New Builder? Hmmmm.

I was scanning a search on e-bay (porsche speedster) when I cam upon this nifty ad (below). It appears that someone is taking Vintage Speedsters, marking them up, and now claims to be the "builder". I wonder if Kirk knows about this? Or possibly John Steele? They (Crewe Built Motorsports)want to sell the "CEO"'s 1 yaer old driven car for $25,000, yep, a used VS/JPS (?) for 25G that options out around 23G....... Someone will buy it though, there's one born every minute. Look at E-Bay Motors, Passenger Cars, Porsche, Other... ad below.

Crewe Built Motorsports World Class!
Vehicle Description

Crewe Built Motorsports

It sure looks like a VS that someone has - shall we say - "over embellished."

For anyone that wants a laugh it is ebay item 1852844285
Without a doubt a Vintage being misrepresented.
Here is another person claiming to have a carbon fiber and fiberglass bodied car. I would like one of these jokers to explain how you lay carbon fiber with fiberglass, being that the carbon has to be baked in an oven and the fiberglass resin will deform in an oven. Am I just dreaming?
-=theron

I emailed this guy and asking him if it was built by Vintage.

He responded with the following:

I do not understand why you would think this car that has been manufactures in my facility is built by some other company. As you will note we do not list VIN numbers and the car is registered to my wife at our house in California. You are more than welcome to contact our corporate office in Scottsdale, AZ for further details. We build only Crewe assembled speedsters and have done so for the last several years. We ship worldwide and deal at a much higher level of quality, precision, detail and performance related components than other "kit car assemblers."

So,
The dash board is a Vintage, the cut-down 914 seats are from Vintage, so are the door panels. The deck lid, hinges and hinge pin are a dead give away that this is a Vintage. The body has the same fiberglass impressions as all Vintage and JPS cars because they come out of the same molds.
Now the fun part. Take a look at the second picture on the ebay page. The Rusty Barnacle is in the background. This is a restaraunt on the marina in Long Beach, just a few minutes from the Vintage Shop and Kirk's home. The photo of the ivory Vintage Speedster, on the VS site, with the sunset reflected in the paint, was taken in the parking lot of the Rusty Barnacle by me. Kirk eats there regularly and sometimes takes customers to eat there. Coincidence? Strange that a manufacturer based in Scottsdale, Az would drive to Long Beach to photo a car.
-=theron

(Message Edited 8/22/2002 2:03:22 PM)

So, at best this is misrepresentation. And at worst it's fraud. What a crock!

This thing gets deeper in shinola.... If you run an overall search from E-Bay's main page and enter "Porsche Speedster", you will get 3 pages of listings. On page 2 you will find a right hand drive silver speedster advertised by this cretin as built by Vintage, Then several ads down is the one I presented at the beginning of this thread. Both sold by "Crewe" Esquire, LTD, INC, Co. Scam.

I recognized the background as the same as I had seen in other pics.... they use the rocks on the side of a road, or a more green, wooded backdrop. This guy is in cahoots with the ones (car ads) you see advertised out of Wisconsin, like that silver with red interior ad that has run off & on for 6 months... I also think they hjave a red car on sale now too. That never bothered me before, as they always represented the cars as Vintage Built... but this? This is pure assed misrepresentation. Maybe, just maybe, he bought a roller, or maybe (I doubt it) a kit, and slapped an engine in.... and considers that manufactured, so to speak. I sent him the following: (Jim OKC)

Is this a vintage Speedster? It has Vintage 914 seats, their hinges, deck lids, and the mold is the same as JPS/VS. It's beautiful car, no doubt.... and that picture of it on Long Beach sure dosen't look like it was made in AZ. The pictures, locale, and vintage tag are remarkably similar to the one's I have seen run before selling Vintage Speedsters. In fact I'll bet I have a picture of a Black and Tan that has that same tag. Or, how 'bout that RHD Silver car you are selling as a Vintage Produced Car? How do you use Carbon Fibre in the Glass making, I'm curious.. or is that a trade secret? Do you make your own as advertised and stated in mails to others, but also sell Vnatge Speedsters in competition with your self? Maybe, as a consumer, I should report my concerns to e-bay? Does Kirk know you are doing this? Of course I could be wrong, however....... well, if I'm wrong I'll buy you Diamond Back tickets on the 1st base line via online as an apology. Have a sunny day. xxoxx Replica Owner. Jim (Copy being sent to E-Bay and Vintage)

Hell, it has California tags...... And his company is in Phoenix? BS.

Wow, we've got some pretty good detectives on this site! You guys all Colombo fans or what?
John H.

With three days to go before the auction ends - there is one bid on this Speedster in the amount of $25,000. However, the "reserve" is not met....meaning they're not selling unless they get more than $25k!
You think maybe the seller had "someone" enter a bid to "get things going?" You'd think they'd be smart enough not to start way up at $25,000.
Any bets that'll be the one and only bid? Any futher bets this car returns to Ebay in a month or so in a slightly different
category?
Oh, by the way, like Jim Ward, I sent the seller a couple of questions about the "carbon fiber" and the car's original builder. I never heard anything back. Total crock!

(Message Edited 8/26/2002 8:05:32 PM)