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Looks good Ed !! Loved the driving video and loved watching your build here. Great job ! Hope it sells well to a buyer who will appreciate your efforts.
"Why did they suddenly call it a 550A?"
I dunno. Do they think you're Canadian? Like 550, eh?
I got it fixed.
GLWA Ed, I’m really sorry it didn’t work out with Rick. I wanted to be able to admire your work in person.
The person who wins that auction is getting a one in a thousand deal.
I'm a little sad to see it go. Maybe the new owner will join our group.
BAT needs a new writer. EVERY ad has something paired with something else.
Ed, you did a beautiful job on the car. I'm sure it will bring top dollar.
It’s true. Every ad reads like a form letter with spaces to insert specifics.
I’m guessing they do it to keep unverifiable “facts” from getting posted by a seller.
My favorite BaT line is: ........... "It is said". Being a broker auction they cover their tails quite well.
Guys, I sent them the copy and they ignored it. I did a few edits to correct the errors inserted, but whatayagonnado?
fwiw here is my unredacted copy, prepared in the BaT style:
This 550 Spyder replica was shipped as a deluxe roller in 2009 to its first owner in Tennessee and acquired unbuilt in 2017 from the second owner by the seller, who completed the build in 2020. It has a 3″ tubular steel chassis and fiberglass body and is powered by a mid-mounted 1915cc VW Type-1 flat-four mated to a 4-speed manual transaxle. The seller added numerous period details including aluminum inner rocker panels, firewall, floors and engine bay, barberpole vinyl upholstery and custom pedals, latches, brackets and other parts. This Thunder Ranch Spyder is registered in Maryland as a street rod and offered with records from the seller’s ownership, detailed build documentation, canvas tonneau cover, alloy half tonneau, uninstalled folding top and a clean Maryland title identifying it as a 1971 VW.
The fiberglass body is finished in Voodoo Blue with white darts and gold accent stripes. Additional features include leather rear bonnet straps, functional key-latches at all four corners, functional jacking points, a reproduction Spyder jack, correctly-located horns, correct parking brake handle, period fuel pumps and badges. Alloy wide-five wheels wear 165/80-15 Vredstein Sprint Classic tires, and the car is equipped with 4-wheel disc brakes behind aluminum “drum skins” to retain the period look.
The interior is upholstered with barber pole vinyl and an aluminum binnacle. Additional features include heated seats, lap belts, a rubber-matted floating floor, refurbished Porsche gauges and a banjo steering wheel with Golden Lady crest. The odometer reads 4400 km.
The front trunk features a modified VW fuel tank with a correctly-located through-the-hood filler and a steel cover mimicking the original Spyder tank and hold-down straps.
Power is provided by a mid-mounted 1915cc VW Type-1 flat-four built by Jake Raby, paired with a rebuilt four-speed transaxle featuring a 3.44 ring and pinion and a .93 4th gear. The engine is said to have spent its first decade in a Beck Speedster, traveling approximately 2000km, before it was serviced by Beck and acquired by the seller. It features dual Weber carbs and developed 120 horsepower when new. The engine is augmented with a remote oil cooler and filter, custom breather system, Accusump accumulator, CB Performance “Black Box” ignition system and a Sebring style exhaust with 1⅝ primary tubes.
The engine cover was smoothed inside and features a flanged and holed aluminum reinforcement panel similar to the originals. An aluminum belly pan extends under the engine and is louvered and relieved to function as did the originals.
Suspension is fully adjustable with a Delrin-bushed ball-joint VW beam in front and swing axles in the rear. KYB GR2 shocks and a custom 12 mm front anti-sway bar are equipped.
Oh well gotta go!
Nicely written, Ed. Maybe they could have just said "Here's the seller's description of the vehicle."
It's good that you can correct things in comments.
@Gordon Nichols posted:"Why did they suddenly call it a 550A?"
I dunno. Do they think you're Canadian? Like 550, eh?
Not funny, Gordon.
2 funny
Hey @edsnova I just took a quick gander at your blog but couldn’t find the answer to my question: did you make coffin locks for your frunk, too, or just the clamshell?
After hearing from Carey that my car is a Gen 1 car I’m thinking of ditching the “My First Welding Project” hinge on mine and making it an original “lift off” lid, either with coffin locks or Dzus fasteners.
The frunk turn locks came installed on the car. They appear to be a product the PO bought, and I remade the turn screws out of steel when the original aluminum ones seemed to be wearing too quickly.
@edsnova posted:The frunk turn locks came installed on the car. They appear to be a product the PO bought, and I remade the turn screws out of steel when the original aluminum ones seemed to be wearing too quickly.
Is that stuff available anywhere? (The mechanism. I know you can buy the external pieces just about anywhere)
I know you can buy coffin locks easily enough, but that seems like an inelegant solution.
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I don’t know where to source the works as I didn’t have to. It’s pretty makeable tho
@edsnova posted:I don’t know where to source the works as I didn’t have to. It’s pretty makeable tho
I wish this had come up a couple of weeks ago, I could have inspected some of the Kombis engine compartments at the show. I’ll have to check out Rick’s transporter. Besides the engine compartment, all the cargo bays have the same lock on them.
Best to ask @chines1 about it. I know he makes replicas of the original design—which mine are not—but he may know where the style I got came from and whether they're still sold.
If I were keeping the car I would redo the key as a male and the lock as a female, as original. Mine are the opposite and they're not as easy to use, particularly in the rear.
We buy and modify coffin locks and then fabricate the other parts. They are female with a male key.
Two hours out...$36k.
Ed I think it will generate some action in the last 30 minutes....
Is there a reserve?
@edsnova posted:Two hours out...$36k.
It should be twice that, which often happens in the last hour or so.
I thought you sold it last year... hopefully you have been enjoying it often up until now with the BAT post. I love my Allen built 356, and I really love your voodoo sypder too... maybe I need both!
Yes there is a reserve. Not there yet.
Yes, I sold it last Fall...but the buyer backed out after sitting in it--he didn't fit.
Yes, I have enjoyed my time with the car. Worst outcome for me is a final bid just on the reserve.
Hah, I think fitting would be my problem to being 6'2" and already look a little silly in my speedster. Hopefully the price really makes a run up for you here in the last throws of the auction.
Reserve not met.
Sorry Ed.
This is not the worst outcome!
Let's see what's cooking this fall down in the mountains.
It’s a sign - drive the hell out of it.
Perhaps bad timing with the last days falling on a holiday weekend.
@edsnova posted:This is not the worst outcome!
Let's see what's cooking this fall down in the mountains.
Now you HAVE to keep it. Bridget says she would be lonely if it goes away 😄
Yeah, you really should keep it after all the work you put into it. We should start with another drive for us maryland guys.
@edsnova posted:This is not the worst outcome!
Let's see what's cooking this fall down in the mountains.
Does this mean...?
send me a brochure
Done did it!