New IM Build

I wanted to say thanks to a number of people on this website that gave me loads of answers and feedback last year when I was finalizing details of my IM build.

A special thanks to Henry (my favorite builder, very patient, very knowledgable), Bill Steele, Dales Bates and Jim Ward. Thanks for sharing the extra pictures, experience and comments, as well as some recently fabricated parts that Henry made for you and the rest of us benefit from.

(I must sound like someone accepting an Oscar)

This is my third version of these cars, I started with a Beck, a beatiful 03 IM Speedster and now a 06 IM Roadster.

Delivery expected in 10 days or so.

Car is a beauty!!! Very sweet looking!
Good luck with it.

Someone once told me it would be almost as fun to watch another person make their picks as it was for me. They were right. Many people follow each new build list, watching for the personal statement to roll onto the street. It's exciting to hear reports from the YVR/IM locals about Roadsters and Speedsters they've seen while taking a walk through the assembly shop. Yours was one that was watched with anticipation. Ron Leonard probably posted the ultimate complement when he shared that he admired your Roadster while walking through the shop.

The fun part is in seeing the improvements made in each one that none of us knew about until Henry gave you the keys. He is a a master at stepping aside and allowing each person to unveil the improvements on the breed. Your Roadster is a beautiful example.

Congrats again, Robert. It's fun to read of your excitment and see the results in the pics! From my perch in Oklahoma it appears that, for you, Christmas this year came just before some of the best driving weather in Georgia.

I saw your car when I was over at Henry's the other day, it looks sweet and made me think about switching my build from ruby red to the same gray you used. In the end I decided to stick to my paint guns though.

Nice looking car you have there.

gz

I love the Slate and Sone Greys too. But I'll be watching for your Ruby H2O-IM, John!

Dear Robert,
Together with Mischa Bauman I visited Vancouver last week to meet Henry and his team. We are busy setting up a European agency for IM. We witnessed the finishing touch on your car. It is a real beauty! We made a lot of pictures of it. It will be the (visual) main part at the Roadster section of the website we are working on at the moment.
It will be on line half of February.
All the luck with it!!!
Regards,
Mart Boudestein & Mischa Bauman.

The car is gorgeous! It reminds me of John Leader's beauty but with a more "civilized" appearance. Nice Job.

Wow, what a beautiful roadster. After seeing this one and the infamous white one (with white walls) that IM built, I am truely a believer and fan of the roadster now. The nice styling as well as functionality can't be beat!

Justin you have to see that "white" one in person some day... it's a beautiful pale cream yellow (just like Rick Davis' Speedster) with a dark tan top and tonneaus. The interior leather is a dark saddle. That Roadster is beautiful. I had the pleasure of following it down I-5 last year after it was shipped to John Steele's and Henry drove it from the Bay to Sacramento and to LA for it's owner; Dan Palmquist. Dan also had a very nice VS for some time.

When I get done with a few chores, I'll be back here burning a CD and I'll p-mail you a couple of 640x shots of Dan's Roadster.

Glad you had fun with that trusty Black Speedster this past year! And we agree! Bigg's Roadster is beautiful. John Leader broke the paint barrier with that choice on his super nice JPS '58 GT, and it's equally nice on a Roadster.

Hey Robert!

You'll probably have to take Quaaludes to stand the excitement of waiting for your new IM (unless you already have it in your garage)!

The impression left on Justin by Dan's Speedy (with whitewalls) is the typical reaction to that beautiful car. That type of impression is further reinforced by Jim Ws compliment on Dan's car (I personally think Jim has one of the coolest Speedy set-ups on this site).

I've also attached a picture of a 356 Concourse event Dan and I attended by the beach in Dana Point SoCal. Even amongst the 100-point restorations that were there, Dan's Speedy still drew A LOT of attention.

Good luck with your new ride!

That's a wonderful shot Jim. If you can, will you shoot me a p-mail with that pic for my private collection? Your Speedster and Dan's Roadster look great in that line up. I heard you guys showed up there... must have been a fun day.

Did someone say White Walls????

Jim W. -

I'll send you some pics from that Concourse event (via e-mail). I'm sure you will enjoy them as much as I do.

Vince -

White-walls - no we weren't talking about GI haircuts.

Jim W/Jim I, thanks for the kudos on Henry's work. Jim and I had a great trip to Dana Pt last year. I am sure we'll look to repeat it. It's probably one of the greatest 356 photo ops in the world.

Thanks for the compliments guys...I guess we all agree that we are lucky to have these cars, that none of these cars are identical and thanks to Henry for turning our personal tastes into beautiful cars.

Now...I'm going to have to remember to hunt down that IM European website that has some pictures of my car (maybe?).

Is this your car sir?

Hey, that is really close. Where the heck did you get those photos?

It looks a bit dirty and it looks like a Canadian tag, but really whose car is that? Did I almost copy a car of someone elses?

Let me know who, what where.

Robert, it is your car! I visited Intermeccanica at the end of January. We're busy to set up an European agency for IM and needed some promotional photography. Your car was almost finished and became a 'model' during a testdrive into the hills north of Vancouver.

Nice pitures, the snow threw me though. Based on these last photos, I guess it wasn't dirty. I think the pictures came out well.

Thanks for letting me know, I was hoping the car was more "original" and was shocked when you posted those pictures, I thought it just like another persons car, and I was hoping that I didn't make a copy.

Robert, of course the first post was ment to tease you a bit. Your car is the main 'model' in the Roadster section of our website. I'll send you the link by PM.