I did it!!!!!!! Again???????

I made my decision on the new car. It was a personal decision that best matched what I needed and wanted out of the new car. I loved my IM and Henry was outstanding, helping me with a car that I bought used. But in the end here is what I decided on with just a few questions yet to be resolved;

Body Style 356A Cabriolet from SAW early 1957
Subaru 165hp 2.5 liter engine option with the Single Overhead Cam
Exhaust in ultra quite and exit point yet to be decided?
Automatic Transmission 4 speed with overdrive
Air-conditioning
Remote Start and Beeper security
Cruise Control
Black Exterior with Black Top and Black Tonneau
Leather Interior option in Bone/Ivory
German Square Weave in Light Ivory to best match leather
Ivory Banjo Steering Wheel with Porsche center crest
Ivory pull Knobs and accessories
3

Wow! This is going to be one way cool ride! Congratulations Steven and let me know if you are coming down for a "visit" so we can get together. You have become one of a very small number of guys who will own one of these unique and very special cars. The wait may be somewhat protracted, but I'm sure the anticipation will be part of the fun that will follow.
John H

I went for the dream and yes for the purist some of my options are probably as bad as devil worship, but I have saved my money diligantly for this moment and I want it to be perfect. My only goal was to not get the price over a new Mercedes Hardtop Convertible as that would have been a little embarrasing. Looks like June delivery......

www.kenwoodusa.com/product/product.jsp?productTypeId=60&sortBy=price&productLineId=1&productId=2629


Here is the link to my stereo and Dvd nav system

Steven:

So what do they call a Heretic among a bunch of heretics.......another heretic!

Just a little Devil Worship humor.

Congratulations, it sounds really civilized in brutish kind of way.

What hat size are you?

Bill

PS - I heard CB Performance was sending an intervention team to Des Moines today, perhaps just a coincidence....

better than a stereo and navigation get a coolcarpc it comes with

7" vga super high resolution, touchscreen, dvd, mp3, xm radio, windows xp pro, all computer applications, gps navigation, cd player, tv, etc all for under 1500 bucks

Steven, I gotta tell you, this really pi#$es me off! Several years ago I started a computer file called "next time", where I collected very specific thoughts on all aspects of my next vehicle. It got refined many, many times over the intervening years. Now I see that somehow you got ahold of that file and are proceeding.

Wish you the very best on your project. Perhaps someday we'll see a sub-forum dedicated to Subie-engined speedsters.

I think the intervention team got held up in the mail........I hope they don't sufficate.....LOL

David, your firewall was very easy to get past......thanks for all the information....LOL

coolcarpc???????? who makes it and does it fit in a "din" space?

Steven,

Congratulations! When I found out your were selling the IM, I was sitting here at the keyboard thinking- I wonder if Steven has considered a SAW cabriolet? When you were kind of vague on the replacement, I began to suspect that maybe you were.

I

Congratulations Steven. To be honest with you I was very surprised by your decision. At the other hand the way you went about it was very wise. Looking forward seeing your new toy one of these days.Good luck.

On a side note, I did learn to sync my carbs and really found it to be fun and enjoyable. In fact I taught the new owner before he left just so that I could enjoy it one last time. He called today and is having a great time!!!

Stan........I knew as usual you had smelled something in the air, but I honestly was still considering both the new IM and the SAW. In the end my decision is largely because I do drive mine everyday. I still plan to not drive it when there is snow on the roads, as I don't want the salt damage and don't want someone hitting me. My only good VW mechanic is having health problems and will be unavailable and for what I want out of the car it gets fairly expensive to upgrade the VW platform to all my desires. The IM was a great car and the new owner who just registered (todd flowers) will take good care of it. My new car will as anyone can see have a lot of extras that are tough to do on the other platform. The exchange rate is just horrible right now which is why I believe the price gets a little up there also.

Steven,

I applaud you for doing your homework, defining your needs, and then buying the best Speedster/Cabrio for your weather, commuting, and desire for a good looking car.

Your build list looks perfect, I can't wait to see it built!

Jim

Steve,

Congratulations on starting your new build. I thought you were locked on an IM and was surprised to hear you went with a SAW but understand your reasoning. Does this mean you'll make it to Carlisle this year and have a sister car to John Hallstrand's baby?
BTW, where is the owner of your new car located and is he registered on this site?

Also, in your conversations with SAW you might want to mention the possibility of them exhibiting at Carlisle this year. They could display their other cars too.

Todd Flowers is his name and he is registered as of the 3rd. He is from Kentucky.........his email is tflowersepw@unidial.com

He is a really good guy, but very busy.....he drove the car home from here so I'm sure we could get him to drive up if he can get the time to do it.

I would love to drive my car to Carlisle this year, but I'm extremely doubtful about it being done in time.....everything would have to go perfectly and it is a pretty big job....I'm also not the next in line so my guess is I won't have the car in time. The following year I will absolutely be there!!!!!!!!!

It looks like I will be flying out for Knotts this year.

Steve; I join the other guys in congratulating you on your purchase; we know you'll enjoy it and use it a lot!!

Thank you everyone for your support and understanding in my addiction! It has been two hours since my last change...oh man just when you think you have everything figured out you still have little changes and indecisions to finalize.

Hi Steven,

I'm surprised and pleased to see that you are getting an SAW. As you know, I've been floating about the forums for a year or so, soaking up information. As much as I'm tempted to buy an affordable used VW speedster, for all the reasons you mention, the Subaru powered SAW cars are amazingly appealing, especially if you're not overly motivated to play weekend mechanic. As my Dad is fond of saying "The problem with old cars is... they're old." Of course thats part of their charm, but the classic 50's styling with the modern driveline and creature comforts is very hard to pass up. I'm saving my pennies and hoping for the Christmas bonus.

