550 Spyder Replica Wanted

@Stan Galat posted:

Martin,

I'm going to rewind here. Have you ever sat in a Spyder?

Not everybody fits. I changed my avatar to the current "bear on a tricycle" after attempting it for the first time.

I have not. I’ve never even seen one in person. I am quite comfortable in Boxster's and Miata’s. I find C4 and C5 Corvette’s coffin-like but I think that’s due to the high belt line, I fit fine. I fit but was not comfortable in a Honda S2000. Now I have a new mission. Find and sit in a Spyder. I understand Speedsters are roomier.

Martin

Keep in mind that not all Spyders are exactly alike, either. Lots of variables in seat placement/adjustability, pedal location, and steering wheel size.

@mhconley Where exactly in Southwest Florida are you? I wonder if there is anyone near you that could let you sit in their Spyder? Otherwise you might owe it to yourself to take a trip to Carlisle, PA for the annual get together and check out a few of the offerings.

https://www.speedsterowners.com/topic/carlisle-2022

@Lane Anderson posted:

Ed's passenger's seat is smaller than his driver's seat, and is the narrowest I've ever seen.  Even though I am not particularly width enhanced in the derriere I was unable to ride in his car as a passenger at last year's Carlisle.  The driver's seat was fine.  I think he narrowed the passenger's seat so that the period-correct jack could fit next to it.

As I recall, Lane fit (uncomfortably) in the passenger seat but at the time I had the ride height set too low and the front wheel rubbed, so out he bailed.

Lane is right that the passenger seat in my car is narrower than the (narrow) driver's seat, but it's not my doing. Those seats were supplied with the Thunder Ranch kit and, I suspect, the narrower passenger seat was chosen to make room for the Brandwood cable shifter, whose housing is a bit bulkier and taller than what Beck had used previously, and the real deal shifters.

I of course did not notice the difference in seat widths until I built the mounting hardware, and did not realize my driver's chair was different than standard until a prospective buyer backed out of the sale last fall after sitting in it for about an hour.

Until then, everyone who sat in it fit.

@Robert M posted:

@mhconley Where exactly in Southwest Florida are you? I wonder if there is anyone near you that could let you sit in their Spyder? Otherwise you might owe it to yourself to take a trip to Carlisle, PA for the annual get together and check out a few of the offerings.

https://www.speedsterowners.com/topic/carlisle-2022

I’m in Cape Coral across the Caloosahatchee from Fort Myers. I think a trip to Pennsylvania may be a good idea.

Martin

@mhconley I'm 5'9" with a 31" inseam, size 11 shoes, and weigh 220 at this time. I fit fine in a Spyder and I don't have a narrow or excessively wide butt. I have a 350mm(I think) Nardi wheel with a short wheel adapter.

The front of my seats are raised an inch with aluminum brackets, the rear is raised 3/8" with spacers. The seats are bolted to the floor as far back as they can go.

I am thinking if you're over 5'7" you probably want to bolt the seats down and eschew the tracks.

It would be best if you sat and rode in some cars though. Come up to Carlisle May 12-14, there will be several Spyders there, mine included.

@mhconley posted:

I have not. I’ve never even seen one in person. I am quite comfortable in Boxster's and Miata’s. I find C4 and C5 Corvette’s coffin-like but I think that’s due to the high belt line, I fit fine. I fit but was not comfortable in a Honda S2000. Now I have a new mission. Find and sit in a Spyder. I understand Speedsters are roomier.

Martin

Yeah - everybody can get comfortable in a Boxter. Almost everybody can get comfortable in a Miata. This is not that kind of car. An S2000 is roomier than a Speedster, which is a lot roomier than a Spyder. The cabin is _tiny.

If you're long in the torso you'll likely find yourself rapidly running out of fore and aft adjustability and may find it nearly impossible to get behind the windshield. You'll never know without at least sitting in one. I can't stress this enough - please don't make a $50K mistake.

I'm sure there will be somebody who's 6'7" and 175 lbs who will say they fit just fine - but if you're 6 ft tall with a 32" inseam, or if you weigh over 220 or so, you may not fit. Before heading any further down the rabbit hole, find somebody to ride with.

I want one of these cars in the worst possible way. I've got it really bad. But I just don't fit - period. Beck, Vintage - doesn't matter. I need my butt a LOT lower and the seat to slide back another 3 or 4 inches. All the usual tricks (tilting the seat back being the easiest) are not possible, as it only  exacerbates the problem of no fore/aft room.

Nobody wants to hear it, but it's the truth. You've got to try before you buy. There's a show in Carrlisle, PA in May and a get-together in the Smoky Mountains in Sept. I'd recommend going to one or the other.

