If you're going to make a replica, it might as well be close to the original. At the time, Ford was selling the De Tomaso Pantera through its network. This car was ideal as a base for Sbarro's replica, since its technical specifications were quite similar to those of the GT40, with a 5.7-liter Ford Cleveland mid-engine and identical wheelbase. Sbarro therefore used the Pantera, to which he added a fiberglass body. The work was so meticulous that even the experts were mistaken, if the story of chassis #1048 is to be believed? In fact, Sbarro had enough original parts to build models entirely in line with the GT40. In this case, a certificate of authentication was supplied with the car. A total of seven examples were produced between 1982 and 1985.

The case of chassis #1048, an authentic Ford GT40 chassis, is an interesting one. The car had been through a number of ups and downs since it was built in 1966. Its then owner, Jean Pierre Van Den Doorn, entrusted it to Sbarro for a light restoration in December 1979. In 1980, the car was sold by Sbarro to Giuseppe Lucchini, but without its original chassis plate. This plate was later used by Sbarro for a GT40 replica, which he sold to... Jean-Pierre Van Den Doorn! As a result, Lucchini and Van Den Doorn each claimed to own the "real" GT40 #1048. The case went to court. A similar story occurred with GT40 chassis #1033, sold by Sbarro to a collector. However, another GT40 with the same chassis number was running in the USA. Here too, expert disputes and legal battles ensued, and Franco Sbarro was vindicated. But this didn't stop Franco Sbarro from taking the car back, thus cancelling the sale.

These stories about genuine GT40s raise a number of authenticity issues for cars that have undergone numerous transformations and restorations over the course of their existence, and have had many owners. For some experts, only the chassis number authenticates a car's identity. For Sbarro, and this was the opinion adopted by the court in case #1033, only the papers accompanying a vehicle are authentic. They make it possible to trace successive owners through restorations and repairs, and to unravel a tumultuous history.