Fake Ferraris seized in mafia-run factory
By Malcolm Moore
Last Updated: 3:17am GMT 29/02/2008
Fake Ferraris seized in mafia-run factory - Telegraph
Police have discovered a factory in Sicily producing fake Ferraris. Engineers working for the mafia at the small workshop in Campobello di Licata, near Palermo, took second-hand cars and turned them into replicas using photographs as a guide.
Seven cars under construction were impounded, as well as £350,000 worth of machinery, tools and cash. Police also raided addresses in Milan, Rome and Puglia and seized a further 14 cars that were already on the road.
The cars, which were priced at between £15,000 and £35,000, depending on the model, were sold over the internet and in second-hand car showrooms across Italy. Police believe that dozens were being sold each month. The workmen were described as "extremely capable" by Francesco Carofiglio, who headed Operation Red Passion.
However, the fakes were easily spotted because they have a narrower chassis and thinner wheels than a genuine Ferrari. Police said the fakes could also be distinguished by the sound of their engine. Typically the engineers used the Pontiac Fiero, a two-seater American sports car from the 1980s, as a base for their fakes. "The sound of the Pontiac's V4 engine is nothing like the Ferrari 348GTS's V8 which it would be turned into," he said.
Either the Pontiac or a Toyota MR2 would be stripped down then fitted with a mix of genuine Ferrari spares and glass fibre panels.
Police said the buyers were usually "businessmen" who knew that the cars were fake and would often hire out the cars for special events such as weddings.
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Comments:
Anyone mistaking a Pontiac Fiero engine sound for a Ferrari, you need new batteries.
Here is what one looks like:
http://www.solent-renegades.co.uk/im...040409_042.jpg
Definitely NOT REAL!
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