Beck listed on ebay

Well, the color alone blows my skirt up!

The interior isn't my favorite color and the tuck-n-roll isn't either but...

For the price, if the motor and transaxle are decent, it's a great deal!

I highly doubt though, as the information states, that the 1915 puts out 125 horsepower. It probably puts out enough to keep you in the fast lane if you want, and make the back roads a ton-of-fun!

Maybe someone near could check it out for you, anyone here?

Shouldn't the car have beehives if it replicates a 56? In the write up it states it is an 08 build but the identoplate from Beck clearly says 06. Those pesky dealers............

Bob, beehives ran through late '56 but the teardrop lights started then through the 356 years so technically, a '56 could have teardrops. Ferry changed things as he wanted, not so much by calendar year.

I'd trust the Beck plate, not the pesky dealer!

Hey guys, I'm a little confused. It appears the "buy it now" price is $25, which seems really good. But the right up following the pictures states $31 and change. Which is it? I've never purchased a car on ebay before.

Back in '06 when my car was built Beck had two standard engines, both of which were 1915s.  One was supposedly 90hp and not easily raised above that.  The other was rated at 125hp and could be upgraded.  I bought the latter and find it impressively quick, but it's never been on a dyno.  I've done a few small upgrades, but don't know what the effect has been.  If say 120hp is a safe bet, perhaps as much as 10 more.

Will Hesch posted:

Bob, beehives ran through late '56 but the teardrop lights started then through the 356 years so technically, a '56 could have teardrops. Ferry changed things as he wanted, not so much by calendar year.

I'd trust the Beck plate, not the pesky dealer!

I thought it was the other way around. Beehives ran through '56 and half way through '57 when the teardrops became the standard?? So a '57 could have beehives but a '56 won't have teardrops.

55 - bee hives and a shine up. Most of 56 had the same. A later 1956 could have tear drops and a shine down license plate light.  57 - tear drops and a shine up plate light. 

I have a whole set of restoration docs from when I did my coupe a lifetime ago. Don't make me drag them out.

Well, here's another historical opinion: 

mid-57 was the changeover from bee hives to teardrops, so 56 all had beehives, 58 all had teardrops, with 57 split.  I even have the data somewhere on the VIN numbers, but it's not handy right now. 

Per A RESTORER'S GUIDE TO AUTHENTICITY by Dr. Brett Johnson, March 1957 was the first teardrop (coupe #100001, cabriolet 61701, Speedster 83201).  This change was accompanied by another change from shine-down to shine-up license plate, back-up light. 

Just noticed the Beck chassis number, which is about 30 before my car.  I'd be very surprised if this car wasn't built in '06.  Either way, with A/C and radio the BIN is a heck of a deal.

That's a 90hp motor with 34mm carbs...  The dealer who commissioned this build had a series of long blocks built by JCS Volks Machine that were then sent to Pat at CB for the top end, carbs, and dyno tuning.

It was an '06 build for a dealer who had a shop in NY and FL.  My notes show it shipped to NY and was purchased by a guy in St Louis at auction Feb 07.

It has been back through the shop at least once (after the auction maybe?) for an inspection.

It was factory built as a roller, the dealer had the engine installed by a local garage.

Jim is correct on the changes.  However, we've seen a few cars that were early/mid year 57 with the odd combination of teardrops and shine down.  I know this conflicts with a lot of "restorer" information, but that seems to be par for the course with early Porsches. 

I emailed a list of corrections to the seller...

Bob, Robert and Jim, I stand corrected. I reversed the information on the beehives/teardrops (I have the same book).

Well, I set the wheels in motion (no pun intended). Unless something really crazy pops up, this will be my car very shortly. Sheer madness

Carry: I take exception to the "the odd combination of teardrops and shine down" remark.  While I understand the purist history here (I once had a '56 w/ beehives and a '61 with tear drops) I never really appreciated the shine-up idea.  Also, I heard that the beehives are a little dim in the replica world (maybe that has been fixed) and I wanted as much visibility as possible. So I had my car built with tear drops and shine down.  And I think it looks very cool.  No real P-car was ever built that way, you say?? Well so what?

PS Paul: I hope you get them wheels and roll them with what I know will be a gen-U-ine SEG.  Keep us posted.

El Frazoo, you missed the point of my message.  I actually HAVE seen an original car with the "odd combination" of teardrops and shine down.  In fact, the original car that we used for reference when making some tooling was one of these examples.  A bare metal tear down showed that this combination appeared to be the factory cutouts with no sign of change/repair, leading us to believe that this was an original oddball.  A change-over car, possibly special ordered, who knows.  Only called an "odd combination" because it goes against what all the restorers/books say.  Having restored/refreshed a few old Porsches over the years, oddball seems par for the course, especially in the early years.

Additionally, if you look at my first 150+ cars, the vast majority of them have this very same combination of shine down and teardrops, just because it is what we liked and what we modeled after...

PaulEllis posted:

Well, I set the wheels in motion (no pun intended). Unless something really crazy pops up, this will be my car very shortly. Sheer madness

THIS IS WHAT WE'RE GETTING AT -- @PaulEllis is about to get his Speedster!

Carey, No friction here, just agreeing with you about the aesthetic of shine down vs. up, and the tear drops.  I have answered to the call "Odd Ball" on many occasions, so no problem there.  Rave on!!

My car is an "Odd Ball", which is perfectly appropriate for me, doncha think?

What DOES look weird is when people install a shine up light upside down and install it as a shine down light. We have seen a few examples of that.

Yeah, that looks like a cow with it's tail lifted.

Thanks. Now I am stuck with that image in my head the rest of the afternoon.

MoooooOOOOOO!!!!!!!! 

E-bay link says I missed this deal. PaulEllis, does that mean this bird has landed? Hope so!!

Yeah, the paperwork is in the works. I then have to figure out how to move it 1100 miles. Pretty excited

Congratulations, Paul. I believe Alan (Merklin) and Troy know the ins and outs of shipping a car.

Welcome to the Beck family, Paul!

Congrats Paul!

What's the billet knob for on the door panel?

That's the door lock.

Looks like it may have a transmission from a 914.   The shift knob shows a dogleg first gear

Rancho type 1 box, swingaxle

Paul:  Congrats and did nobody yet say: "Welcome to The Madness!!"  Really happy for you, keep us posted on all fronts, especially that first drive SEG.  We love that shyt.

Thanks guys, I'm really excited to get my hands on the car. I'd like to fly to Houston and drive it home but I'm a realist. I've never even sat in it. It's probably in good running order but I really hate being stranded on the side of the road. It's 10 years old and has 13K miles on it. It's probably fine but its risky trusting a car like this to take you 1100 miles the first time you drive it.

I should probably have it shipped. I'll let everyone know what I decide to do.

Paul

Mine's 10 years old and has about 45,000 miles on it, many of which were in the 10 trips from coastal South Carolina to the gathering in Carlisle, PA.  There were also several trips to the mountains.  You're smart not driving it until you've given it the once over, but after that feel confident in taking trips.  Make sure to check the date codes on the tires, regardless of how much tread they have.  Beyond seven or eight years you should replace them.  I'm in the same boat.

You're absolutely right about the tires, I hadn't thought that through. And it probably has the original tires since it only has 13K miles. I'll need to check them first thing.

Original tires back then would have been Kumho Powerstar 768s, which are NLA and have been for 5+ years now.

Find a good local shop to go over the car for you.  If you want to give me a call I can walk you (or your shop) through the main things to look for...  Where are you located?

Jethro posted:

Looks like it may have a transmission from a 914.   The shift knob shows a dogleg first gear

What are you looking at?