Would You Buy This Bugatti Veyron For $150K?
Would you buy a Bugatti Veyron for $150,000? Of course, you would, no matter what it took to come up with the scratch. You could sell it in a week for $1.5 million and the new owner would have him or herself a deal. But this Veyron isn’t a Veyron, it is a Pontiac. Yeah, another one of those Pontiac/Fiero kit cars. Actually, it’s not that either.
If this fake Bugatti Veyron isn’t a Fiero, then what is it?
This was one of those fiberglass replicas that can be built on top of whatever you come up with. In this case, it’s a Pontiac GTO chassis. That’s one good thing. That also means it has an LS1 V8 engine for power. So there are two things. And the LS has been made to sound like a real Veyron sounds. So there’s three reasons this is worlds apart from those Fiero/Ferrari kits cars.
And it’s for sale, on eBay, yet. The owner says the attention to detail is “real good.” That can be an issue with these backyard fiberglass kit car deals. From the builder’s lack of ability, or maybe running over budget, home builds can be money pits to get right. And in the end, you’re left with a kit car.
How close is this fake Bugatti Veyron to a real one?
But this one, at least in pictures, looks like it could be one of the lucky ones. Or rather, the new owner could be. Yeah, the doors look a bit wavey, and larger wheel openings and wheels would have really nailed it. But when builders start varying from what comes in the box, things can turn ugly fast. This one is fairly close as these things go.
Inside it is a bit more utilitarian, which is to be expected. All of the design and details that make up the cabin of a real Veyron would be costly to imitate. But the good news here is that it looks like a real, finished vehicle inside. Some kit cars on the inside look like cardboard covered in vinyl attached with sheet metal screws.
Is this really worth $150,000?
But the big question becomes, is this worth $150,000? And the answer would be that it depends. These were originally built by Santana Innovative Designs. It appears to be no longer in business. Whether someone else has picked up the molds and it cranking more out is anyone’s guess. So however many of these were made is probably it. So in one sense, they’re rare.
Could you build one for $150,000? Probably not unless you did all of the work yourself. And realistically, once you got the kit and donor car and all of the miscellaneous stuff you need to make it a driving car, you’ll be halfway towards $150,000. Or more.
That said, not many make the money back they put into these projects. So if you’re looking for a fun drive that will fake out 80 percent of those who see it, then maybe this is for you. If you’re not too worried about getting your money back and can enjoy it for what it is, you probably won’t lose too badly come selling time. Let’s face it, even new Corvettes depreciate, and Chevy can’t make enough of them.