Don't want in any way to obstruct the (doubtless perfectly genuine) grudges several people have against Classic Replicas...

...but if Gordon Ainsby really has just popped up as "Nostraloom" isn't it a bit weird he had the foresight to join the forum in that name over 2 years ago?

Hi ROBBOC
you are quite right "Nostraloom" is not Gordon Ainsby . There are a number of reasons for stating this. He answers his e-mails being the main one.
I have had a number of contacts with him. He has been helpful, another reason. He has forwarded photos of the Dino he is building and is not using an Alfa engine.
The fact that he appears to be the only satisfied client of Gordons, should not be held against him.

hi all
don't let the fact he joined two years ago let that cloud any judgement. classic replicas has been about since around 2000. he could have joined any time from then till now. and emails etc. pictures can all be used to tell a different story. I have pictures of several unfinished dino's all with different engines and all in different locations/ garages that could each be used to tell a different story.
I'm not suggesting anything here just making a observation.
I learn't my lesson when dealing with deon-never pay for anything that you cannot see or feel with your ow eyes or hands.
The only dealings I had with cr was some dino window frames,which quite frankly were not worth the alley they were made from. I'd never seen aluminium mig welded before and the quality was appalling. Looked like a pigeon had crapped on them!! needless to say they were binned. :smash:

Gordon mentioned his sympathy for Nostraloom.
 

Here is some news on Classic Replicas and Gordon Ainsby.

When I visited to attempt to identify the car sold to me owned by another customer who attended at the same time we met Gordon. Although he claimed that the forum had no effect on his business he was not happy about it. He mentioned the comments about Nostraloom and said how sorry he felt for him. He didn't however feel sorry for me having taken 10k for a car he didn't own or for the owner who he has taken even more from and supplied with nothing then sold the car.
He made no effort to apologise what so ever to either of us or offer any resolution.
The part built car is now dumped outside his workshop on the roof of a container covered in plastic. It has not progressed since I last saw it in way. He is refusing to continue building the car or offer any refund to either of us. The previous owner and myself were unable to find a chassis no and neither
could Gordon, that was after all 3 of us searched. I have the engine number though so if anyone is offered a part built car with an alpha engine beware.
AR 06412 *005825*
Gordon is making no attempts to repay either of us or complete this car. He has not contacted us either although he is aware we are both wanting a refund.
I have asked an independent mechanic to value this car who has seen it and he feels that it would need huge modification to become roadworthy and estimates it's value at less than £3000 in it's present condition.

:sad: :sad: :sad: :sad: :sad: :sad:

I have been contacted by another customer who is building a site in honour of Gordon Ainsby and his many business's requesting any facts related to my experience and others I know of. If anyone would like to pass me information I will forward it and post a link to the site once it is uploaded.

Lastly I do value the support given from other members on this site and for those who did not have a bad experience with this company I wish you well and happy motoring.

I have also found what seems to be a reputable car builder with genuine engineering expertise if anyone is interested please IM me

Hi there inspace;

It could be interesting to put on here some pictures of your car so people can see for themselves its state and appreciate better what you are talking about.
I believe that 3,000 is a possible price even though someone could think at first it´s too low. I think it´s possible because I think i know what the car looks like...

Looking forward to see that website.

cheers

Dino_gt

Good idea, I will post tomorrow.

Sorry been a tad busy,
I will Definately post over the weekend.
Ps thanks for all the IM's making for a interesting history.

Hopefully you can all see these pic's
The shell,Chassis & Engine & Bonus shots were all sent to me after many requests (I really like the bonus shot!!). At this point I was being told the car would still be ready on time they were sent in May and I was meant to drive away in end May/June. When I saw them I couldn't believe it. The car had already been set back from April which was the original pick up date. The reason for the first delay was that Gordon decided without consulting me to completely change the chassis for free??
Why would anyone do that. I went along with it because frankly I had no choice.
Sadly the last one is of the car a week or so ago and this is where it has sat for some time although I owe no money, have paid 10k, this is the price I pay for dealing with Classic Replicas. So again BEWARE.
I would like to just point out when I first visited the workshop in February 2011 I saw this car (basically) part built. Gordon told me it just needed spraying and cosmetics to finish. Made it sound like he made them in his sleep. Should I say in his DREAMS.
The car was never sprayed and when I visited with the true owner late last year and Gordon kindly took it off the container to see if it were possible to identify the car, it still wasn't sprayed. The previous owner had paid for a respray to be done.
I wish I had taken a Pic when I first saw the car but at that time I didn't see the need.

Hi Inspace;
Just a couple of questions before making comments;
-did you see the front and rear bulkheads made?
-door hinges as a part of the chassis as well made?
-Was the windscreen included in the price?
-Rear screen?
-Door frames?
-What about doors, bonnet, engine cover and boot lid?
-Glass for windows as well?
-Roof for GTS?
-Was he suppliying any wheels or brakes? Were they also included in the price or not?

