And here is a short excerpt from the article at The Internet Craftsmanship Museum:
"Back in the 1970's, Pierre Scerri was a big racing fan. He loved the look and the sound of the Ferrari race cars that graced the European sports car races he attended. As a young telecommunications engineer he wanted very much to own such a car, but realized there was no way he could ever afford to buy one. If he wanted to have a car like that, he would have to build one himself. He started with drawings of each part of the car—a project that took three years in itself working just from photographs of the real car. He then started on construction of the car. The 12-year construction odyssey took Pierre on a journey though virtually every process needed to build the full size car. He learned to mold his own rubber tires, cast his own glass headlights, make his own battery, weld the tube frame, build the shock absorbers and such delicate tasks as making a miniature tachometer and other working gauges. The drawing and machining skills were learned from reading books, as he had not been given any training in these subjects when in school.
Of course, there was the running 100 cc, fuel injected, dry sump, flat 12-cylinder engine; the heart of the car that had to be built too. The engine alone took three years, and just tuning the exhaust to get the proper "Ferrari music" took almost six months (and three different sets of exhaust pipes) before Pierre was satisfied. To learn pattern and mold making to do the castings, he attended a foundry school in Marsaille. Bodywork, upholstery, electrical system—all had to be fabricated from scratch. The only part that required some collaboration because of its exotic metallurgy and tight machining specifications was the gearbox. For this Peirre was able to work with Colleti, the famous builder of the full-size Ferrari racing gearboxes who lent their expertise in making the actual gears used inside the cast case. The 5-speed box also has a working reverse gear. In total, Pierre estimates a total of over 20,000 hours was devoted to completing the car, which was finished in 1992." continue reading
Well, if that isn't a dedication, then I don't know what is.
