If you always thought about Greece just for classic ancient ruins and Feta cheese you’re wrong; there’s something more at least for car lovers. Replicar Hellas is a Greek car manufacture company specializing in replicas of old Porsche models. The models are manufactured from scratch in the company’s factory in the northern town of Katerini, without the use of ready kits from abroad.
Replicar Hellas manufactures two cars per month and the average waiting period for an order is five months. The models offered are the RCH 356 Speedster, the RCH Carrera Speedster, the RCH GT Speedster, the RCH 550 Spyder, the RCH Carrera Wide Body and the RCH GULF Wide Body. Regarding cost, the standard version of the Porsche 356 Speedster replica starts at 35,000 euros and may go up to 90,000 euros with extras. For the 550 Spyder, price ranges between 56,000 and 140,000 euros, depending on extras.
The first customer of Replicar Hellas was German and he bought the first car in 2008. Given the astounding quality of the designs, soon many more orders followed from Switzerland, Austria, Italy, England, Belgium and Spain. So far, the biggest demand comes from Germany. The Russians have also expressed interest asking for business partnerships.
So far, Replicar Hellas has manufactured and sold 40 Porsche 356 Speedsters, almost all of them in Europe. “Our goal is to produce 100 cars per model, per year, within five years,” stated the company’s sales manager, Thanassis Mitsokapas. “The investment required is between 2 and 4 million euros.”
Replicar Hellas has participated in several auto shows in Europe. “The feedback we received from all over Europe is that our quality, in general, is unrivaled. There is no comparison. England, which is our main competitor in the Porsche 356 Replica, has inferior quality”, noted Mitsokapas. In Stuttgart, where the Porsche manufacturing plant is, inspectors of the legendary automotive company congratulated Replicar Hellas, he added.
What is ironic, however, is that it is still illegal to drive these replicas in Greece. For bureaucratic reasons, they cannot get state approval, which means that they cannot get Greek license plates. This unfortunate situation is about to change. The company is now closer than ever to receive the necessary license to sell its cars to Greeks. Interest is already high and the first Greek order comes from Santorini.
So, if you are into a good old-timer Porsche replica go ahead to the company’s web page and place your order!
TAGS: BUSINESS & TRADE | DESIGN | INNOVATION
