But so are many other things. Now lets not run into a Peel love/hate situation. I ask a more generalised question, as I simply do not understand.
Why is it that certain cars seem to become an object of desire to such a point that owners are quite happy to have non-originals, replicas, kitcar versions and even the wildly inaccurate facsimile of the original car. AC Cobra is the first car to spring to mind, but nearer to home both Messerschmitt and Peel continue to attract attention, as has Isetta. There are others, and clearly the fact that someone with skills enough to provide an easy route into creating these copies, has to be a major factor in the replica's existance.
In most cases the object reproduced is rare. So I can understand the attempt to make an accurate copy, though I would still find it fall short, as the real thing is out there to be bought, if you really want it. If the exercise was one to find out if it was worth buying a real one, I could understand that. But in most cases a few visits and a bit of research will tell if the entry price is worth the level of enjoyment on offer by a genuine example.
Messerschmitts are not rare, however. So that one is a mystory, unless its to buy into the concept. I do not, and never have, own a Mopetta, for instance. We would not get along despite it being superbly bonkers. Maybe it is here that I get lost as the argument could be that the level of enjoyment is the cost of having a copy, the genuine being to much money and trouble. My brain drives me to own real versions of things, though. To an extent I do not need to restore them. Owning and assembling what I have into an experience is enough to decide if the project to completion is worth it. So I can reel off a long list of rarities owned, but a much shorter one of running machinery used.
A case would be the Inter. I do not know how much Bob spent restoring it, its not really relevant. The difficulty was more in contacting the right people to enable it to be done correctly. I knew I was not going to get on with it. Bob had judged a need to take the car to the road in himself. A deal was done. The car got done, which is the important thing in the end. I imagine some people would find my part in that hard to understand. I collect a little, but have never really been a hoarder by nature. I admit to investing in certain cars as a pension, thats different. I admit to getting huge pleasure from finding unknown cars, whole or in bits, hedges or sheds. These I then attempt to make complete sets of parts. Otherwise its my task to redirect cars to a home where the car has a good chance to be put back to the road, or at the least be conserved. Nowhere do non original or copied cars fit in, save in the period when I was a trader, and even then it was very few.
Another example as an illustration of where I am in this. The option was a mint shell along with most of the parts to create a Peel replica, or the ownership of a very original unmolested Bamby. For me that is a no brainer, Bamby wins. For others it would be the Peel kit as it was probably worth more, and represents a more desirable car despite it not being a real one. Over time I think the Bamby value will catch up with that of the copy Peel. For most folk that would not be important as they probably would not be looking at ownership of that length of time. The none deal was a surprise to those who knew about it, I think, as many think I am purely money motivated.
So I remain phased by the number and degree of deviation from original specification folk choose to include in their 'copy' cars. I remain unsure quite where I stand on them, too (No not on the roof). Some are spectacularly accurate copies which were more work then restoring an original. Others are, well, different.... Certainly I must be aware not to blank these cars, especially if I ever get involved in organising again, as despite many factors most remain microcars owned by grades of nutters wanting to enjoy themselves in a minority activity.