3 amigos, 3 speedsters, 1 perfect day!

Nice!  👍  Sounds like a memorable day.

As Lane said it looks like it was a great day! It's a shame there's no like button on first posts.

@Will Hesch- Can you tell us a little more about Mike's Speedster? Of course I want to know- year? stock or upgraded brakes? wheels/tires? engine upgrades? You know, everything!

It's wonderful to see your buddy still using his car for the purpose it was intended- tearing up the road and getting the blood flowing! Any more pics of it?

Have another great day guys! Al

BAM!

I love this on every level!

Envy all over the place at "Five Cent Racing"..........

@ALB Mike has a '58, silver out, red in, 1600 (don't know if it's a Super or not), the red interior is leather and the car (when not running) smells like a saddle shop. Mike put heated seats in while the interior was being re-done. It's all original parts-wise but has at least one re-paint in the original color. 

The amazing thing about Mike is that he drives it (almost) daily and tears up some of the gnarliest dirt roads in the county!

He did Santa Rita Creek Road last week. As Corey and I passed it's western termination below Whale Rock Reservoir yesterday, I mentioned: "That road is a gnary 4WD dirt road for about 5 miles!". 

When Mike first got it back from the upholsterer, he drove it from the Pozo Road over High Mountain Road to Lopez Lake. This road is not only unpaved for about 7 miles, it has a creek crossing (where folks have lost their lives during high water, it's the headwaters of the Salinas River) and is largely ungraded. I would never, ever take Whitecloud on it...ever!

That day he was following a Ferrari...

Mike didn't attend the recent Registry North/South event held in Cambria and doesn't really think his car's special, he says: "it's just a car, it's supposed to be driven!"

OK, here's the best description of Mike (I know you asked more about his car, but maybe describing the owner is an apt description of the car?

While Mike, Corey and I were parked in the No Parking zone at Ragged Point Inn, several groups approached while Corey was elsewhere, when asked about the vintage of the cars, Mike deferred to me and I explained we had a '57, '57 and a '58. When further asked if they were restored or original (his has minor patina) Mike, sensing my unease about revealing the true nature of Corey and my cars, quickly interjected: "Mine's original, theirs are fully restored!".

Yep, tres amigos, we don't need no stinking badges!

I want to meet Mike. He sounds like my kind of people. 

Perfect day! Good for you guys.

There should be no unease in describing our cars unless you’re trying to pass it off as the real thing. They are truly wonderful masterpieces of mechanical art. At the PCA Cars & Coffee I went to with Anand I had to explain to everyone there that it was a reproduction. Some of them still asked how long it took to restore it. I feel no hesitation in telling people what it is, no one should. 

With all the replica speedsters I have done, I only ran into one "snooty" P' owner. With his nose tilted back 66.5 degrees he say's, " Oh, it's one of those kit cars " My reply with a grin,  "Absolutely and I know every nut, bolt and wire... how about you young fella" ?

I am finding that, more and more, calling my car a “Reproduction” seems to register better with the general, less informed public.

They all think they know what a “kit car” is (they don’t, really) and that seems to connote a cheap facsimile of the original, using parts that weren’t available to the original, whereas a “reproduction” seems to connote something made “just like the original” but with new, “reproduced” parts (whatever that means).

This line (and believe me, it’s just a line) seems to register better and I get less follow-on questions.

I guess it’s kinda like making a 3D printed version of a Stradivarius......

So to be clear your buddy was driving a Speedster that is worth nearly 150-200K Daily?  That is awesome! Good for him. Any car I stopped driving for any period of time started to fall apart. I think  cars in high end non-driven collections need special regular care by professionals to keep them from deteriorating. So his driving the car is actually keeping it maintained huh?  Sounds good to me at least. LOL.. 

People have asked me "about what % does that car have in common with an original 356?"

Is there a easy answer to that?

My guess would be 80- 90% from an engineering standpoint.

Runs,  drives and provides a SEG ~

@ROBERT M, I have no unease telling folks what it is but you need to understand the context...

these folks knew nothing about our cars except they looked cool, were admittedly old and were smitten by the idea of the 3 of us driving them down Hwy 1.

My hesitation was not, and usually isn't, because I relish the deception, it's because it truly lessens the joy the viewer feels when they hear it's not "real". I've had to argue with folks (obviously these are naive folks) about whether or not it's fake, they can't believe it. 

So when given the chance I usually respond to their queries with: "57" or "Porsche Speedster" or "got a check, it can be yours for cheap!"

Yeah, I think we all get that a lot.  I'll stick with "Reproduction".  Why burst their bubble?

Agreed. To me when I answer "It's a '56" or "Porsche" it's usually just to quickly satisfy people in passing say at a fuel stop or grocery. They get an answer to their question and I get to keep doing whatever it was that I was doing. At cars and coffee or similar I'll go into detail but start off with the word "replica".

By the way, awesome story Will!

At a recent Farmer’s market, two vendors were both talking together and fascinated with my Coupe. Eventually, when I made it by their booth, one asked “Is that a Ferrari . I saw the emblem on the hood” ....Hmmmm, where could I go with this, ...

Many years ago I had a yellow Bradley GT My son and I stopped in Elizabeth, NJ at in an inner city McDonalds drive thru, I had to lift the clear plexi glass gull wing door open,  three girls crowded the drive thru window with one say'n...      "Look at dat car....It's a Lam bow geeeni " !

RacerX posted:

At a recent Farmer’s market, two vendors were both talking together and fascinated with my Coupe. Eventually, when I made it by their booth, one asked “Is that a Ferrari . I saw the emblem on the hood” ....Hmmmm, where could I go with this, ...

"Yes. Yes it is".

