and opinions are likely to differ.
Still, here the car sits, for sale for a $13,000 asking price, and advertised with its Ferrarification as the major selling point. It's sort of like pimping out a hooker and touting that the best part is that she's got the clap! Perhaps I'm being too harsh, or maybe I just don't understand. Of course that's why you're here, and now I want you to both explain this car to me, and drop a vote on that thirteen grand price. What do you think, is this Ferrari-esque 3000GT worth that? Or, is the whole thing just Mitsubullshit?
You decide!
New London Craigslist or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to griffin5000 for the hookup!
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