Coupe

I've seen some people who have had issues with JPS...has this been resolved?

John will always be John.

Contact Carey Hines from Special Editions (Beck) in Indiana. He's got a water-cooled (or air-cooled, if that's what you prefer) coupe in the works.

As one of the owners of Custom Coachwerks I appreciate anyone's interest in our building a Coupe for them.  I can also state that we went through a really hell filled few months of re-engineering our Coupe chassis and offering.  CCW will not be accepting Coupe orders until the beginning of 2014 so that we can fulfill the orders we have on the line currently.  I will say confidently that John at JPS builds a gorgeous VW pan based Coupe, and this forum has supported his builds over and over.  

Custom Coach Works... let us know how it goes.  Oh and be sure to start a new thread when ya do!

Good grief!  Is there some sort of parallel universe thingy going on here?

Yeah, but will you actually make one for a customer?

well put ALB...yes

Does the term "balls big as grapefruit" stike a familiar note?

As a JPS owner, I can also say John builds a very fine car.  I recommend you message some owners of the manufactures you are considering.  I'd be happy to talk you and let you know about my JPS experience.  Just IM me.

Chris

PS. Coupes rock.

Chris...dialog sent...bart

Here is a very short clip of Chris taking his JPS coupe out for a shake-down cruise on the infamous Mulholland Hwy through the Santa Monica mountains.

NOTE: Once video starts playing, click the 'Gear' icon and adjust video quality to 720p for HD.

Hi Jim,

That is a cool preview, I remembered that drive, it was fun. Anyone interested to know about JPS coupe can IM me. Mine is #3 built since 2007. It gets better all the time.

Eddy

Let's think about this... I've got a decent wad of money to invest and Bernie Madoff is back on the street telling me that his investment returns are g## d### awesome.

Now, would I be impressed that he'd grown balls the size of grapefruits, or would I assume that they were always that size?

Careful Carl.  I stated we're not taking orders on Coupes, when someone considered our product.  I also stated that one of our Coupes (for a customer) about to hit the street is pretty awesome.  That's all.  

Comment regarding our Coupe removed so not to be misinterpreted by those that have not read the comment preceding it.  

Good heavens MisterAC, you must think my post was eluding to you. 

I was merely pointing out how difficult it would be for Bernie Madoff to re-establish a good will 'reputation' considering his previous 'history'

BTW, It seems that customers' coupe has taken a veeery long time "to hit the street"...Is it a development or a production problem? 

Eddy...what does " IM " mean ?? 

I expect to get my JPS Coupe early next month and I have never seen one much less driven one.

I understand the fit and the finish are very good. 

I also understand that mine (box stock) is just a VW so I don't expect Porsche performance, but I want it to work, that is to shift, accelerate and brake smoothly without vibration, hesitation or wobble... what say you  ? 

Mr. AC- After what played out in the previous thread (along with the dubious history of the company before your group's involvement) you can understand the skepticism here. No one here wishes you ill will; on the contrary, we all would love to see you guys building cars and being a legitimate part of the hobby/industry. But we need to see you building cars, because right now Carl's comment (whether directly thrown at you or not) is seemingly pretty accurate, don't you think? Personally, I don't know how you get your pants on every day. Custom made?

Any sneak pics of this "pretty *&^$ing awesome car?

Gents, in reference to Carl's question re: production or development, I will admit to a little bit of both.  We wished to improve the level of performance and safety from the Thunder Ranch chassis, thus we began engineering an entirely new chassis.  A couple of vehicles were committed with this new engineering, which was a major misstep.  We've worked things out with those customers and finally have the updated product about to roll out.  A Coupe is days away from the street and a 550 right behind it.  Pics will definitely be posted in days to come.

Well...for whatever reason, I don't have permission to send you a dialog... if you want to send me one...tell me what works and what doesn't..bart 

OH EDDY

JUST TELL HIM U HATE YOUR CAR AND U NEVER EVER DRIVE IT

COUPES DO ROCK

Hi Bart,

Dialogue sent

Eddy

Hey Gerd,

It is time to jump back to the coupe wagon, flared with suby engine..... what not to like

soon

Jesus, Gerd.  That thing is so badass, I can't stand it. Did you spec that, build it or buy it used?  Whoever conceived it had an unbelievable eye for detail.

