Automotive Legends aka SpeedsterCars.com...

Anyone familiar with this company located in So. Cal? I'm interested in the GTS-R model with the "extra" flared style of the fenders and the Porsche 17" wheels. I compared it with other competitors that carry their version of the flared vehicle. But, this particular GTS-R model has a small flat edge that compliments the edge of the flare along with the gradual transition of the fender to the body unlike the competitors which doesn't have that edge detail and the transition from flare to body are more abrupt. I prefer this type of flare effect vs. the other style since it seems to mimick the 911 wide-body Porsches quite nicely.

Has anyone dealt with this company as I'm weary about spending the cash on a company that's not even listed on the makers link of this site. Thanks in advance.

Checked out their website. It appears they are simply a reseller of Vintage Speedsters. I believe their "showroom" is located at the Cross Creek Shopping Center in Malibu.

If you like the looks of their cars, go talk to Kirk at Vintage in Hawaiian Gardens, CA. Why pay a guy in Malibu a "mark up" on a VS car you could have custom-ordered yourself directly from the manufacturer?

One other problem with these guys - their website contains a few photos of cars from other manufacturers (JPS and Intermeccanica) that I'm certain they do not have permission to use. I see two of my copyrighted pictures on their site. Stealing photos off the internet for commercial use is at best unethical; at worst it's criminal.

Big mistake on their part.

Not only that; I can see Stan Galat's car (which he's selling on the classifieds here) which has the Glaspar top and is a one-off....

Quite by coincidence, I visited the Automotive Legends Showroom on Sunday morning 5/22/05. A few weeks ago I met a fellow with a silver speedster that purchased it there and since then I've been curious about the place. The Showroom is at the very west end of the Cross Creek shopping Mall in Malibu (near Civic Center Drive and just north of PCH). It's a small showroom (about 20x30 feet). They have two Beck Spyders and one Vintage Speedster on display. They also sell some clothing and auto enthusiast's stickers and jacket patches. I think they may be connected to the auto detailing place in the parking lot adjacent to their storefront. The window sticker mark-ups on the cars don't seem very high. I imagine they get a discount from the builders; but how much are the builder's willing to discount? Their overhead must be pretty steep (Malibu can be pricy) so I wonder about the long term economics of the arrangement.

As has been pointed out if you want a Vintage Kirk will deliver in two two three weeks, maybe a bit longer if your spec's are a bit off his usual production specs.

With these custom builds you don't want a middle-man.

Also, a bit of trivia, I took Las Virgines Malibu Canyon to Malibu, after visiting the Showroom, I drove south on PCH to Topanga Canyon Road. On the way I hooked-up with a real '57 speedster with historic plates, a real early '58 356 coup, and a 55 Jag roadster. They were coming back from driving moutain roads in northwest Malibu. They were very complimentary of my car, nice guys. Topanga was great pleanty of twisties).

Well, I talked to Mike with Automotive Legends (aka SpeedsterCars.com) this afternoon and he tells me that they DO get the vehicles from Kurt from VS in a certain level but do all the finishing work themselves.

Regarding the extra large flare look, he tells me that he has a guy who specializes in creating that look which is flared further than your typical flare and includes a small flat edge trim around the wheel opening edge. IMO, that edge look really looks sharp combined with the subtle transition from flare to fender for both front and rear wheel openings. He says that anyone can get the vehicle with the regular flare straight from Kurt at VS. But, as of now, you can only get that extra flare detail from Automotive Legends. BTW, Mike does sound like a real nice and informative rep and tells me that the company has been around since '89.

The GTS-R vehicle is listed wrong on the web site and has actually gone up to around 27k for their packaged high end model.

Also, they're aware of their websites flaws and do have the intention of fixing and upgrading it when the time becomes available. Apparently, they've so been busy lately that their lead time on their vehicles are about 4-6 weeks FYI. Definitely, worth the wait for such a gorgeous vehicle, IMO.

Rudy:

That extra flare has shown up on several other cars, all around the country. One showed up at Carlisle this past weekend. It,too, was based on a VS, but had been modified in NJ, not on the West Coast, and had something like 245/50's hidden under the back - pretty impressive. The actual work involved to put that spacer in there seems pretty straight-forward, if you're inclined to have a mega-JLO rear end!!

gn

hey Gordon...

I didn't know that the extra flare was being produced elsewhere as I was given the impression that it was a new touch and was originally created in So Cal. I've researched through several galleries on this site along with others and have not seen another vehicle like it.

I like J-Lo's rear along with her "earlier" music (pre-Afflack). Her music today sucks big time! Never cared about her "acting" also. ;)

The extra bigger flare with the extended wheel stance combined with the soft transition of flare to fender, really adds more aggressiveness to the speedster. I've always been a fan of the 911 flared look but didn't like the "frog look" of the front. However, once I saw 48 hrs with Eddie Murphy driving that speedster, my heart just dropped. That classic speedster look of the original Porsche combined with todays flare of the 911 seem to mesh nicely, IMO.

Rudy,
Kirk has two different flare options. A smaller one and the J-Lo. If they stated that Automotive Legends is the only place to buy it, well, that is more than misleading.

They are not listed in the makers section because we do not list dealers. Just for shits and giggles, why don't you ask Mike what he does to "finish" the cars.

-=theron

hey Theron...

Yeah, I was wondering why they weren't listed on the maker list. Also, wondered why the name didn't show up prominently if they've been around since '89.

I'll probably call Kirk from VS once I get the time to ask about the extended flare along with the flat edge look trim of the wheel well. Thanks all for your opinions and advice and I'll let you know on the results of our conversation.

BTW, Theron, I didn't know that you're located in San Jose. I'm here in the bay area too. I live in Antioch but commute to work in San Leandro everyday. Was you speedster listed in Craig's List a while back for sale? I thought I saw a silver or blue one listed not too long ago. Also, there's a red flared one (just a regular flare) that's listed for 15k+ currently. Doesn't give you much detail regarding info but shows a few pics.

cheers,

Rudy - caveat emptor.

As John above says; why go through a middleman when you can deal with the builder directly and for less money? Not to screw up middlemen's businesses but it just doesn't make sense to me....