2002 JPS Speedster, w/ Glasspar Hardtop: For Sale

So Stan, Does this mean your going to get an IM?

Mark

Mark,

Wow! That was fast.

Yes, that's my plan. I want a gas heater, and the retro-fit would involve too much cutting and "undoing" of things that are already done well to justify.

This will be my third car. I suppose it could be argued that I'm just a "serial car builder". I'm not leaving the fold...

Stan... hate to see your car go! Glad to see you still have the Speedy Bug.

Joe, it's the IM bug... a lot of that going around these days.

George .... I think its the heat thing.Thoughs with thin blood need an IM. They are nice.

Beautiful photos Stan. A car like that won't last long on the market. The options alone make the car a great deal and the top makes it all-weather. Good luck. You shouldn't have to wait long!

It was great meeting you this last week. Sorry to hear about the tranportation issues.

Paul,

The picture was from Knotts 2002, before I took delivery. That's John Steele with the trophy the car won. Thanks for getting the word out about the car, it's a bittersweet thing- I've really enjoyed owning it, but I'm excited about the next build too. Thanks again.

Stan, All I can say is somebody is going to be very happy after they buy your car! All the bugs worked out by a guy more left brained than I am, a custom fitted hardtop, that while costing you over $4000, I know the guys that made it and fit it did not make any money on the deal, your car is a great buy!

Thanks Bill. The hardtop is what makes the car unique, along with some of the detail stuff I did to make the car more original appearing or usable. It took an unbeleivable amount of money and effort on my part to get the top to this point. Russ R from Fibersteel has no desire to do another one.

The car also has a full stayfast cloth top and side curtains I modified to make a lot more weather tight. I really spent quite a bit of time and effort "ironing out" the little detail stuff that drives a lot of new owners nuts after they take delivery of something custom.

The car looks fantastic, runs good, and has been a pleasure to own. I never had any intention of selling until I started to add up the cost of what I wanted to do next, and comparing it to the price of a new build- and I'm still not sure this is the wisest thing to do.

But the new car is on order- so right or wrong, this one's for sale. I hope whoever buys it appreciates all that's gone into getting it to this point.

So Stan, when do we get to hear your build details?

Mark

Mark,

I'm still working on them. I suspect they will change several times before I'm completely satisfied with the specs, but a few things are definate:

It will have a 2110- the engine is build and in my garage.

It will have a gas heater.

Most everything else is changing in my mind daily. A lot will depend on when I sell my JPS.

Stan,

Your JPS will make someone very happy this summer. It's a great color, has the detail items, and that hard top is something near impossible to get done right.. and you have it perfect.

To Prospective buyers: This is your opportunity to snatch a great buy in the driving season. This car is ready now. And after having met Stan this past weekend, I know this Speedster is near perfect in all ways. Instead of worrying about engine issues... this one runs, and runs right. Instead of waiting on a build list that may get you a car by July/August, this car is ready now. It is tweeked, all the bugs are out, the engine is broken in and is ready for a road trip.

I just hope someone buys this that has a true appreciation for the value and TLC they will get in this car. It has all the post-buy add ons, those CB Kits for the ICTs look great (one example of the detail in this car.). Any potential VS or JPS owner shoud look hard at this one. Low miles, and it's still new.... the price is perfect.

Stan, If you don't get a bite after the east meet, I'd put it on E-Bay. It will fetch good money there... to some SOC member's loss.

You're very kind, Jim. It was good to finally meet you last weekend- I really appreciated your hospitality at Knotts, and your generousity in letting me drive your car. It truly is a work of art.

I assume everything went like clockwork at CB on Monday, since your are home posting again. Enjoy your new car- I've enjoyed just checking it out!

Stan's JPS was completed by John Steele just before my Black JPS was built. I watched his car being put together and the amount of time and care put into the fittment of that Glasspar top was astounding. It's a beautiful car - and would be tough to duplicate today at that price. Someone's going to get a beaut.

