Drove this Speedster in Benicia today

Vintage used to build them for ParkPlace.  Park Place would only put on the P badges and put ~100 miles to shake out the car a bit.  Kirk built 6-10 for them per season for many yrs.   

call Kirk at VS... He knows all the cars that where sent to Park Place... 

cheaper to buy the same car directly from Kirk and put on your own badges.

Unfortunately one of the owners of PP passed offer a long fight with liver cancer, and the remaining owners lost interest in this model car after they got hit with a P car cease and desist letter... Didn't get all the details as I don't know the new owners.  They service and  sell many used Pcars, as well as new Aston Martins, lotus, superformance, Spiker and used collector cars...

the last few cars they had in inventory they sold at Barret Jackson and on Craigslist last spring.

good dealership... Nice cars, nice people, family owned, great consignment shop, but not on the cheap side.... They are down the street from the Microsoft headquarters, and surrounded by over 4000 software companies, so they cater to a captive and young affluent audience. 

Pretty sure I know the car. Sorry to see that he's selling it. Nice guy. Believe his name is Chris. He was at the SLO Gathering a couple years ago. It's a really nice Vintage. 

I'll add that the price is way too high. Maybe if it had a 5-speed...

Terry Nuckels posted:

I'll add that the price is way too high. Maybe if it had a 5-speed...

And IRS suspension 

Marty Grzynkowicz posted:

Terry Nuckels posted:

I'll add that the price is way too high. Maybe if it had a 5-speed...

And IRS suspension 

 

and a wet bar with carrera marble countertop.

Terry Nuckels posted:

Pretty sure I know the car. Sorry to see that he's selling it. Nice guy. Believe his name is Chris. He was at the SLO Gathering a couple years ago. It's a really nice Vintage. 

When I saw Emeryville I thought it might be UK Chris' car also. It is a nice car but in the end it is still a Vintage and you shouldn't be paying more than new for the car. 

So what do you guys think it's worth?  I'm new to this but have been spending the last few months researching and learning. 

And re IRS, are all Vintage's swing axle? 

You should be able to find a similar car with a better engine for $32k or less. 

Nice color (probably polarizing for some). Unique external gas filler and under dash e-brake. Way over priced in my opinion.

WNGD posted:

Nice color (probably polarizing for some). Unique external gas filler and under dash e-brake. Way over priced in my opinion.

Why polarizing? Because it's not an original 356 color?

Call Kirk @ Vintage on Monday.  (Check the Makers section of this site for contact info.) Tell him about the car, send him some pics. Ask him what it would cost for him to duplicate the car. Compare that to the price of the car in Benicia. 

Then you have a real world starting point. Don't guess when the answer is so easy to obtain.

Panhandle Bob posted:

Call Kirk @ Vintage on Monday.  (Check the Makers section of this site for contact info.) Tell him about the car, send him some pics. Ask him what it would cost for him to duplicate the car. Compare that to the price of the car in Benicia. 

Then you have a real world starting point. Don't guess when the answer is so easy to obtain.

 Thanks for the suggestion Bob. Will do

A little story about color. When I chose to paint Penny "Liquid Copper", John Steele (JPS) told me it was a mistake. During the build I would call periodically to check on progress. One time I asked what was the reaction to the color. "50/50" John said. I asked if that was both men and women's reaction and he said "No, just the men." 'What about the women who've seen it?" I asked. "They love it!" replied Steele. That's the kind of polarizing I enjoy every time I'm out in Penny.

Regarding price. A similar car could be built for $30-32k new. This one is well sorted and well cared for. Watching prices over the last couple of years I would say $30k is not a ridiculous price. $39k is modern, used Intermeccanica range. But price means nothing if you are so taken by this car that you can't get it out of your thoughts. I would add that most of us who are deep in the madness probably have nickel and dimed ourselves to the point where we have $39k in our plastic potatoes...

Buy whatever color turns your crank. If you want to mimic an original/look of a speedster than there are plenty of sources for period correct colors. Try Der White's website. He has some color charts by year. There are other sources including makers of the cars.

As far as drive train, suspension, interior, etc., I suggest you read the many previous threads on those topics available via the search function at the top of the page. You may need to become a supporting member to get the full benefit of what this site offers, but, IMHO, it is worth it for the information available.

Good luck.

plastic potatoes...I've never thought of Whitecloud as a potato and now...and forever...I will not be able to look at her without thinking about Mr. Potatohead...

Thanks Terry, for that image!

Found this pic of the car on Jim's 2015 SLO video. Frame title says 'Brian' of Oakland, but signals may have gotten crossed in the edit, I guess.

