My new car

You gonna go dancing on your car on the 405 when traffic backs up?

Funny you say that Gordon. I get into LAX at 430 PM. Straight shot to Greg’s shop on the 405. I’m sure it will be a parking lot. 

No sleep for you tonight my boy.. Have fun...

I’ve spent many days sitting on the 405, waiting for something....ANYTHING to happen.

Makes you wish you could get out and dance.....

20-ish miles, LAX to Long Beach and it’ll take you, what.....  4 FRIGGEN HOURS?

4 hours in New England and I could be half way to Montreal....

550 Phil posted:

In 24 hours I’ll be in La La land. Can’t wait. 

Beautiful 

 

Enjoy the moment, Phil.  I remember flying out to Vancouver to see the IM6, and finding  out that all the excitement was worth it.  I was able to time it with Henry’s yearly Intermeccanica owners gathering, and that was a great event, as we had the car for a week or so.

Will you get a few days of driving in out there?

SAFE.....its all that matters

Bob. Get there tonight and leave tomorrow afternoon. Just there for a quick inspection and drive and maybe a few beers. 

Have the beers after the drive....regardless, enjoy that beautiful car. 

Phil- safe travels! Excited to hear your report after seeing/driving your car!

Of course I woke up at 3am since I’m still on est.  1.5 hours yesterday on the 405/605 going 24 miles from LAX to a Marriott near Greg’s shop. Greg pick me up around 7pm and we went to his shop. Saw the 356 preA body in his shop. Curve window. Beautiful. First few are going on a pan. Will probably be a few years but eventually the car should be on a space frame. Pretty JPS coupe in his shop for some work. Lots of customer cars for work and upgrades.

Initial impressions on my car:

1.  It’s stupid fast. Throttle response with the power it has is too abrupt. Tough to get it out in traffic without it wanting to go sideways. Easy fix. 

2.  Interior with the German square weave is stunning. My interior is very light and I may need to place some darker cocomats. 

3. Great attention to detail everywhere from the gas tank that is painted exterior color from the engine compartment to the switches for the heated seats. 

4. The aluminum wide 5s are a work of art. 

5.  I’ve decided not to place a soft tonneau. I really don’t want the fasteners on the car. So I’m going to place a hard half tonneau. 

Going back to the shop for s few hours before I head back home. Hope to get another drive after throttle response is slowed down a bit. 

The car has exceeded my expectations. It’s been 20 years since a very young 22 year old Greg Leach built my first Spyder. Nice car then but now it’s stunning. He has certainly perfect his craft. 

Pictures today. 

Glad it’s all you wanted it to be, Phil.  

Looking forward to some SEG shots...

Great news! If there are only five things on your list and one is really the only thing that is mechanically related... you've got a solid build right out of the gate! I'm not surprised - Greg and his Team do a wonderful job!

Wow. Congrats ... the torque will me awesome at that weight

Pics from LA. What an awesome car.  Big thanks to Greg Leach and his team at Vintage Motorcars. 

Looking really nice...   Greg looks more like my size ... if he can drive that thing maybe I can fit in it ... I wonder if a spyder is in my future   

Great car.......fine detail.......the brown mats will be a nice accent on the interior.

@550 Phil  Did you get your car yet??

I see that you have a variation of the E-brake that I got in my car. If the teeth that hold it up look like mine, there is a flaw. The two little bolts that hold it in place will shear. It happened to me. Luckily the car was on a flat surface, and I had left it in gear.

I replaced them with a couple of cotter pins. Hasn't failed yet. They're a bit thicker than what was there. I might look into a better grade of bolt.

Since this photo, I have disassembled my E-brake and polished it up a bit. I also think the teeth should've be angled to engage better, but oh well. I only use it when I park, when I'm out and about. I don't use it while parked in the garage. I just block a wheel.

CG

Thanks Carlos.  Car is still in LA getting final touches, extra powdercoating, hard half tonneau etc.  I will let Greg know.  Maybe he can provide a fix before it leaves the shop.  My garage in Charlottesville is being delivered Jan 29 so I'm not in a big hurry to get the car.  And its going to snow tonight.