Don't disown me guys, but if you want a coupe and you're not going to go with water cooled power, why not look for a real one?  They're still out there for mere mortal money. It just takes some searching...

Rust.

15 yrs ago, original speedsters were at about $50- 75K for something decent, and a replica was around half that (depending on the mfg). In my heart, I knew that originals were only going to go up, although I didn't have any idea how much.

Why did I buy a replica anyhow? Rust. There's rust hiding in almost every 356: coupe, speedster, or cab. Most guys from the Rust-Belt have fought a battle with rust since they bought their first car, and a lot of us have zero desire to contend with it in a car we care about.

Couple the rust issue with the fact that coloring outside the lines on an original can only decrease the value of it, whereas customizing a replica is almost expected. If I had purchased one of those original speedsters back in the 90s, I'd have made a $100K return on investment, but I would not have driven the car at all.

Hindsight is always 20/20-- I should've bought the original as an investment, and a fun car to play with/ But in reality, most guys don't think that way-- spouses or savings account will only support one "fun car". Most of us chose the replica route because we'd like to drive 'em. That's what this is about: driving pleasure.

Stan summed up the perfectly the dilemma of owning the real thing.

In a nut shell you 'own' it...you don't 'drive it' 

Precariously endangering a whopping investment to road traffic is frightening.

Add the astronomical personal property tax, Insurance premiums, and astronomical costs of parts, skilled wrenching, etc., and the second happiest day in in an owner life is the day he sells it!

Authenticity is a must. I was barely tolerated by the '356 Registry people' because my '59 coupe (which by the way rotted out from under me) had nerf bars instead of bumpers. Lack of the astronomical fund$ required to have the Super90 engine professionally rebuilt (even then when parts were available) kept my '61 roadster off the road until I finally faced reality and sold it...My second happiest day!

No, my VS is a fake...but I sure have a lot of fun driving it! 

I agree with you guys to a point.  My wife and I were searching for a real Speedster until I talked with a friend of mine who had a real Speedster.  He was selling his car at the Gooding Auction at Amelia Island because it had become so valuable he was afraid to take it out of the garage.  He suggested a replica that we could drive and enjoy as opposed to a real one that would give us both ulcers.  That made sense, so we built a VS exactly as we wanted it.  

To me, the coupe is a slightly different story.  Their prices are not yet in the stratosphere like the Speedsters.  Look hard enough and you can find one in the neighborhood of what you can build a really good replica for. Insure it with a classic car insurer for agreed value for a couple hundred a year and drive it with impunity...so, that's what we did.  

Here's the difference.  The replica coupe will be begin to depreciate the moment you take delivery, whereas the real coupes are appreciating at about 40% a year.  The trend continues.  I couldn't buy my coupe now for what I paid for it last year.  Next year it will be worse...or better, depending on whether you own one or not.

As for the 356 Registry guys...who cares?  They've been great to me and I've learned a ton over there, but at the end of the day it's your car, not theirs.  You can run it into a tree if you want.  Who cares what they think.  The early 911 guys are the same way.  There's a guy over there right now building a stunning car and they're giving him major sh!t because he's not doing it the way they would.  So what?  If they're not paying the bills...

I had a few '50's sports cars back in the day.  They were all fun to drive with well-known caveats and idiosyncracies.  To me, the beauty of our replicas is that we can make them do whatever floats our boats: power, cornering, braking, balance, heat, suspension, and on and on.  What I want likely won't be what others want, but so be it.  He who pays the piper calls the tune.

Of course, there is no ROI, when compared to an original.  All of us know about investments in one form or another, don't we?  That's how we got the funds to buy/build our cars. Something we did gave us a return on our investment.  What I want from my car at this stage in my life is fun, not ROI.  It works for me. 

Screw the ROI; we all want ROF.

Exactamundo, Bob! 

I'm not in the market for a replica 356A coupe... but if anybody ever did a long-hood 911 in glass (or carbon), I'd look really, really hard at it. I'd love a "R-Gruppesque" 911.

I bet a 912/911 replica just might push Porsche/VW right over the edge. VW seems to be getting even more protective of their marques over the last year or so. But still...