New Owner

WOW !! nice Speedster !!!

Welcome, we are glad you joined !

 

 

Ahhhhh !  The madness has struck again....   Welcome, and enjoy the "New" ride....  

There can be a little movement from side to side, especially if it's a stock shifter.

Ah, the madness begins!

 

 

Beautiful tub, welcome!

As Terry mentioned, there can be some movement in a stock shifter.  The quality aftermarket shifters are better, but I can still move my Vintage Speed shifter back and forth a bit when it's in gear.

 

 

Hello Adam:

 

Nice speedster.  Love the color.  Yes with my 2000 vintage, while the gate is very tight (short thows between gears), I do get up to about maybe 0.25" side play when in any gear, but this movement needs to be pushed to get it otherwise the gear shift handle stays pretty much in one place.

 

There are also short-shift kits available that may help to addess any excessive lateral play.

 

Grant

A stock VW shifter has a spring on the bottom which you push down to engage reverse.  Some of the aftermarket (which are generally shorter throw) have a trigger mechanism with the spring further up.  This eliminates the slop.  EMPI, CSP, and Gene Berg fall into this group.  I installed a CSP in mine because it was the most popular here. However, recently Vintage Speed is picking up followers.  It looks more period and I believe you pull up to engage reverse and there is no trigger lever.  I might have gone this way, but I'm keeping my CSP.

'Welcome To The Madness', Adam! Hope to see you join one of the cruises posted in the Events section of this site. Here's wishing you many miles of sunny skies, winding roads and top-down driving. Peace-Out!  

https://www.speedsterowners.com.../lastReply#lastReply

 

Nothing a few hundred can't fix!

Even though I now have a Vintage Speed shifter I'm not selling my CSP.  I still kick myself for selling my Gene Berg 60% short shifter with reverse lockout.  It didn't look real pretty in a Speedster, but damn, it was nice.

Thanks!  I'm loving it so far.  Wish it was a little warmer out!

I just ordered a base model coupe from John at JPS.  It should be ready by late summer or early fall.  As I live in Eastern Washington we have about 8 months of good driving weather and hundreds of good and twisty back roads.

 

I bought from JPS because I was impressed with the quick and useful responses he had to my questions and the fact that he had built about 60 Coupes and had been in business for quite awhile.  He put me in contact with one of his customers here in Wa. who was impressed with John and his product.

 

This car will be a weekend cruiser that will never be driven in anger as I am a 74 year old retired engineer.

 

I like the idea of a replica for a 1950s sports car, as I am not interested in paying for the cost and maintenance of a 60 year old classic.

 

I hope to be a active member of the forum and look forward to learning much from those of you with experience with these cars...bart  

Where are the 60 Coupes I know of 4 or 5....

Hey Bart!

 

Welcome to the Madness! I'm sure you'll really enjoy the thrill of driving a car with timeless design as well as a conversation piece everywhere you go! Hope you'll be able to join in on one of the gatherings/cruises posted in the 'Events' thread. 

Simple Mathematics must be done differently on the Left Coast.

 

At most we have maybe heard of 10 coupes from JPS in the past few years.

Gerd, you're a CPA, and you know John well.  What is the number?

Tulsa to Peoria, somewhere around 8 hours. If you are going to own a Speedster, you will soon realize that others that own them in faraway places want too know why you bought yours and what improvements, or sorting (learn to use that word) you will be doing on your very pretty, black Vintage. Some of those questions could be posed and answered in late June in the middle of Illinois. There is an open slot available for a black Speedster, why not try to fill it? Corn Daze Part Deux, check out the events section. Other than that, welcome to the madness.

Is it my job to count them or are you implying that John is a liar ?

Well for a "member" being here for just 22 hours, you're off to a great start. Don't get your shorts all twisted..I said what I said as, there just isn't that number of JPS coupes to be known in existence .

I don't know what the length of my membership has to do with anything, or my shorts for that matter.  That is the number John told me, I would think he would know or he is lying.  I don't know how you would know ???

Bart,

Alan & a large number of members have been around for years. It is very hard to believe that John has produced even close to 60 coupes in the short 3 or 4 years since producing his first coupe.

However being 74 years young, it is more believeable that perhaps you mis-understood the number, or maybe forgot the actual number mentioned by John. I imagine it is possible that John has been breathing some fibers in the air around the shop & lost count.....

No matter, John does a fine job with the coupes, so total count doesn't mean much anyway..

By the way, I am El Diablo, & known as a trouble maker here abouts....Welcome aboard, & get ready for some fun.....Try not to have a thin skin, or you may hate this site....

Believe me, my skin isn't thin, nor is my memory bad, I have a email to the effect from John that he has been building coupes for five years and has produced 60 of them...I will take the man at his word. 

El Diablo making nice?  Or is this the new....... post-Phillipines trip .......'Vince-lite'?

