From handbags to ham, Italy has produced some of the finest goods - and counterfeits - on sale. Now police have broken a ring of talented mechanics who have turned down-at-heel cars into replicas of Ferrari sports cars for sale at rock bottom prices to gullible motorists.

Officers have seized at least 14 counterfeit classics during the nationwide operation, and eight people are under investigation. The mechanics were

“extremely able artisans” who turned the chassis of Pontiacs, Mercedes-Benz and Toyotas into credible fakes painted in the Ferrari characteristic blood red, according to Guido Geremia, the head of the Palermo unit of the Italian financial police that led the investigation.

The unit seized 14 fake Ferrari Modena 360s, seven of which had already been sold with a further seven under construction. The cars were sold for as little as $30,000 (£15,000), far below the selling price of $142,000 when the model went out of production in 2004.

Mr Geremia said that some drivers had paid as much as $50,000, “or even more if the buyer is a mug”. The buyers knew that the cars were fake and were simply trying to impress neighbours and other road users. “That is the only reason,” Mr Geremia said.

His investigators launched the operation against the car counterfeiters six months ago. The first raid was on a small mechanics' shop in Licata, near Palermo in Sicily, but the search spread across Italy as far as Milan.

Possible charges against those involved are criminal association, counterfeiting, domestic industry fraud and traffic in stolen goods.

In the Licata case, the mechanics worked from a model of collector's quality, with all the correct details and proportions. Parts were bought on the internet. “All you need to do is go on the internet to see how diffused this sort of thing is,” Mr Geremia said. “There are all kinds of kits available to modify cars to resemble Ferraris and other costly brands,” he said. The fakes breached copyright because even the smallest parts of Ferraris and other cars are patented.

During their country-wide search, police turned up fake Porsches, Mercedes, a Lamborghini, Toyota and a Lotus. Mariella Mengozzi, a Ferrari spokesman, said that the company had been alerted to previous fakes of its iconic sports cars. The company has in the past found videos of body shops reworking other cars into Ferraris. “Ferrari is a product that maintains its value over time and, of course, we try to protect our clients who buy the real thing. When a car is not official, it does not have the characteristics it should have for the brand,” the spokesman said.

The investigation is continuing.