Does this look like a real Lamborghini to you? The "Mercy 4" built by CARKITINC uses a Pontiac Firebird as its base. It's up to the buyer to install the $3,995 kit which, according to CARKITINC, can take anywhere from 4-6 weeks to install. If the idea of owning an extremely fast and hugely expensive Lamborghini sports car for less than $4-grand sounds too good to be true, that’s because it is. To drive the point home, Lamborghini Automobili is taking legal action against CARKITINC, a kit-car company based in Albertville, Alabama. For approximately one year now, the small outfit has been making the dream of Lamborghini ownership slightly more accessible. “It’s really just for fun,” says Jackie Johnson, owner of CARKITINC. Johnson first got the idea to build his Lamborghini kits after seeing a white Murcielago LP 640, owned by professional snowboarder and skateboarder Shuan White, on television. When he researched the car online, Johnson couldn’t believe the exotic car’s stratospheric sticker price.
“No car can possibly be worth half a million dollars,” he said. He soon created a fiberglass mold of the Murcielago and began selling the Lambo-look-alike kits online, throughout the U.S. Starting with a used Pontiac Firebird, CARKITINC’s Lamborghini “Mercy 4” body-kit fits directly over the American muscle car, visually transforming it into a jaw-dropping exotic car – at least from the outside. CARKITINC has been building its Lamborghini replicas for about one year. Lamborghini contends the kits are blatant rip-offs and is now taking the Alabama-based company to court to halt production. All the mechanical parts and interior trim can be left standard. You’ll need to chop the top of the Pontiac to make the kit fit, and the entire process takes about 4-6 weeks to finish. It wasn’t long before the kits got the attention of Lamborghini, however. “Evidently they must think our cars look pretty good,” said Johnson, in regards to what he considers the Italian company’s over-reaction to his kits.
“They’re taking it really seriously.” Johnson equates the legal tussle to being “like something from the Twilight Zone.” Before Lamborghini filed legal proceedings against CARKITINC in the U.S. District Court system, the company had reached out to Johnson with one fixed and firm request: Chop up those Lamborghini design molds. “They told me they wanted a videotape of me, or someone else, using a chainsaw on the molds,” Johnson explained. Believe it or not, there is a Dodge Neon lurking beneath this gold-colored CARKITINC Lamborghini replica. You're certain to turn heads with this wild-looking ride, though the Neon's humble 4-cylinder engine won't win many drag races. He believes a Lamborghini customer would never be the kind of client who’d confuse or cross-shop an exotic car with his kits. CARKITINC’s other replicas include everything from Bentleys to Ferrari convertibles, and can be fitted to donor cars such as a Toyota MR2, Porsche Boxster, Dodge Neon or the long-discontinued Pontiac Fiero.
“I think it’s a form of artistic expression,” said Johnson. He’s determined not to settle, but to meet Lamborghini in court to defend his company and its products. Did you find this article helpful? If so, please share it using the "Join the Conversation" buttons below, and thank you for visiting Daily News Autos.Car & Truck Accessories Body, Wheel Well, Door Trim For Cars, Trucks, RVs and Boats Installs to Lower Door and Body Nerf Bars, Step Bars, Running Boards Several Styles and Universal Sizes Lambo Hinges, Motorized Packages Roof Rails, Racks & Accessories Hubcaps, Wheel Skins and Dually Simulators Roll Striping & Stripe Kits for Cars, Boats, etc. Wood Grain, Carbon Fiber Wrap & more Car Accessories & Custom Auto Parts All car and truck junkies have tremendous passion for their ride. Some want to add something simple, like a rear window graphic or one of our truck graphic kits. Some buffs are just the opposite, and they need to make huge changes to their car or truck, maybe adding a lift kit, a rear wing, or wide fender flares to accommodate their new wheels and oversized tires.
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