John Leader's Carrera GT

John,

Your new car is looking good. Unless I missed it, I haven't seen much discussion about the build. Is it being built at John Steele's shop? I am going to be out in LA for 10 days soon and plan to stop by JPS, would like to take a look if it's there.

East Coast Bruce

E.C. Bruce,

Yes, the new Speedster Carrera GT project will be in John Steele's shop when you visit L.A.
The body and chassis were married yesterday in a low-key ceremony in front of family and friends. Hopefully, the interior should be installed by the time you get here. John's promised to have me on the road by Halloween, but I'm pretty sure he was kidding (at least I think he was kidding). These "Frankenspeedsters" take time.
But seriously, let me know when you're going to be at JPS; I'd like to come over and say, "Hello."
--
JL

John the car is looking very nice good selection on color, carpet and gages. I was wondering if you were going to move the E-brake under the dash or not? I see from the pictures it's in the center tunel.
Dave

John, this car is going to be a beauty, case closed; my tongue is hanging out. Someone told me once that the perfect house would have three bedrooms and a six stall garage. I can dig it.
John H.

From the pictures and the discription the frame is a IRS Karman Ghia chassis. Is this interchangable with the shortened VW pan? Does it have to be shortened and is there any advantage to a Karman Ghia chassis? Thanks for the reply.
Darryll

John.. it's looking great. Got your note. Will reply after dinner. Bruce I am catching up on mail.. just read the invite. There's an odd chance I might drive up.

John,

What a looker !

Alan M

That's going to be gorgeous John.
-=theron

John,
I sent you an email offline, will give you a call when we know what day we're stopping by the JPS shop. Received an email from John Steele and he said "John's car should be coming along nicely by then and we have two others in production as well". I'm looking forward to seeing your new ride!

Jim,
Keep in touch with John if you're coming up, I'll be 'net-less all week so will have to use the phone (and will be suffering 'net withdrawal!).

The Karman Ghia pan is perfectly adaptable to the Speedster Replica body just like the old Beetle pans are. My car's being built on a Ghia pan because we happened to find a nice, clean (rustless) IRS Karma Ghia pan.
The parking brake will stay between the seats. We had discussed putting it on an "umbrella handle" under the dash (as well as flattening the tunnel itself), but decided to spend the money in other areas - namely, the engine.
Thanks for all the kind comments on the car. This is the exciting time - when everything literally starts coming together.

John, looks like your new project is going to push the bar even higher. Great color choice, how about some details on the engine build? Please keep us updated.
Eddie

my memory is pretty bad lately but i thought the ghia pan was
wider than the beetle pan?

Bruce,

Your memory is better than you think. The Karman Ghia floor pan-halfs are actually wider than the Beetle's. So, while everything else is adapable, the Ghia pans that are born again as Speedsters must be fitted with new floor metal from a Beetle.

While in California last week I stopped by JPS Motorsports to visit John Steele, tour his shop and take a look at John Leader's new ride. It was great seeing John S. for the first time since Carlisle and seeing his cars under construction. I had hoped to catch John L. there but he had to leave for work and traffic on the 405 delayed us -we just met and spoke briefly as we passed in the driveway. John L's Speedster was not quite as far along as I had hoped but it looks like a great start and I'm anxious to see the final result. They are putting a number of interesting touches to his car and I think it will be one to be proud of.

John,

Sorry we missed you. We'll have to catch up sometime in the future. I like your color choices and look forward to seeing the final product. Good luck with the car and keep the updates coming.

East Coast Bruce

John, thanks for sharing the recent build pics. I can see the color working 'right' for what you have envisioned. Is that a 16 Gallon Tank I just spotted in the first pic? Looks like you are building a killer GT John.

Yes, Joe-Don-Billy-Ray-JIM-Bob, that is a 15-gallon gas tank. We were going to put in a 16-gallon tank, but decided to save some weight (joking).
The end is near. John Steele says the engine will arrive on Saturday. I could be on a "shake-down-cruise" as early as next week! I'd love to have the car ready for The Ventura Show (Sept 11-12). More pictures to come.

John................

Wow!

The new pics show how far it's come. I like that leather color (Wine?) with the paint, and I got a peek in that one pic of the carpet and how it works with everything.

The new stroker looks kick ass John. And yeah, black on the shroud will be stealthy and works with the whole image or vision thing. I forgot... who put that monster T-1 together? And about the exhaust? Are you going for a stocker (twins) look or a carver/racer with something that pours out center valance?

The wheels and so forth. I like the look... what are your plans on detail work there? I like the tire selection.

Mirrors? Cooling? Come on with the details.. I'm going to school on you this time.

Jim

John,

WOW! I was under the impression that you were doing a Type IV- I think the BIG stroker Type 1 with the Porsche fan is just too cool. I've heard all the arguments about overcooling, etc, but when I see a well done Porsche fan conversion, I get all weak in the knees.

So far, you're building the car of my SoCal dreams. I'd want roll-up windows, but I'm a midwestern sap. That car is over the top cool. Kudos to John Steele, and to you for the vision and check-book to do it.

The leather color is "Maple," but "wine" is a good call...kind of Merlot-ish. The powder-coated wheels will get polished-aluminum drumskins, but no hubcabs. The two mirrors will be Carrera style, fender mounted. The exhaust will be a modified performance dual-style feeding a single outlet coming out of the center (like real Carrera GTs had). I want it to sound "good," but not annoy-the-neighbors loud. For cooling, an external oil cooler and thermostatic fan setup should conquer the heat the BIG Type I puts out. The Porsche fan and shroud should help there, too.
Any bets that it'll be on-the-road by Labor Day? Maybe...maybe not.

JL, No bets but I bet John Steele doesn't want to get his feet held to the fire, LOL. Actually it sounds like most of the delays were 3rd party vendors and you are breaking new ground with the engine. Sure anxious to get your remarks when you drive it for the first time. The guages look absolutely stunning, I'm jealus as hell about your new car. Anyone want to buy a like new 03 JPS Speedster? See what you've started Mr. Leader!

Bruce

What size exhaust are you running John, it looks like your motor has heater boxes? Darren wouldn't let me run anything smaller than 1 3/4" on my 2332 and as far as I could find, 1 3/4" heater boxes don't exist.
Ron

John: Nice looking engine, but do you really want that little fuel filter right where it is? That might worry me a little - unless it's temporary for testing the engine?

Great looking car John, the look you are getting is something everyone is really trying to accomplish, but you have hit the nail right on the head with this combo. You know we all would like to hear your engine specs. if you don't mind. I'm trying to put togather the combo for my next stroker and would love to hear the details. Way To Go!
Eddie