In reply to your Q's Dino GT
The car I was offered was part built when I saw it for the first time. Gordon told me that the previous owner had fell ill and asked for the car tobe sold by Gordon to recoup his loses, I didn't question this but why would I. It was much later I realised the car was still owned by another customer in their eyes and Gordon had simply stopped contacting him. When I was due to pick the car up nearly I visited to see progress. when I got there the car was virtually the same although Gordon had changed the chassis for his own reasons but without consulting me. This was the first delay I tolerated.
I can't really answer about the doors hinges with conviction. All the rest of what you mention was supposed to be included in the price and the work done after my initial payment then a settlement on completion. I chose wheels and interior colour in leather but it all started going wrong when nothing was happening with the car after months. Now I look back it was just a few hours of Gordon's time to go though this with me and then he could carry on how he wanted. It became apparent he was doing little to get the car finished. It actually suited him that I started questioning why because it gave him reason in his mind to stop communicating. How dare I question him!!
Think I mentioned that when the previous owner visited with me he said the car looked the same as when he last saw it 2 years ago. I can't say that for sure but it is definitely not getting done now!!!!

Hi In-Space;

Let´s comment a little bit about this kit with the purpose of giving more information to the people on this forum that may need it.

I have to say that the price you paid for the kit would have been reasonable if, of course, all the parts I mentioned in the previous post were supplied.

Looking at the pictures, the bodyshell needs extra work before painting, not little, and front bulkhead, inner tub and rear bulkhead are missing, and this is not a minor thing either.

Let´s assume that doors, bonnet, engine cover and boot lid, windscreen and rear screen and door frames are supplied by Gordon, otherwise it would be nonsense to take the kit as it is.

There are of course other things such as door hinges, locks and strikers, door latches, bonnet, engine cover and boot hinges as well, which would be an extra cost in case of accepting the kit as it is.

I wouldn´t need to say that there are more things such as the gear change mechanism on the gearbox to invert the gear lever movement on it or the interior door covers, consoles, electric window motors, etc. which would increase the final cost and add extra work and complications.

The complications are even worse than the extra spending, as you will have to look for a solution that, if you are not an engineer, would maybe not able to find it and end up looking for someone to do it for you, adding more extra cost.

Let´s also consider that the wheels or the seats are not included in the price, which is common in other kits.

A kit comprising all the above mentioned items was being sold by Gordon in the region of 14,000 pounds, according to magazines and his website.

All that said, I have to say that Gordon seems to have improved the chassis, as he was using the Deon chassis design, except for the centre tunnel, which he removed.

However, believe it or not, I´ve seen worse kits than yours: chassis and body shells, coming from Gordon, needing much harder work and many more hours working on them to get them right.

In all cases there were parts missing, what indicates that Gordon is not capable of making a complete kit, which is necessary to keep your costs at a reasonable level and avoid more hours of hard work to finish the car.

Also, not only the part is missing but also the information on what to look for, where to find it and how to install it, etc, and this happens with lots of parts.

I hope I have helped other people wondering about the Dino kit coming from classic replicas.

I also wish that you In-space can get your money back which is what you deserve.

Kind regards

Dino_GT

More food for thought.
He was using a deon chassis as you have correctly stated with the baulk head or back bone of the deon chassis literally cut off!! The deon space frame chassis had been designed like that from the start, even when called the jhc so I wonder what effect cutting the back bone off had to torsional strength? Also the jhc/deon chassis had high cills to cope with side impact protection and I noticed looking at cr's chassis these had also but cut down lessoning the chassis's strenght even further. As for £14000 that seems cheap, at the time when deon were trading, deon were quoting somewhere in the region of £18-20000 for a complete kit.
Ian

I agree that a complete kit would be reasonable for 14.000, however COMPLETE is what would be reasonable. other kits like the hawk stratos are in the region of this amount, and their quality has nothing to do with what classic replicas is making.

Regarding the stiffness of the chassis, I don´t think Gordon had it in mind when modifying the Deon chassis, which again reveals the way he runs his business. I guess that the internal appereance of the car closer to the original Dino was the only thing he wanted to get.

There´s a posibility, however, to anybody who has this modified Deon chassis to increase the stiffness by making the fiberglass monocoque bodyshell stiffer, with an internal structure like a roll cage which reinforces some of the critical points of stress, as the original car. This is also better in a GT than in a GTS of course, because the first one has a roof...

HI Guy's,
All good points. The car was offered complete for 18,000 to drive away (road tax extra).
The thing is this car has not progressed for years the previous owner says it resembles what he say 2 years ago and hardly advanced.
On a positive note there has been much effort I am sure to attempt to improve the car.
That is why I suggested earlier in the thread either ask to drive one or ask for a previous customer list and ensure they are not just friends of the owner.
As for deserving my money back. I have had nothing but lies and grief from this company. I have had no satifaction for my Money at all in fact it has cost me more money to pursue it. I have not even received the car badly built so I can continue to build it. No contact at all from them. So yes I think I deserve my money back too!!!

Of course it may seem that I am simply moaning and being negative about Gordon & Classic Replicas but let me assure you I can prove all I say and if anyone wants proof then simply ask me. The biggest benefit to other car builders on this site is the advice to avoid this company. What they produce are not replicas but despair & disappointment. The website is still in progress and that will give all the documentation of this Company , all llnked companies, Credit background and how many companies have actually left owing large sums of money to customers and suppliers. YOU REALLY WILL NEED TO SEE IT TO BELIEVE IT.

Hi again;

I really would like to see that website when it´s ready. Send me a P.M. when it is. I can believe what you say because I know the guy and discovered the same thing at the time. Dealing with this company is a serious risk but at least we can make some comments here and let the people know what´s going on with it and warn them.

regards
Dino_gt

I will and am uping the pace on this because it is a year since he took my money and I have nothing for it.
Cheers