OMG STÅRKE INVITED ME TO REVOLUTION: GOODNESS GRACIOUS

So a Facebook live event @ 10am on the 20th. Time zone?

Sounds like they are gonna unveil something.

VEGAS

Excellent. we're finally going to see what they've put together

Well, that Starke guy is craftier than we give him credit for.

ALB posted:

Well, that Starke guy is craftier than we give him credit for.

Are you STARK RAVING MAD Sir?? 

I'm wondering if this will be revolutionary or revolting. They have taken some shots at current builders in their marketing commentary on their website. Rarely a good idea unless provoked, and I don't think they have been.

I don't see anything revolutionary about adapting a stylized iconic body to an existing car frame, drive train, suspension and braking system. That's been going on forever.

In some cases the choices of what to match with what have been interesting, but this pairing is no bolt out of the blue.

They aren't claiming any engineering breakthroughs, are they?

I don't mean to minimize their, as of yet unseen and untested by any independent source we know of, product, but I just don't see much value or anything to get all that excited about, particularly at their price points  for their cars. 

Interesting stylistically.

So, the car doesn't seem to be intended to operate any better than any Boxster it is based on (perhaps some weight advantages ?). 

It will appear to be a distorted version of a an iconic Speedster.

Currently you can get the look of a real Speedster and build the car to a number of performance and creature comfort levels all the way up to the beautiful machines that Intermeccanica and Special Edition produce.

These bespoke cars can rival and even surpass the performance of a Boxster.

You can buy a Starke 357 and get Boxster underpinnings, performance and the same creature comforts........

But it will never look like a real Speedster.

To me, they should have named it the Starke 350. 

Just my opinion, no inherent value except to start a conversation, maybe, or maybe not.

PANHANDLE: very well said....it certainly is NOT a SPEEDSTER and NOT a BOXSTER. I wonder, along with others, what's the point...especially if you can drop $150K plus on their big motor/carbon fiber option(?).....that blows right over my head. I also along with you, am looking for "inherent value".

I had mentioned, way back when, that it reminded me of FORDS attempt to ressurect the 2 seat TBIRD....which certainly was NOT a 50s TBIRD and did not do well........but FORD could take the hit. I have NO idea what the startup costs would be for this venture but I cant see enough volume to make it work and fit a cost/benefit success.

I'm up to see what happens and whether it weathers the vicissitudes and scrutiny of the buying public.....

Guys, you're doing it again! Let's see what they have. Wait until the unveiling...

It will be some Babe wearing a sandwich sign with a bigger photo swaying in the breeze

ALB posted:

Guys, you're doing it again! Let's see what they have. Wait until the unveiling...

JUST SHMOOZIN A BIT

ALB:

It isn't about the "unveiling", it's about the concept. I don't think the introduction of the car will overcome the concept behind it.

Alan Merklin posted:

It will be some Babe wearing a sandwich sign with a bigger photo swaying in the breeze

Now wouldn't that be funny.

I have a friend in the movie business. He has said that the more hype ahead of a film's introduction the worse the studio thinks the film is. They have to fill as many seats  as they can in the first two weeks before the word gets out to be able to recoup some of their investment.

I hope that isn't the case here.

Panhandle Bob posted:

ALB:

It isn't about the "unveiling", it's about the concept. I don't think the introduction of the car will overcome the concept behind it.

Panhandle Bob posted:

ALB:

It isn't about the "unveiling", it's about the concept. I don't think the introduction of the car will overcome the concept behind it.

We'll see. I think there's enough butts to put in those seats to pay for whatever R&D it took to execute the project (assuming it can be executed reasonably well). Something of this magnitude really isn't easy. A classic-VW Beetle rebody is one thing. Making a modern unibody car shorter by a foot or more, and having it all work out would be quite an undertaking.

Time will tell. 13 days.

I’m reminded of a conversation I had with a few real speedster owners about the replica speedster market. They love it for a variety of reasons. One of which is that quite a number of real speedster owners are tucking away their cars in the garage as their value increases. They felt the replica market keeps the interest alive in the Speedsters, as the general public are able to continuously see the Speedster on the streets. 

Now the Starke 357 isn’t exactly a true replica, but it’s form maintains a similarity to the original. I don’t like the Starke 357, but then again I don’t like a number of cars (Prius, Ferrari California, bmw i3, Polaris Slingshot-to name few) that I see in abundance on the street  

Given the love we have for our replicas, we most likely are not Starke’s target audience. But I keep an open mind. I wish the best for Starke and hope to see them on the street. Starke to this point has held true to what they’ve always stated-they wouldn’t share any “real” photos until the reveal in SEMA; and they actually pushed up the reveal. 

"Given the love we have for our replicas, we most likely are not Starke’s target audience": please tell me WHO IS THEIR TARGET AUDIENCE?

