AME GTO, a Porsche 944 based Ferrari Replica

[grobmotorix]

Who knows this car?

[iani]

250 gto replica!

[grobmotorix]

Right. That was the obvious part

But designed/built by whom?

What was the basis car?

[grobmotorix]

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[WayneB]

Better get the ball rolling, its obviously not Nick Masons 250 GTO.

Datsun Z  based?

[grobmotorix]

To my best knowlegde the basis car is not a Datsun / Nissan Z.

[WayneB]

Porsche 944 based?

[grobmotorix]

Yes. That was the easy part...

[Majeko]

Roy Kelly?

[grobmotorix]

No.

[grobmotorix]

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[Paul Jaray]

Alpha-1 by AME?

[grobmotorix]

We have a winner!

It is indeed a Porsche 944 based Ferrari replica.

This very car might be something special, as there might be a link to Colani.

I´ve scanned dozens of original private photos of a Colani employee, I know.

He didn´t recall this car, but was quite sure there was a Colani involvement.

[Paul Jaray]

 
Porsche engine was quite a clue!

[WayneB]

Grob, are you 100% sure this car is by Alpha-1?

When I was tackling the puzzle I found Alpha-1 made kits for the 260/280 Z Datsuns , but never any mention of a  Porsche 944.

Where were the photos taken?

[grobmotorix]

Well maybe it is just the AME GTO, but it was definitly based on the 924/944 and what I wanted to hear was the company name "AME".

So I´d stay to my decision...

[Paul Jaray]

Here's what I have:
(from a '85 magazine)

[WayneB]

I accept its an AME from Germany based on Grobs photo, but the car photographed in Paul's magazine article is obviously very different and Datsun based.

Maybe Alpha-1 in America marketed the AME kit in North America under their name who knows?

[grobmotorix]

I´ll change the puzzle title into AME GTO...

[grobmotorix]

Here´s a rear view of the unfinished project with the old Porsche 924/944 mags:

[Arunas]

I accept its an AME from Germany based on Grobs photo, but the car photographed in Paul's magazine article is obviously very different and Datsun based.

Maybe Alpha-1 in America marketed the AME kit in North America under their name who knows?

Let's clear some facts:

Alpha-1 in the USA existed earlier than the AME (Auto Motorrad Entwicklung CP GmbH). Joe Alphabet of Alpha-1 took the design from Eagle Manufacturing (Campbell, California, USA) in 1983. Eagle Manufacturing GT was Datsun-based while their Dino replica used Porsche 914 as a donor.

Previously I knew only about the German AME Evolution 4.2 - a Jaguar E-Type replica - made in collaboration with a British company Challenger (company name must have been "Triple C" at that time).

What I think happened here is that the German AME imported Alpha-1 from the USA, adopted Porsche base and this was their version. Perhaps no more than a single example has been made.

Hope this helps.

[grobmotorix]

THank you very much for your research - let´s see if someone will know exactly about the history about this car one day...

[WayneB]

I accept its an AME from Germany based on Grobs photo, but the car photographed in Paul's magazine article is obviously very different and Datsun based.

Maybe Alpha-1 in America marketed the AME kit in North America under their name who knows?

Let's clear some facts:


What I think happened here is that the German AME imported Alpha-1 from the USA, adopted Porsche base and this was their version. Perhaps no more than a single example has been made.

I don't see it your way, the mystery AME car is clearly modelled in clay , epoxy or plaster on to a Porsche base, the forms of the AME and Alpha 1 versions although similar (in a broad Ferrari 250 GTO way) are very different in size and contour.

If AME imported an Alpha 1 260Z kit , they would have had to alter its proportions  so much to get it to fit the Porsche that they would have been better off starting from new with a complete model job on a Porsche base (as shown in grobs photos)

[grobmotorix]

Agreed...