‘You need to view it as a work of art… not just a car,’ says Rod Temporo of the replica Ferrari 250GTO he’s created from sheets of aluminium. The thing is, Mr Temporo didn’t recreate one of the world’s most iconic cars in a state-of-the-art panel beater’s workshop in Italy or England. Instead he built in a chicken shed on a farm in New Zealand.
This video shows us how Rod and his small team work in said chicken shed (complete with wildlife waddling around the workshop floor in between the chassis jigs and Ferrari V12 motors). The whole process is what Rod describes as ‘eye and touch… very little machining going on.’ Sure enough, there’s not a CNC machine in sight, neither are there any blueprints or original detailed drawings; everything made there is made from scratch and with Rod’s artistic eye.
Although this film focuses on the ’62 GTO, Rod has built a number of top-notch replica cars – usually Fifties and Sixties sports racing machines. In the film you’ll also see a stunning replica Jaguar XJ13 which he built with his father and which earned international acclaim.
It’s hard to tell exactly which parts were fabricated from scratch in the shed. We can assume that the Tipo 168 V12 has been sourced from a period V12 Ferrari, likewise most of the moving greasy bits and perhaps the dials, but such is the apparent skill of Rod and his team that they seem capable of making just about anything else they need… including wooden bucks upon which they beat and cajole sheet metal until it sees things their way.
We’d advise that you grab an afternoon cup of tea and treat yourself to the remarkable sight of this replica GTO being built in a shed. Apparently it took four years to build. It would take most of us that long just to clear our sheds out …
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