Description
Here for sale is a LHD replica of one the rarest American Cars ever made - the 'Corporate Concept's' MERA. This so-called 'kit car' is more appropriately described as an after-market development clearly designed to be based on, and inspired by, the Ferrari 308. The MERA was conceived in the 1980s by the owner of 'Corporate Concepts' - Bob Bracey of Michigan. Production started in 1987.
Derived from the Pontiac Fiero, this example has the 2. 8 litre V6 engine and features very expensive 5 spoke Compomotive 10. 5 x 17 308 GTS replica wheels. As well as this there are a number of original Ferrari 308 parts - the badges and the rear lights for instance for which there is a purchase receipt from Graypaul in Loughborough.
At first glance to most people the vehicle says Ferrari. Although it was never officially recognised by Pontiac, the car could be ordered at the time via GM dealerships at the by purchasing a new Pontiac Fiero specified with the MERA option. The example for sale here was imported into the UK and registered with keeper Paul Ashworth in the early 1990s. There are several 1992 documents within a history file from SPM (Specialist Performance Mouldings)/ Hawkesbury Automobiles Ltd. (Director: Paul Ashworth) concerning various 'build' options around SPM 286 'Kit' Package and a Part Build Price List to a client and registered keeper Martin McHale. So it is likely that this is a conversion carried out here in the UK after importing a Pontiac Fiero. It might have been a MERA needing work. In the great tradition of motor trade communication, it is hard to tell exactly what happened and when in any precise terms.
So this special sports car is not in the normal kit car tradition at all. Some say that it is more appropriately described as a tribute Ferrari 308. However, in 1987, threatened legal action by Ferrari halted production at 88 and was stopped altogether a year later with around 247 models completed by 1988. The matter of copyright was settled out of court. So this is one of the rarest American cars of all time.
RECENT HISTORY: This car last had an MOT Certificate issued in November 2011 and has not been properly 'on the road' since 2012. However it has been run regularly and serviced - most recently in the Spring of this year. In the same ownership for ten years and properly driven and well looked after as many bills for consumables and servicing testify.
In his ten years of ownership, the current owner never had any reliability problems with the running. Then, in July, the car ran OK then cut-out. There is an intermittent fault with the ignition/ HT circuit and this has been identified as possibly a poor earth on the low tension side of the ignition circuit. This is quite a common fault in 'kit cars' where looms have to be adapted to compensate for the change of conducting though steel body panels to non-conductive fibre-glass or plastic panels. Work on tidying up the adapted loom has started but not been completed so whilst the engine fired up as normal last week, it then cut-out and would not fire again. The state of the loom in the engine bay is not to the highest standard and would benefit from re-furbishment. And so on. Under investigation in the department
Mechanically the car is sound and well in all the gearbox, engine and drive departments and the brakes have recently been extensively worked on by Andrew Thorogood - well known for his work on historic race cars and Alfa Romeos in particular.
This is a great example of a rare and interesting car that needs tidying up. Photographs show the originality of the MERA layout and it's all pretty tidy and with no major problems at all. All parts appear present and correct.
In the scheme of motoring things this is a great opportunity presenting itself as a project for someone simply because we have run out of time to do it ourselves.
COLLECTION: Collection from London SW4 7DU.
PAYMENT: Cash on Collection, cleared cheque or a bank transfer. A deposit of £500 is required within 12 hours of the bidding ending.
