MR2-Based Audi R8 Kit Car is a Hard No
Who is both delusional enough to commission a terrible Audi R8 replica and flush enough to pay for it?
The automotive hobby is full of nooks and crannies, and gets stranger every day. I mean, the “Carolina Squat” is a thing, and given how stupid-dangerous it looks? I’m kind of glad it’s going to be illegal come December. That said, few corners of our world are stranger than the dark one reserved for kit cars. These bastard machines are the vehicular equivalent of Elvis impersonators, and I have to admit, I have a fascination with them. Particularly well-done, but still bad, examples like this fake Audi R8 which recently popped up for sale on eBay.
This poor thing began life as a 1993 Toyota MR2 — which, it should be noted — is already an cool car. Good looks, a mid-engine chassis, and Toyota reliability made it a darling of enthusiasts the world over. So it’s unclear exactly why someone thought it’d be a good idea to turn a great car into a bad approximation of an awesome one. Unfortunately, the listing is no help there, though it does reveal that the windshield is cracked, it’s a right-hand drive, and that you sometimes have to wiggle the driver’s window switch to get it to work.
The true shame here is that while the proportions are dead wrong and literally nobody is going to be fooled by this costume, a lot of effort went into this imposter. At least from the — admittedly crappy — photos the work appears to have been done to a high standard. That means it cost money. A lot of money. So the situation we’re left with is something akin to a doctor entering the waiting room to announce that while the surgery was a success, the patient died. Seriously, who is delusional enough to commission something, like this but flush enough to pay for it?
Now, I should be clear that I’m not against all kit cars. In fact, I’d happily rock a replica Porsche 356, Jaguar C-Type, or Lancia Stratos. I think they could be built to be far better than the originals, and still look the business doing it. But something like this R8? The only people who are going to be convinced are the automotive illiterate, and aficionados are going to snicker whenever you’re seen in this thing. Maybe the window tint is so dark because nobody wants to be seen in this thing. If you have another idea, let me know.
Photos: eBay Motors
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