Listen to Stan.  Try before you buy is important.  Besides, we need somebody new to drink beer and tell lies with.

We don't talk enough on this site about how we're all actually travel agents heavily invested in Central PA Marriotts and several boutique hotels and restaurants in the Smokies.

I'm 5'10" with a 32" inseam, size 12.5-13 shoe and weigh 170. I fit fine.

Like Danny, I have a Vintage car but mine was built by Seduction Motorsports and Danny's was partially started by Vintage and finished by Danny. We both have glass windshields and type I engines.

I removed my seat rails. The front of my seats are raised 2.5 inches and the rears are bolted straight to the floor. My seat is slid all the way back so that my tonneau cover just slides between the seat and firewall.

I have to run barefoot or socked, on my gas pedal because my shoes hit a hump in the forward firewall under the gas tank.

I just ran across this video that has some info that might be of value to someone looking at one of these cars. The dual headrests look goofy AF.

@mhconley this one intrigues.

https://myemail.constantcontac...Ur114zBvRYVsN39X_XNo

Old Beck, custom IRS, true 2-liter Type 4 engine (the one in the video above is a Type 1, not a Type 4). Crazy-cool fan shroud.

@Stan Galat posted:

Yeah - everybody can get comfortable in a Boxter. Almost everybody can get comfortable in a Miata. This is not that kind of car. An S2000 is roomier than a Speedster, which is a lot roomier than a Spyder. The cabin is _tiny.

If you're long in the torso you'll likely find yourself rapidly running out of fore and aft adjustability and may find it nearly impossible to get behind the windshield. You'll never know without at least sitting in one. I can't stress this enough - please don't make a $50K mistake.

I'm sure there will be somebody who's 6'7" and 175 lbs who will say they fit just fine - but if you're 6 ft tall with a 32" inseam, or if you weigh over 220 or so, you may not fit. Before heading any further down the rabbit hole, find somebody to ride with.

I want one of these cars in the worst possible way. I've got it really bad. But I just don't fit - period. Beck, Vintage - doesn't matter. I need my butt a LOT lower and the seat to slide back another 3 or 4 inches. All the usual tricks (tilting the seat back being the easiest) are not possible, as it only  exacerbates the problem of no fore/aft room.

Nobody wants to hear it, but it's the truth. You've got to try before you buy. There's a show in Carrlisle, PA in May and a get-together in the Smoky Mountains in Sept. I'd recommend going to one or the other.

I’m 5’11” with a 30” inseam, size 9 shoes but I weigh 300 lbs. I hope I can fit but I’m afraid I won’t.

My father left us a 28 model A he built and I do not fit in it - at all. I barely fit under the steering wheel but there is absolutely no way I could shift the car.  The seat was so close to the pedals I had to splay my legs to fit in the car and my right leg was hard up against the shifter.

Martin

@edsnova posted:

@mhconley this one intrigues.

https://myemail.constantcontac...Ur114zBvRYVsN39X_XNo

Old Beck, custom IRS, true 2-liter Type 4 engine (the one in the video above is a Type 1, not a Type 4). Crazy-cool fan shroud.

It does indeed…

Martin

Listen carefully to some of these petite men saying they "fit fine"

I feel very confident in saying that you just won't fit.

I feel very confident that no 300 pound man ever has .... caveat emptor.

Or at least heed the advice of try before you buy. There's not a lot of room for wider seats

I’m 6’2” with a 32” close to 300# and I fit “fine.”

My seat is all the way back and bolted to the floor. (Adjustment delete)

I lost a little bit when I changed my OEM VW pedal cluster for CNC pedals. (Mostly space for my left foot to rest under the clutch pedal) But I have them virtually upright and I think that actually gained me an inch, and fit perfectly for heel/toeing.

My Spyder “fits like a glove” and is ergonomically perfect for “spirited” driving. It’s not as comfortable as my Mercedes or Smart, but I don’t expect it to be, any more than I would expect my Ducati as comfortable as a BMW RT.  

@WNGD posted:

Or at least heed the advice of try before you buy. There's not a lot of room for wider seats

I don’t know if my seats are wider than that (doubtful) but there’s no room for an e brake between mine.
Like Carlos, there is just enough room behind my seat back to slide the tonneau behind it.

I am 6'1, 250.......... no rail delete and I do fit in my Spyder. I don't know if that qualifies as an answer on whether or not you will fit or not though. I actually end up adjusting my seat based on the day and some days, the seats are not all the way back.