I was in NC this weekend and actually punched the SAW address in to the Nav system in my rental car... about a 5-6 hour drive.... I may do it next time I'm in NC.

Are you going to be posting build photos of your cabrio as things progress?

Curious about your decision on the auto transmission, what lead you in that direction?

Your list sounds fantastic, I'm sure you'll be very pleased and having another owner to share their experiences with the SAW engineered car will be a real boon.

Looking forward to more info as things progress. :)

-Jeff

PS - Have you driven their demo car?

I will be posting, but SAW does a nice job of showing progress pictures. I won't be posting many build pictures here because I'm on dial-up and half the time the picture will fail to make it in time and then I get the out of time message.

Its nice this week and I miss my IM......every car trip is a boring miserable experience right now. The new owner is a very lucky man.

And yes, I had originally planned on a new IM D build, but some things changed on my end and made me rethink how easy it was going to be to get my VW mechanic to help me learn and work on my new engine.......although it really isn't brain surgery working on a VW engine and Henry is great about supporting his used cars.

I also became very busy at work and just don't have any extra time to do things myself except for general maintenance.

Wow, I just spent 30 minutes on the SAW site. They have added a lot of photos of the recent silver build, as well as a lot of additional information on the product. They are really on to something. I can't wait to see more photos and hear more impressions from test drives.

I wonder if any of the mainstream car rags, or even something a bit more niche like Sports Car International, might do a review on it?

John H, if you're listening, any updates on your experience after a few months? How long has it been? What do you like the most/least about RubaDub?

-Jeff

My car will not have the same exhaust as John's......I care little for exhaust noise on a daily driver so I'm having the newer style quite exhaust and I'm going to have it exit out the passenger side to try and keep the noise to an absolute minimum.......I would consider the center exit like George has and like Jim is going to do, but for right now I have other more pressing decisions and research to complete. It looks like as of now I'm the only person who has elected to go with the 2.5 liter option, but I know there is someone who has the 2.0 turbo in the works, but that has yet to be proven out and I'm not wanting the turbo if I don't need it.

Jeff, the car has been great. I frequently take it out for a drive in the foothills of the Smokeys and love every minute of it. It is running fine and brings a big broad grin on every trip. Now that the weather has become cooler, I have been driving with the top up and I have discovered how LOUD it is. Steve has mentioned he can quiet it down a bit, but I still want some of that spirited sound and I think he can do this. Also, there seems to be abundant heat.

I will be dropping the car off to him, probably in January, and he will be making some further modifications to it. He will be replacing the engine cover, the upper padded dashboard and finishing out some small items I had requested that he take care of. The modifications are items which will be included in the newer cars; my car is more of a work in progress than Bill's (the silver car) Mike's (the Speedster) or certainly Steven's.
John H

I think the turbo is going into the #3 car, Mike's Speedster. This would be an exciting car to drive, "depend" on it ;-)

The turbo would probably be more than I need. I had a '98 Jag XJR with a super charger, and between that and the motorcycle I had, I've gotten most of my need for insane speed out of my system. It will be interesting to hear how the exhaust improvements turn out, that would be something I would want fairly quiet too. My motorcycle worked that out of my system too. :) I think I'm getting old.

John, how is the demisting etc. with the top up? Do you know if heated seats are an option?

Also curious how strong the A/C is when the temperature goes in the other direction.

-Jeff

PS - I heard that the chasis and driveline design work can also be fitted under a 550 Spyder body... That could be interesting although considerably less practical...

Is mike a member here?????????

Steven, I don't either think Bill (#2) or Mike (#3) are members here. There is a newer member who has a car Steve built on a VW pan who registered a month or two ago. He was not the original owner of the car but gave it a thumbs up and referred to Steve Lawing as "a stand up guy" after he had talked to him.

Jeff, I have not had a need to test the demisting since the first dash modification was performed. I don't have heated seats but you should contact the builder if this is something you would want. The A/C works great now that the air is delivered to the right place, another modification from the original design. See my digi-pix.
John H.

John what modification from the pictures that you have posted was made for demisting......I assume you guys are talking about defogging the windshield?????

Steven, the upper part of the dash was modified so that the defrost air would be distributed to the window better. This was a temporary fix, since that part of the dash is supposed to be replaced with a newer design. The picture I was referring to is of the A/C mods in the dashboard. Being the owner of the first of its type has been a trip, not a bad one mind you, but you can see why Steve was so happy to have this car go to somebody nearby.
John H

Oh definitely.......it makes it easier on everybody and in the long run it is nice for you to have someone who knows the car so well to work on it.

I like the idea of all that Suberoo power but an automatic? I hope you are making the right decision. I bought a used and built up an all Ford powertrain tube frame MBZ Marlene. It lasted a year in my garage. Great power, smooth ride, tight--- as it was factory built--- both tops, air but it was no sports car with that slush box. It was sold and is now a "boulevard cruiser' near Reno.
Just a thought.

Ralph, that sounds like a killer sports car... and I agree, a 4/5spd is the way to go.

Do you have any pics of that Marlene?

Steve, It will be great to cruise with you this summer. I need to answer Ben Gulley's mail on road trips. I am thinking we should consider a "Heartland" regional club under the SOC with South/North/and/East divisions.

Jim sounds good to me.........I opted for the automatic, because I have trouble in my left knee and the clutch seems to aggravate it......otherwise I would agree. It also costs me less money which is a good thing, because I know how to spend it!!!!!!!