Newbie preparing to buy a Speedster

Like so many others, I am preparing to purchase my first Speedster, and am incredibly greatful for this site. My research keeps leading me to Vintage, and I have a few questions. First, I'm in Houston, TX and need to know (for my location), is buying direct from VS my best route, or are there dealers in my area? Next, can anyone share their VS "customizing experinces" with me? I want authenic Speedster style seats and the correct flat inside door pannels. Can VS do this for me? Any information will be helpful. Thanks very much.

Brian,
I bought my first Speedster several weeks ago. I bought an '03 Vintage from the original owner, and absolutely love it. You cannot go wrong with a Vintage. I wish you well and God Bless!
Shawn

Brian; definitely buy direct from Kirk at VS; the rest are just middlemen who will charge you more for the product and don't really offer any advantages over buying direct. I ordered mine last year and got it shipped all the way here (Puerto Rico) complete in less than two months. Funnily enough, when I ordered mine with the features I wanted I specifically requested original style seats (I'm attaching a picture) and Kirk accommodated my request without hassles or extra charges. It's great dealing with Kirk and although busy, he'll take care of you. He even gave me some of the options I requested free of charge.

I bought directly from Kirk and have no regrets. I also got the Speedster seats which I think are a must if you are over 6'. I tried out the seats that vintage normally puts in there and I didn't have enough leg room. I got my car sent to Miami through VIP (Kirk suggested that company). They delivered the car with no hassels (except trying to drive their big truck down my street with lots of overhanging trees!). Kirk's customer service and loyalty is great. I know he's busy, but he always takes care of even my smallest requests.

Wow! Thanks for such quick and helpful replies. The manner in which you guys take care of each other just makes buying one of these cars that much easier. Shawn - your car if georgeous. I can't wait to get one. Ricardo & Brad - thanks for your input - that is EXACTLY what I needed to hear.

Can I buy the correct Porsche emblems and the coach builder badge from Vintage (and have them install them), or will I have to apply them on my own? If I have to do it on my own, how do I figure out the exact spot where they go? Do you have to drill into the body and dash to apply them? Thanks.

Brian; I bought all of my emblems and badges separately from different places such as klasse356.com and mamotorworks.com. I then mailed those to Kirk and they pre-fitted them and pre-drilled the car for me and mailed them back for me to install when the car got here. Due to copyright issues they can't install them at the shop. I also heard from another forum member that ordered a new car from him not long ago that Kirk's not doing that anymore. I guess you'd have to ask him; maybe he's just being cautious about the copyright thing.

Brian,

I think buying directly from Kirk depends on a bunch of other factors to see if it makes sense to do so or buy through a dealer.

In my case I have no regrets buying from a local dealer. I was able to basically get the car for $1,500 more than what I would have paid Kirk + shipping costs. Here's what I got for the extra $1,500... I was able to customize my car through the dealer and did not have to pay for shipping costs or worry about shipping. The dealer wet sanded the car and put on multiple layers of urethane finish. It's a black car so it now looks like glass, where it didn't before. The dealer also installed all the correct badging, and went thought the car to ensure everything work as it should. I now have about 500 miles on the car and have experienced a couple very minor issues with my electrical. These were both addressed by my dealer without me having to lift a finger. Make sure your dealer offers you the 1 year warranty that Kirk does. I also got my first oil change for free :-). So in a nutshell, I think the decision to buy really depends a number of factors. For me it's well worth it to have my car serviced locally being so far from Kirk.

On the Speedster you may want to consider your mechanical options. I owned a VS for 3 years and had a good experience with it, and with Kirk.

On any buy, I would get the front discs as a minimum & depending on your budget you may want to consider the discs all the way around with a wide 5 pattern. Make sure it is an IRS car. I didn't and used a camber compensator on swing axles and it felt good to me, but I undestand the IRS cars handle better. I haven't looked at the VS options list lately, but make sure your top and (get) both tonnaeus in canvas. Get both side mirrors. My experience with engines has been limited to (2) 1776s and a 2110. One of the 1776s was a boat anchor, the other is running strong after 30,000 miles of duty. The diffrence between the two? I had the second one built with a balanced crank, and all good internals, a good cam, and carbs. The 2110 that I have now (7,000 miles) is a leap in HP and torque and I love it. Many will tell you to buy as much horsepower as you can afford. Or, pick a size and then go up two. But that's something you will need to work out on this or another thread with input from current owners of VSs. Some prefer the 1776 with ICTs for an easy to maintain car with credible HP.