Stan, the Campout is coming up in a couple of months. A lot of interest has been shown in our cars in the past. With Henry, Dale, Rick, Bruce, possibly Paul and I there we can surely steer any prospective buyers your way. Many would jump at the chance at getting a car like your with the chance for a road trip back to the West Coast.

For what you're asking it's a steal.

Stan,

Just got some e mail from some Porsche friends from Grants Pass and they are coming to Eagle Point tomorrow for a car show, I'll mention your beauty to them. They have a 944 and a 911, think they might need a 356 in pristine condition.

Bruce

Geez Stan,
That was your car at Knotts last year?
I've cut and pasted your ad into an email format to send to a few folks I know that have mentioned they like my car... 'cept for my crazy stripes, big engine, loud noises...well they liked the idea of a speedster anyway!
P.
P.S. Got a reply on an email and unfortuneately my associate bought a used mustang vert. The Dawg!
P.P.S. Have you talked to John Steele about a prospect that may have approached him on a build, but was not willing to wait for a start to finish build?

Bruce- That would be fantastic. Thanks.

Paul- I emailed them yesterday- no word yet...

Stan,

Does this mean that your car will be in California soon?

If so, that would solve my only concern about buying the car.

Feel free to E-mail me about the timeline if you are indeed going to have the car in California.

Chris

Stan:

Bill at CaliforniaClassix does indeed do consignments. I spoke with him via email earlier today. You ought to contact him.
Paul

PS Bill has opened a brick and mortar car location in southern California. This is in addition to his great website.

I would advise against the consignment route - you have no control over who drives your car and how they treat it, and if there's an accident during a test drive the insurance issues can become a nightmare.

Maybe - it's called "garage insurance", and normally covers EMPLOYEES of the firm but maybe not prospective buyers. It does not cover some yahoo test driver that over-revs your engine and bounces the valves off the pistons...

I agree with GB, Consignment opens up a real can of worms. Wannabe's that want to speedshift and overrev the car. The consignment guy doesn't really pay much attention to what is going on in my experience.
Bruce

I had a 97 Jaguar XJR I consigned to a high end dealer.

The car didn't sell, although it got lots of "test drives". And I got it back with various trim bits broken.

I won't consign again unless I'm in a real bind.

I sold the car directly once it was back in my hands. The other thing to keep in mind is if you consign then you do the legwork and sell it, they still get a piece of the deal.

-Jeff

I guess there are horror stories everywhere, sorry Stan. I thought I had a good idea for getting into a more fertile marketplace. Oh, any additional renumeration due a consignor is usually based on a sale to lead they generate. Write your own ticket regarding specifics. If they want to sell your car they will accept your terms. Of course they will tell you you are tying one hand behind their back, but fuck 'em, you're just using their service to generate leads.

Did you look into Yahoo classifieds or Craig's list? I think you'll get more bites there and less 'tire-kickers' or wanna-Bs...

Stan,

This is the right time of year for a sale! Maybe try the Chicago Tribune for a weekend ad or the St Louis and Indy papers for a weekend shot. Bruce

Stan,

That Mid America show I mentioned to you in Effingham is the first weekend in June for the V W guys. Give it a whirl if you haven't sold it by then.

Bruce

Stan, I just looked at the pictures of your side curtains, very nice indeed.

Bill- Thanks for noticing. The picture is pretty dark, I'll try to get something better posted as soon as I can showing the detail of the windshield seal. Surprisingly, this isn't the most difficult sealing surface with the windows.

I was looking at the hard-top pictures. Very nice! I have seen alot of originals with hardtops, especially at the 2002 German Autofest in Ventura, Speedster was the "highlight" car. The top on your car appears to fit as well as on most of the originals I've seen. Absolutely excellent.

A topic at lunch today was the convertible hard top. I've never seen you post anything (could be an oversight on my part) about how easy/hard/heavy it is for the on and off operation. Care to comment?