 Vince "ain't" make'n nice,  I was the only good friend to actually wire the emergency funds needed hence he felt kinda obligated to chime in ... I'm just say'n.

 

With no disrespect to anyone herein, I did the math: 60 Coupes at a reasonable estimated build time of 300 man hours per unit =18,000 man hours. A standard 40 hour work week equates to some 9 years and that doesn't allow for any other speedster builds.... I do understand that the coupes have been well sorted out hence, a greatly improved product over the first few.

 

Wow, Alan, that John's a real worker, since he doesn't even have one employee?

60? Well I don't know what to say. Here are some facts.  I saw the first prototype body at Peregrine in Mexico.  I believe Gerd had the first coupe, that was 4 years ago. It takes 4-6 months to have a car delivered and John only works on a couple cars at time including speedsters.  There must be some explanation because none of these numbers add up.  This is a very small community, everyone knows everyone else.  I only know of a few coupes, as a community we only know of a few coupes.

 

Just fair disclosure as well. I have bought a car from John (classic Mini) and done business with him. 

 

Maybe he will chime in with an explanation. 

-=theron

You guys have a real nice way of welcoming new members.

Who gives a flying flock how many coupes have been built? Let the new guy have his day in the sun, okay?

 

Welcome aboard, Bart. How about some specifics on your coupe? Color, engine, wheels?

Just to add some accuracy to the conversation, I contracted with JPS for Coupe#4 in June of 2007.  It has been a most pleasurable ride.

It is a box stock plain jane one without any options...silver with a maple interior.  My expectations are that it will be what it is...a VW with a 356 look. 

 

A lot of fun for the money with low costs for maint. and repair. 

 

I have had one experience with a replica car, so I expect there will some sorting. 

 

I expect to drive it pretty much on the same roads (30mph- 65mph) and weather (50 to 80 degrees) as a motorcyle. I am not concerned about high performance. 

 

I am not concerned about resale as I have a gaggle of of grandsons one of whom will end up with it. 

Any shifter that requires a press down on the knob to engage reverse will have some movement due to the spring required.  Those with a trigger release mechanism do away with the spring, thus being more solid.

 

Welcome aboard, Bart.  Don't let some of the comments turn you off.  These are good folks even if they might seem less than diplomatic in expressing some opinions.  They often have reasons.  You can use the "Dialog" function on this site if you want private conversations.  Sometimes those can clear things up quickly.

So there's been a little fudging of the number of coupes John's built.. welcome aboard, Bart! Al

I tell you, when I first saw the coupe prototype it was 2006.  I really didn't understand why anyone would want one as I had just passed up an original at $20k.  So that was stupid. Prices have gone up substantially and now I find myself coveting the outlaw look.

-=theron

My principle concern is that the car is reliable and trouble free, that the paint and appearance are excellent and that the quality of the build is " good " to the point that it is fun and not annoying to drive it.

 

I am not concerned about how many have been built or how many hours it takes to build one or how many employees there are at JPS, I simply made that remark in passing.       

Welcome Bart,

I will be meeting most of these guys in Carlisle in about a month and have to say they are great folks - sorry for the lukewarm welcome - you will enjoy the company if you get to meet a few of these guys at a function. Most of us do like to take each other to task in a friendly way when we get a chance. No insults intended here... You will enjoy your new ride. 

 

My next will be a coupe for sure or a Spyder... But I will only build a new Spyder with Carey Hines and it will be top shelf.  I love coupes though.  He'll I have my vs sorted now and should put it up for sale and build the coupe or Spyder!

JOHN CRANKS OUT A SHITLOAD OF COUPES, HAS BEEN BUILDING MORE COUPES THAN SPEEDSTERS FOR A WHILE BUT 60 DOES SEEM HIGH. THERON I DID NOT HAVE THE FIRST COUPE BUT MAYBE THE 10TH. THAT WAS SEPT 2009 AND HE HAS RATCHED IT UP THE VOLUME SO IN FOUR YEARS COULD HE BUILD 50 COUPES PLUS THE SPEEDSTERS I DONT KNOW. THERE ARE MANY BUILDS U GUYS NEVER HEAR OF OR SEE AS THEY GO OVERSEAS OR TO GUYS NOT ON THIS SITE. EDDY MIGHT NO BETTER BUT ILL BET HE HAS DONE NO LESS THAN 40 COUPES SINCE MINE WAS BUILT

 

Hi I have the 3rd coupe that John built. I took delivery in 2007. I saw coupe #1 & #2 being built while visiting him almost every week while waiting to get mine finished. I am the only owner from the 1st 3 that is still the original owner. So 10 coupes in 6 years, is that possible? I know that a few of John's customers do not even visit this website. I am not sure why. 

 

If you want to know more about my coupe, email me.

 

Welcome to the madness.

 

Eddy