Where the "fit" becomes a problem is the steering wheel and pedals. I may have certain times where the bottom of the steering wheel runs over the top of my legs or I have my knees at 4 and 7 on the steering wheel.

The pedals require that I generally wear driving shoes or something with a thin sole or I catch the gas pedal/brake pedal with my foot in the middle of driving.

Strongly suggest sitting in one (or a few) before purchase.

I'd also add, I will keep my Spyder until I can no longer get in and out of it, which is a trick. Don't think I am close to that today but it's another consideration.

^that.

More than once I've had to instruct people on how to get in the car, and while one recent contestant (tall man probably in his mid 70s) marveled that he fit, his wife the whole time was screaming that if I let him get in the car he'd never be able to lever himself out of it.

She was wrong, but not very.

Getting out is definitely harder than getting in. You’re working against gravity.

“I'd also add, I will keep my Spyder until I can no longer get in and out of it, which is a trick. Don't think I am close to that today but it's another consideration.”

I’m beginning to wonder if I’m not living in denial.  I’ve been suffering from some pretty serious back issues since November. In fact, I just left my second “test” prior to getting an ablative procedure on the nerves coming out L5-S1.

If that doesn’t work, the next step is a fusion which the doc told me will be a 6 month recovery, including a month in the hospital and 4-5 in a long-term care facility.

Meanwhile, my “winter” projects are still in their boxes waiting for me to be able to do them.

Given the way things are today, I can’t but think life as I’ve known it is close to being over.

Another note on getting in or out of a Spyder or even a Speedster. NEVER, and I mean NEVER EVER use the windshield as support while getting in or out of your car. Don't even use it to reposition yourself while seated. As a matter of fact, you should never even touch your windshield unless your cleaning it.

To get in my car I just step over the door with my right unshoed foot and slide on down into the seat. I do open the door to get out though.

I get in by, legs straight on the hoop ring and sliding down the seat. It was suggested I not do that but I haven't broken anything yet.

Out is back of seat for leverage and feet on the hoop ring. Step in-between the door and driver's seat, then out. Actually had a small carpet piece made to step on.

Getting in and out whilst standing isn't an option for me anymore since my top no longer folds down.  On the plus side I don't have to worry about people using the windshield as a brace.  Either way, it is low enough that I wouldn't call it easy.  An older friend of mine went for a ride and I was certain we would have to pull him out, but somehow he eventually was able to extract himself with dignity mostly intact.

I have a very good friend from work who knows about Pearl and I'm trying to figure out how to give him a ride.  He has Prostate cancer and just finished up a round of Chemo.  He also has stage 3 COPD on top of that so he has a constant oxygen system that goes where-ever he goes.  

I have a power port in Pearl so he doesn't have to run his Oxy-system on batteries and he recently got a new, "MACH X" version that is small enough to fit between his legs once seated, or I can strap it behind us on the rear seat.  One way or another, I'm gonna get him in and out without using the windshield for leverage if I have to lift him in and out myself.  We saved each other's butts a bunch of times at work, in generally hostile environments, so this is the least I can do for him, once the weather gets a bit warmer and before the pollen gets too thick.  

I got my 85 year old grandmother into and out of a slammed Honda Prelude (don't ask) that didn't sit more than a half inch off the ground. It can be done.

Yeah, this thread is about Martin and a Spyder.

What the heck does ingress/egress of a Speedster, a coupe, and a Honda have to do with this? NOTHING at all, that's what.

Back in mid-2010s with my old car, there was a certain well-known guest at Carlisle who'd never ridden in a Spyder. I tried to explain how to get in, but Mr. Know-it-all got in like it was a Speedster. Proceeded to scratch the heck out of the cockpit bulkhead and then plop into the seat, as the door sills are a LOT higher. The doors are also shorter in length from hinge to latch.

Getting in and out of a Speedster is almost civilized. Getting in and out of a Spyder is like putting clothes on, as in you wear a Spyder more than merely getting in.

I’ve never opened a door to get into a Spyder. I keep a towel on my seat. Step over the door on to the seat. Both feet on the seat. Sit down. To get out push yourself up with left foot on the frame. Stand up on the seat and step out of the car. NEVER grab the windshield. I have small feet size 8 and I still need driving shoes. I’m 5’7” 170 lbs. The car fits me like a glove.

There is an early Beck on eBay.

Martin

Thats a generation 2 car from the Brazil plant.  4 lug, long axle, basic build.  No options other than a steering wheel and some stickers.  Despite the claim of one of the first cars built, it would have been one of the first out of the Brazil plant, but the 200th (or so) overall.  No record of that car in our files, which is common for early cars, so I cant tell you if it was a kit sale or a turn key sale.  And just as I had stated previously, at that price range it needs a lot of TLC to be a clean example, but if the mechanicals are in order it would still be a fun one.