Mine look different than yours.  I will ask Greg.  He said that mine is sourced from Asia (I know that sounds a little scary).  Daniel may be fabricating his own at Seduction.  And BTW I always leave any manual car in reverse when I park just for back up if e brake fails.

If he's getting it from Asia, it's from Vintage Speed. It'll be a top-quality part.

Right again Stan.  Vintage Speed e-brake made in Taiwan.

Stan Galat posted:

If he's getting it from Asia, it's from Vintage Speed. It'll be a top-quality part.

I have bought an exhaust, a shifter and a carb linkage from Vintage Speed.   I have been impressed with the quality and "MT" at Vintage Speed is very helpful! 

Thanks for sharing those pics! 

Ditto. Made me go check mine. Also Vintage Speed, looks like. Nice, solid-looking piece of work.

Honestly, the more I dig into the cache of parts that came with this TR project, the luckier I feel. Just a lot of good quality (and very expensive) upgrades got bought-up and stored.

(Update: Mine appears to be Fibersteel)

Wow those look very similar.  Could it be that Taiwan (Vintage Speed) is back to their old copying tricks?  $529 vs $195.  Think I'll take the copy.  But hey Ed yours came as a package deal so good for you. 

They are not the same, look closely at the two.

550 Phil posted:

Wow those look very similar.  Could it be that Taiwan (Vintage Speed) is back to their old copying tricks?  $529 vs $195.  Think I'll take the copy.  But hey Ed yours came as a package deal so good for you. 

Who has one for $195?  I would like to have one, but have not found one for less than about $500.

Fibersteels and VS both $500. I think Seduction charges more for their stainless steel version. They look easy enough to make but, I'm here to tell ya, the more stuff I fabricate myself the more I think these seemingly outrageous prices are right reasonable.

Sorry.  Thought I saw VS for $195.  My bad.  Greg gave me all options for free since this is my 3rd car.  Never asked about price.  Honestly think I got +$5000 upgrages from VMC for free.  I ordered a Vintage from Greg when he was 22 years old after I had just met with Chuck Beck in 1998.  I think it meant a lot to him.  This car has certainly meant a lot to me.

edsnova posted:

I'm here to tell ya, the more stuff I fabricate myself the more I think these seemingly outrageous prices are right reasonable.

 It’s amazing how your perspective changes once you do things yourself for a while. The fact that a decent  mass produced car does not cost $250,000 is one of the miracles of the modern age.

Actually, the fact that you can buy a bare bones but fully functional car for under 15K shows how ridiculous some of the mid level pricing is in the 40-50K range.

• Nissan Versa Sedan - $12,815. ...
• Chevrolet Spark - $12,995. ...
• Mitsubishi Mirage - $13,790. ...
• smart fortwo - $14,090. ...
• Ford Fiesta - $14,790. ...
• Kia Rio - $14,815. ...

We bought a Vw jetta wolfsburg great car great price as a second car. 

IMHO buy the car you want but buy it used with reasonable miles on it and save big  I boughta BMW 329XI 5 years ago with 58k on it . We're very happy with it , looks like new  w/ 126k on the clock. Screw buying new

Yeah, Alan and Connie tried to pass that Bimmer off as a Speedster at Carlisle last year.

Even though it is “Speedster black”, we were not fooled.......

Used is always the way to go IMHO

Alan Merklin posted:

IMHO buy the car you want but buy it used with reasonable miles on it and save big  I boughta BMW 329XI 5 years ago with 58k on it . We're very happy with it , looks like new  w/ 126k on the clock. Screw buying new

What's a 329?!  There is a 325, 328, or 330.     

329 is a women's car... 29 forever

328xi  ...eight.... ate .    Senior moment :~)

Never yet bought a new car and probably never will. Most ever spent was $11k for my wife's 'yota a couple years ago. Well. Most ever, not counting the pile of parts I'm calling a "Spyder."

Agree with buying slightly used.  Bought my wife's ML Mercedes Bluetec used.  1 year old, 6000 miles and $10k off list.  Also certified pre-owned warranty was for 100,000 miles instead of 50,000 miles.  No brainer.