The car does have quite a few extras that would have bumped the new price up - wide fives, beehives, louvers, carrera mirrors, through-hood filler, straps, fogs, umbrella handle, etc. And, as an SOC car, it was probably sorted better than the typical Craigslist car. Motor does look like a dead-stock VS 1915cc, though.

...I want to know who's driving my car behind him?

(she was still in the shop, or so I thought!)

Check out this thread:  

https://www.speedsterowners.com...ip-advice-for-newbie

Terry is absolutely correct. It would scare the crap out of me actually add up what I have "invested" in my little baby. Way north of $40k would be a good guess. 

That only looks like your car when the engine lid's down, Will.

Mitch, I remember Brian. There was an entire thread dedicated to his purchase of this car. Trip to Seattle and the drive back to Eville. 

Beautiful car.  I'd probably go with a more subdued color and a few more horses but everything else checks all the right boxes for me.  Price is a non-starter.

majorkahuna posted:

Terry is absolutely correct. It would scare the crap out of me actually add up what I have "invested" in my little baby. Way north of $40k would be a good guess. 

 

"invested"? Ok. Sell it for more than you have in it. Let's see how that  works out for most of us.

I'd do better in buggy whips and typewriter companies.

Yup, the price is still way high, even with all the extras. These dealers are just waiting for the uneducated buyer to wander in.

But it can be surprising how high a new VS can end up if you keep checking boxes on the option sheet. When it's time to sell, you never get your money back for the extra cosmetic stuff - or for most performance upgrades, either.

I seem to remember there being a name for that phenomenon.

Oh right - 'madness'.

Kirk said he'd build this for $29,700. Unreal that they'd ask this much. And the salesman knew nothing about these cars. I'm offended on behalf of the sucker who's about to walk in on the next sunny afternoon. 

Put another 5k into it and get a CB performance engine. You will be happy you did. 

I came here to say that's Chris's/Brian's old car. He was living in Emeryville. I wonder if he went back to the UK?

All,

It is Chris's speedster.  He confirmed in a Private Message I sent him.  I also alerted him about this thread that was created discussing his car.  You can reach him at @Chris J

-Kevin

PS: The thread I posted above discusses Chris' initial thread to this group (when he was picking up his speedster from the Seattle area)

Hey Kevin thanks for looping Chris in. Chris I am definitely interested and in Berkeley. Your car is absolutely beautiful. I completely respect your right to get as much for the car as possible through the dealer. If you'd like to chat, let me know. 

Seth 

When I was trying to sell my 65 Tiger years ago i contacted SS, they have several outlets in Bay Area,,kinda GREEZY  feeling I got, decided to sell on my own. After all they are used car salesmen:{

Watch out! Troy will take offense at that.

seth356 posted:

WNGD posted:

Nice color (probably polarizing for some). Unique external gas filler and under dash e-brake. Way over priced in my opinion.

Why polarizing? Because it's not an original 356 color?

No I just think some will think that is beautiful and others might find it a little loud or unique for their tastes. I think I really like it but would have to see it in person. I do like the contrasts on the interior seats and dash brow though.

My cars are lightly used and I'll bet almost all of them are now worth more than what I sold them for.  :-) 

Will Hesch posted:

...I want to know who's driving my car behind him?

(she was still in the shop, or so I thought!)

I believe that is Scott (slofuzz) behind Chris.

seth356 posted:

Kirk said he'd build this for $29,700. Unreal that they'd ask this much. And the salesman knew nothing about these cars. I'm offended on behalf of the sucker who's about to walk in on the next sunny afternoon. 

I don't remember the car's color being that bright in person, but I really liked it. I found the car to be very nice and with the gumball (white circle with number) it looked the part of a racer.

Unfortunately the price is high. If Chris were selling direct it'd be much lower but either he sold it to them and they're reselling it at a huge profit or they're consigning it for him and they want a huge profit.

If you like blue

seth356 posted:

Kirk said he'd build this for $29,700. Unreal that they'd ask this much. And the salesman knew nothing about these cars. I'm offended on behalf of the sucker who's about to walk in on the next sunny afternoon. 

Seth, its just business.  That's why they call them Dealers.  They are trying to deal the best price they can get.  Or maybe it should be called Fishing.   Put some yummy bait on the hook and see what fish bites it:-)

If you think Dealers ask a lot here, check out prices over the pond. 

BTW my IM is for sale for 130K if anyone is in the market.  Free delivery in the Continental US.

Don't forget, Chris bought this car from Park place, so I'm sure he paid a pretty penny for it.  If I remember my conversation with him about it in SLO, he didn't know that Parkplace just resells Vintage cars when he bought it.  That was a couple of years ago, so I could be wrong about that.

Parkplace does not like their buyers to know that they didn't actually build the car. 

Panhandle Bob posted:

If you like blue

Papa Smurf called. He'd like his car back.