I usually just say my car is based on a 1955 Porsche Speedster.  I guess I could say it's half a Porsche, but that sounds dumb.  I sometimes say it's a re-bodied 911, made to capture the 356 look.

Really, it all depends on who is asking, and what answer I think will work at that instance.

What year is it?

"Think of it as a foreign version of Johnny Cash's Caddy in 'One Piece At A Time,' except I didn't steal it.

What is it?

"Glorified dune buggy," "1968 Beetle SS," and "very early hybrid" all work for me.

Did you restore it yourself?

Oh yeah. Ask me anything.

When asked, I now reply "It's an authentic plastic clown car."

My response depends on where I am and how much time I have to explain. 

If i’m at a light or driving, and someone shouts out their window “what year is that?”, I respond “‘57”.  

If I’m at a gas station, or somewhere where I’m next to my car for enough time for an explanation; I will tell them it’s a reproduction of a 1957 Porsche Speedster. Sometimes I use “replica”. Sometimes I use “tribute”.  I explain that it’s “hand-built” / made-to-order and/or bespoke by a professional company ______[location]______.  However, most times people could care less about the make or model, I seem to always get asked “What is that color?”  And for that I don’t have an answer.  I should just tell them “electric purple”, just to get people scratching their heads  

I’m opposed to the term “kit”. I think it belittles the process; almost sounding as if it could be assembled as easily as IKEA furniture. It just takes a Phillips Screwdriver and that little Allen Wrench. No additional work needed, just open the box and screw it together. And in 40 hours or less, you can be feeling like James Dean  

i agree the term  "kit car" is an insult....i think the word "replica" works best....that's what tell folks...after that they can form their own opinion....buy the way...loved your green car....very pretty  @KEVIN- BAY AREA

Kit Car is something manufactured by Revell with one exception... " Hoopty "

My car is not even driveable yet and people ask me if it is a kit car.  I just say yes so I don't have to explain, and truthfully I don't really even know what to explain.  I am building a car that looks like an 1958 Porsche 356 yet it has no Porsche parts.  Is that a "kit" car?  I dunno.  I do know that no one provided me with a kit, nor are there step by step instructions.  In fact, the only instructions I know of are what I get from all or you.

Alan Merklin posted:

Kit Car is something manufactured by Revell with one exception... " Hoopty "

Which has a "Revell" badge on it.

But Todd there is a build manual (for FF/CMC cars) at the Resources/Library tab.  It is step by step pretty much too.  I never did see "sparcy apply plastic glue to tab A and tab B though).

jncspyder posted:

i agree the term  "kit car" is an insult....i think the word "replica" works best....that's what tell folks...after that they can form their own opinion....buy the way...loved your green car....very pretty  @KEVIN- BAY AREA

 have always disliked the term "kit car" and take it sort of as a put down.  It's been a long time since I've heard it and I think the next time I hear someone say it I'll ask them "what is a kit car?".  I'm betting that no matter how they define it that it won't apply to my Speedster.  I'm fine with "replica" because that's what it is.  It never was a kit or anything resembling a kit.  It was manufactured in a factory ---doesn't that make it NOT a kit?  Whatever.

I did this...but people are going to see and hear what they want to even though I have no Porsche logos (other than the caps on my Fuch wheel set) on the Fauxster.  I do have a Stuttgart badge on the grill that is below and to the right (not shown) and that might cause some confusion being next to the Wolfsburg badge 😁

Jack I might use that the next time someone says kit car .... I think it is appropriate because we all know they are far from a kit like a meccano kit or a lego.

On the other hand you could say it is a kit that takes 10,000 hours at $100 per hour to build just to see the reaction and then say except this one was built by a manufacturer as a tribute to a 356.     I mean the fact that some did do them as a kit  is exceptional but it is still stuck in the mind of those who are not informed so we can't mad at someone being uninformed but at times the word kit is a denegrating word I guess.

Just say no!  Kit cars come from assembly lines in Detroit...

Here in the heartland, 3 times out of 4 the question is, "Is that a Karmann Ghia?".

The answer is, "Something like that". Most people don't really want to know all the gory details-- they just want to slow me down long enough to chat about cars they've orbited (almost nobody actually owned something cool), and they're good just hanging out in the glow of this pretty little thing.

It's an undeniably beautiful shape.

Oh Yeah, Karmann Ghia for most under 40 y.0.  

This past weekend I went to one of the 2 car shows that I go to every year.  It's a local fund raiser for the town of Chatham and their Police and FD etc.  I get to talk to car guys I've met before and see some pretty cool old planes.

When they ask what it is I sometimes tell them it's a 1965 VW Beetle that self- identifies as a ' 55 Speedster. Some of the guys driving very nice P cars say they would like to have one they could drive more often and not worry as much. Most people don't care what it is, but they know they want one.  Like Stan says ,  it's a beautiful shape.

They are kit cars though. Unless Henry or Carey builds them. And so what?

Gordon Nichols posted:

Yeah, I think we all get that a lot.  I'll stick with "Reproduction".  Why burst their bubble?

 I’m curious, what do people that drive reproduction Ford Cobras say when they’re asked if it’s a real Cobra? 

Answers...It's as real as any Cobra or '32 Roadster here and was previously owned by Elvis.

Todd M posted:

My car is not even driveable yet and people ask me if it is a kit car.  I just say yes so I don't have to explain, and truthfully I don't really even know what to explain.  I am building a car that looks like an 1958 Porsche 356 yet it has no Porsche parts.  Is that a "kit" car?  I dunno.  I do know that no one provided me with a kit, nor are there step by step instructions.  In fact, the only instructions I know of are what I get from all or you.

 Since my replica has a real Porsche 1.6L engine in it, I just tell them it’s a ‘Fiberglass’ 1956 Porsche Speedster. After all, about half the value of my replica is the price of the engine!