Newbie Nubodi pretend Ferrari

[Toe Cooke]

Hi, an intro! I have a 1999 2.8 Z3 Auto which I am rebodying with a Nubodi 250GT kit, to vaguely resemble the Ferrari 250GT. “Vaguely” as it will be a soft top version of the 250GT Coupe shape, rather than the California shape (personal preference as I’m not keen on the aesthetics of the California).

I’m 4 years through the build (no rush!), with the body work pretty-much completed. Interior-wise, I’m leaving no part untouched, with dashboard changed, new set of gauges, seats changed, handbrake moved, gearstick, handles, door linings, centre console, etc, etc. all being replaced. Lots to do here!

Mechanically, she’s an old girl that’s been round the block, so a few things to repair and tweak, with major changes being spoked wheels fitted, and the current twin-tailed single exhaust system to be replaced by a twin dynamic exhaust system.
Currently struggling with wiring for Rover seats replacing BMW buckets.

 

[Pingu]

This thread is no good without pictures .

I'd like to see the Nubodi and any differences from Tribute and the others.

I'm having a Tribute made. It should get the big reveal soon - I hope .

 

[DaveP]

Hi Toe,

As Pingu says pics please. Is your build a 250 s h o r t W base ? If so sounds like a Tribute purchased via Nubodi back from when they were the agents. Good luck with the build.

Dave

 

[Shelly]

 

[Zephyr]

Welcome. Nobody ever disliked a Nubodi.. bring the pics please!

 

[DaveP]

To clarify to those outside of the rebody world.

Nubodi were Tribute’s agent and sold the various kits made by Tribute at the time. They also did full or partial builds for customers that didn’t want to build their own kit.

My Kobra was purchased from Tribute direct. I then became friends with the owner of Nubodi (Richard) and built my kit at his place under his supervision. He retired and moved to France and ClassicCoachWorks took over as agents.

I know all three parties as was around when this all happened.

All that said show us your build pics so far please

 

[Toe Cooke]

Apologies for the delay in sending some photos…..I scraped the dust off the windscreen today to make it vaguely presentable…..if you screw up your eyes and squint at the pix from about 10 metres, it definitely resembles a car….

 

[Toe Cooke]

More info…..I purchased the Tribute kit (soft top variant of the classic SWB 250 GT coupe) from Richard at Nubodi just before he closed down, and spent a few hours with him and his colleague photographing his replicas and going through tips and tricks. The donor car and kit then sat in my garage for some months while I accumulated most of what I needed, with bits imported from Australia (dynamic exhaust system), the US (petrol filler), China (the spoked wheels), and scrap yards in the UK!

As anyone who has built (or attempted to build!) a Nubodi/Tribute kit will know, it’s a box of bits and there’s no instruction manual! This means that there is much “wing and a prayer” work as you put it together! I have been extremely fortunate in that Justin Benson of Grassbank Cars is about 40 minutes from where I live…for those that don’t know him, Justin is the living legend (IMO) of 250 GT (and other) replicas, with an engineering design capability and eye for detail second to none. Whilst I’m no technical slouch (ex-engineer), my skills and build-quality pale into insignificance next to Justin’s absolutely beautiful “ground-up rebuild” replicas.

A lot of advice and many parts that he has designed and had custom-built as add-ons to the 250 GT Tribute kit help ensure that many of the “kit-car giveaways” are removed or heavily disguised (and work!!)…if you are familiar with some of Justin’s add-ons (including the wheels I mentioned earlier), you may recognise them in the photos. Huge thanks to him for parts and much ongoing support as I have plodded along at a snail’s pace!

Any other questions (or tips!), fire them my way - I will probably send annual progress reports ( if you want me to guarantee that you’ll notice a difference!!!).

Toe