@chines1 posted:

Thats a generation 2 car from the Brazil plant.  4 lug, long axle, basic build.  No options other than a steering wheel and some stickers.  Despite the claim of one of the first cars built, it would have been one of the first out of the Brazil plant, but the 200th (or so) overall.  No record of that car in our files, which is common for early cars, so I cant tell you if it was a kit sale or a turn key sale.  And just as I had stated previously, at that price range it needs a lot of TLC to be a clean example, but if the mechanicals are in order it would still be a fun one.

Thanks for the information...

The seller sent me a link to the car on their website. Funny that they describe the car as follows, "...one of the first examples of Chuck Beck's 550 Spyder, Serial number 0011B. Beck Development hand laid the fiberglass bodies of these cars at their facility in Upland, CA and are considered much higher quality than the later cars where the bodies were sourced from Brazil. This car comes to us from a long hold in a private collection and to our knowledge, is the first time publicly offered for sale since completion."

I assume the B in this photo indicates it's a Brazilian body.

I'm going to wait until I've had the chance to see if I fit in one. Just browsing for now...

Martin

Before my Mother passed in 2004 , I took here for a ride in a 120 HP Bradley GT, getting her up and over the sides and under the plexi glass dull wing doors was a trick & the more we laughed the more difficult it was...So at about 100 mph Mom say's  ........." That's all it 's got " ?   :~)

@mhconley posted:

Thanks for the information...

The seller sent me a link to the car on their website. Funny that they describe the car as follows, "...one of the first examples of Chuck Beck's 550 Spyder, Serial number 0011B. Beck Development hand laid the fiberglass bodies of these cars at their facility in Upland, CA and are considered much higher quality than the later cars where the bodies were sourced from Brazil. This car comes to us from a long hold in a private collection and to our knowledge, is the first time publicly offered for sale since completion."

I assume the B in this photo indicates it's a Brazilian body.

I'm going to wait until I've had the chance to see if I fit in one. Just browsing for now...

Martin

Yes, we see it all the time, people will try and "poo-poo" on a variation to make theirs seem better.  The fact of the matter is that with each generational change there were large improvements.  There are even improvements within each generation.  I try and make the next car better than the last, everyday.  The quality of our fiberglass has always been top notch, CA, Brazil, Indiana, same techniques and QC.  The chassis has always been the same, except for on Gen 3 I got away form the aftermarket China/Brazil front beams and went to an Airkewld USA made front beam with full Delrin bushings.

Yes, the B denotes Brazil plant, and they did that since they started the numbering system over at #1, however they soon dropped the "B" so there are duplicate chassis numbers for the first 250 cars.  Plus there are about 4 or 5 #1 cars.  Chuck had several clients who HAD TO HAVE the very first car and he didn't have the heart to tell any of them no, so he told them all yes...  and the funniest thing is I actually own the true #1 car, and always will.

lol

@Carlos G posted:

I just ran across this video that has some info that might be of value to someone looking at one of these cars. The dual headrests look goofy AF.

Fabric “Hardtop.” What an innovation.

@chines1 posted:

Yes, the B denotes Brazil plant, and they did that since they started the numbering system over at #1, however they soon dropped the "B" so there are duplicate chassis numbers for the first 250 cars.

Funny. I once heard that the “B”denoted turn-key cars that Chuck had built. Glad to get info “straight from the horses mouth,” so to speak.

It’s funny no one has run into a registration issue because of duplicate serial #’s. (That we know of, anyway.)

@dlearl476 posted:

Funny. I once heard that the “B”denoted turn-key cars that Chuck had built. Glad to get info “straight from the horses mouth,” so to speak.

It’s funny no one has run into a registration issue because of duplicate serial #’s. (That we know of, anyway.)

California DMV, and probably every state’s DMV system, has no use for the serial numbers on Special Construction Vehicles. When registered they are issued a VIN or a unique number that meets that state’s requirements.

In SC they use the chassis number supplied by the builder so I think there would be a problem, but only if the dip Lucy numbers were both registered in the state.  I doubt that the states talk to each other, hence the lack of an issue to date.

I know of 3 states that use our number and the rest seem to assign their own, so while there is potential for a duplicate number, the chances are slim and it has yet to happen.  Once a number has been assigned by a state, that is now the number that is used going forward, so it likely won't happen since those cars have been registered for 30+ years now.

Illinois used the S/N supplied by Intermeccanica in 2005, under their (not rewritten) SEMA "custom and street rod" program.