Paul-

Good question. The hardtop is light enough to that one guy could move it around easily- but I always get help to avoid scratching it. When I put it on/take it off, my wife helps me, and neither of us strain at all. The attachment points use the same type of clasps as the standard Vintage/JPS clasps on the header bow- two in the same header bow location on the windshield frame, and three around the rear of the cock-pit (on the inside).

As I said in the ad, I have a very heavy foam lined plywood storage case I built for the hardtop when not in use. To install it, the softop and frame has to come off the car first. When I got the car, this was a pain, but I've made some modifications to the softop frame, so that this is a 2 minute job, which requires no tools. Once the softop is removed, I open up the crate, and lift out the top- I hold the top on one window opening, my wife on the other. Approaching the car from the rear, we walk on either side of the car and set the top in position. I go inside and fasten the latches, and the top is on.

The polycarbonite side curtains require the installation of some seals on the windshield frame, and the removal of two "pegs" (for the full tonneau), just aft of the windshield frame. When I install the hardtop for the season, I remove the pegs and store them in a ziplock bag until I take the hardtop off in the spring. I have a length of adhesive backed seal material for the windshield frame/ side window seal that I cut to fit in the fall, and remove in the spring. I have a length of the seal material like David S used for his poly side curtains, bit it looked wrong to me to do the windows this way, so I put the seal on the windshield frame instead.

This sounds way more complicated than it is. The top on/top off thing takes considerably less than a half hour to do. You wouldn't want to do it every day, but as a seasonal thing, or something for car shows, it takes less time than washing the car, and really seperates the car from the every speedster I've ever seen.

Thanks Stan.

I see that you won't need to provide a 'How-To' video for the prospective buyer.

Yesterday's lunch drew out stories about removable hardtops that required the use of eye bolts, 4"x4"s (one of Dale's favorite after market tools)ropes and a lot of grunting and swearing...No wait, the grunting and swearing was Dale eating lunch.

Stan, if your prospective buyers need an electric lift to make the installation a single person operation, I have a line on a company that builds these lifts. They install pretty easily in the ceiling of the garage, are inexpensive, and can handle a heavy hardtop with ease.

I'll throw in a hard to get '356 Tub Club Badge' along with that Spooner Shirt. Even if it is one of the XXXLs (it could be used as a car cover).

I cannot not believe that one of the so-C lurkers and talkers have not snatched up this sweet Speedster Stan. Maybe that's all they do is lurk and dream. But, sooner or later, someone that has the true 'flick' on Speedster Rs will see this and it will go in a New York minute.

Stan, That is a lovely Speedster. I couldn't help but notice the additional build-up on the dash. That is one of the things that sets a great car off from the rest. It is one of those tell-tales that speak volumes to the attention to build detail.

I also noticed the headliner in the hardtop. That is far and away the nicest and most "original" way to go. It is much nicer than the headliners that some shops cheap out and glue to the inner surface of the top. Having the Glasspar top with the small windows is a classic look that can not be duplicated by lesser tops.

The turn signal switch also looks very sweet. Just like it should in a high end car!

I know you spent alot of time on this car and the pictures really show the depth of detail you went to. In my opinion it is underpriced by a couple thousand at least. Anyone looking for a nice speedster should check it out. Anyone looking for a great speedster should buy it.

00000000H! hadn't thought of that. So much conservatism!

Don't folks that sell cars for a living have to have some form of insurance such that cars they allow people to test drive are protected as well as themselves in case some yahoo plants one in a meridian?

That's what's missing from your marketing plan Stan... a Hawaiian shirt offer!

"Reyn Spooner air-cooled Hawaiin shirt, any size, $25,000.
Included with your purchase a trick JPS speedster! Hurry while the shirtzzz last."

This offer subject to inventory onhand, must be eighteen to be eligible and a little crazy.

For those that have contacted me: After several false starts and near misses with a couple of buyers- the car is still for sale.