Good luck, and have fun. Oh, get the VS luggage rack. It's fairly cheap in cost, but works for those weekend trips. I think it looks sharp, but you will get a variety of opinions on that.

Jim: Does that luggage rack bolt to the engine lid or is it strapped? I'd like a luggage rack since the SAW doesn't have a back seat and the trunk area isn't very big even when there'e no engine back there.

Please send that picture of the subframe. Since the SAW's engine is mounted ahead of the axles the area under the grill is not ventilated. Even though I'm getting a flared version of the Cabrio I'd still like to have the space under the grill at least look somewhat functional so I'll probably install some sort of screening or grill work over the fiberglass. The subframe might help me achieve that look.

Nolan. I'll back the car out this afternoon and take a few shots 640x and send them your way. Below and in my previous post are distance shots of the VS and IM Racks. The IM Rack can be set at different distances from the lid by using shorter standoffs. Mine are set at the stock length. I'll make sure and get you close ups of the mounting.

Nolan, It (the VS Rack) bolts to the lid on the surface corners under the engine grille(big flat washers underneath going though the two sections of glass) and is lightweight. I worried about stressing the glass (under the grille), but I carried luggage on it on several trips with no problems. It pulls off in minutes. I also used it to carry a small suitcase with my detail kit for car shows, etc.

I noticed Steve is using a rack on his Cabrio. I don't know how they mounted it. Steve?

The one on my Speedster now has a cast subframe under the grille for mounting the rack. I could send a pic if you would like.

Brian, about the door panels; all the VS's that I've seen in person or in pictures (including mine) have door panels with a small recessed pleated pocket and a decorative double line of stitching going across the middle and angling up towards the forward corner. This seems to be unique to VS. I had the urge to make mine very plain, no pocket or any detail, like pictured in Dr. Johnson's 356 book, and converted it that way myself. If that is the look you are talking about, I don't know why Kirk couldn't make it that way upon request.

Ricardo,

The dealer I went though ordered (I believe) 4 VS's from Kirk this summer, so far. Mine was sold prior to delivery so I was able to customize it. Two others were taken down and sold at Monterey. I think the dealers get a discounted "dealer price" from Kirk. I'm guessing their level of discount depends on how many vehicles they order. My guess is that the dealership probably made about 3-4k on the car, but that's just a guess! It was worth it for me. If you buy from a dealer, like any other car, negotiate, negotiate, negotiate!

Jim, love the pictures at the pump!

Thanks for all of the replies...it looks like I have some more research to do in my city. Does anybody else have any car customization tales that they can share? I'm just trying to gauge customer service among the manufactureres. Also, Jim, I've seen some nice cars on this site, but that thing is a beauty!

Thanks x Dos. (Ricardo and Brian) That VS is still in excellent condition and is owned now by Justin, a member of this site, and a great guy (OKC). My IM was a retirement gift, well, I gave it to myself with my wife's permission'. I've loved every minute since I got the VS in 01, and now the icing and cherry on top IM since April of this year. It all depends on your budget, use, and willingness to write the check. All of them are very cool. The IM is something else.

You'll enjoy your VS. I sure did. Good luck on all the choices ahead. Kirk always dealt me right and with Integrity.

That's very illuminating Derek; in my case when I researched buying through a particular dealer in the East coast I thought that they would somehow pick up or dilute the shipping costs (I thought that maybe they'd be getting groups of VS's at once). I was wrong; not only would I have to pay for the shipping but the car's cost would be higher. In my case, being on an island in the Caribbean, means that I'm on my own after the car gets here so it doesn't really make sense to pay a higher cost since I won't have a local dealer. In the case of people in the mainland it might make more sense if you have a dealer near your house. I was actually surprised by all the extras you got and in your case it was a great deal.

Don't let Stuart read that comment! ha ha just kidding. Jim your car is great & it's great your having fun with it.

Those racks really look good. I'll be inquiring where to buy one after getting my Cabrio home.

Nolan, the rack support and rack should probably be installed by the manufacturer if you really planned to put any weight on it.

That's funny Dave. Nolan, I will get those pics to you asap.