Certainly it is not us: the most inexpensive STARKE out there(theoretically) starts at 60K (excluding DONOR CAR) and can rise to 150K PLUS. There are LESS than one handful of SOC replicas that approach the 65 to 100K.....as likely a few IM/Special Edition cars equipped with flat sixes/SUBIE Turbos even approach those numbers AND we certainly know where to buy/build one should we be looking for BOXSTER type performance with leather/AC/etc. should any of us find it appropriate 

I do not wish them harm or failure at all.......only looking for a common sense understanding of who is the target audience and maybe why 

There are lots of people with lots of money. All it takes is a few guys who aren't looking at everything like it's a spreadsheet. The heart wants what the heart wants.

Bonsai,  the target market for cars like this is for folks that like the Boxster virtues but not the modern look.  So, if as good as the photo shop pics you'll get a retro Art Deco look with modern performance.  There has to be a least a small market for that equation. 

Stan wrote: The heart wants what the heart wants..........  What Stan is trying to say is "There's an ass for every seat"... :~)  There's proof in the statement at 1:28 on this video

https://www.facebook.com/Great...os/1882103092006342/

WE have become SOFT! Some of us?

I learned to drive, back in 1967 on a 1960 Impala Station WAGON with a 3 speed on the column...IMAGINE taking a road test with that? Heck when you're a 15 year old male in the late 60s, you'd take a road test on a lawn mower if you had to. Then I got my 60 BugEye Sprite, 4 speed(no synchro in FIRST), which I drove 12 months out of the year, even in snow if I could shovel out....drove for 5 years into my junior year college.

Now here we are 2017 with cars: that drive themselves, 12 zone A/C, 14 zone power heated seats that recognize who you are by the size/scent of the BUTTOCKS placed upon them, DVD screens with cameras in back with a variety of WARNING tones to advise when you are approaching the curb, 7 speed automatic tranny, etc..etc. That  almost aint driving....

I bring this up relative to a a recent read of an article about a guy whose life dream was to own a 1980s 911, either an SC or CARRERA......but took a detour test drive on a used BOXSTER and was tamed by the civility and creature comfort of the more civil little water cooled brother. He could fall asleep driving a Boxster but not a 911 and for years was torn that he sold out.....surely a personal choice that he and many of us have had to make in "modern" times(circa 2000). After saving for years and staying up nights dreaming about the rude rugged road embrace of a 3L/5 speed 911, this guy made a reasonable choice.....or did he? He has since regretted his choice and, of course, 80s aircooled 911s are selling for twice their MSRP(you snooze, you lose).

Are we losing the FEEL of driving, the feel of the road under our arse, and the feel of the road in our hand thru the steering wheel? The bumps, oversteer, noise, soot, and physical attachment to the road are gone.....analagous to some teens speaking skills who text 24/7 even if in the same room with their fellow recipient.

As ALAN and STAN have already suggested...there is an ASS for every SEAT.....even if its heated and can recognize whose ass is seated. BE SAFE

You preaching to the choir here.

But we're not normal. We're the outliers on the fringes of society, riding around in leaky, stinky, archaic death-traps powered by fancy lawn-mower engines tuned to within an inch of flying apart. We tolerate a lack of reliability, comfort, and practicality. Driving through hail in Tahoe is something guys laugh about. Getting washed away in some Pennsylvania deluge every May is something guys wait for every year. I've never had a better time in my life than kneeling beside my car 20 miles from anywhere in Nebraska on I80 trying to figure out how to rig up a throttle cable to get me to the nearest civilization. That's not normal.

Everybody likes the idea of these clown-cars. I drive to NC and post a couple pictures on FB and get 100 "likes". Ask somebody under 30 to drive it, and they hate everything about it. Ask them to own it, and they'd probably look back at you with a mix of bewilderment and pity.

As we keep saying Banzai, it ain't for you. It's really, really not for me. But it will be something that somebody will want-- I can pretty much guarantee it.

I'm not sure why this bothers you so much. That's a bigger mystery to me than who is going to buy a chopped up Boxster.

Nostalgia, and the desire for kinship with those who share the real memories, not those conjured up and manipulated into a plot for a movie or TV show.

And, the fear of, and reluctance to embrace change and the future because at some point your personal end is there.

I admit some guilt in this, though I know better.

Panhandle Bob posted:

Nostalgia, and the desire for kinship with those who share the real memories, not those conjured up and manipulated into a plot for a movie or TV show.

And, the fear of, and reluctance to embrace change and the future because at some point your personal end is there.

I admit some guilt in this, though I know better.

In fact, Starke's success probably will increase the value of our replica's.  Not that I'm selling mine anytime soon.  I have come to my peace with my little red car, that I'll never be able to afford a 2L and / or  a 5 speed.  With help here from many, I have learned how to adjust my valves,  start the car up with old gas and plugged fuel lines, redo most of the electrical system etc.

And for me my speedster works wonders.  Special thanks to Panhandle Bob, today for his post.  

Art posted:

In fact, Starke's success probably will increase the value of our replica's.  Not that I'm selling mine anytime soon.  I have come to my peace with my little red car, that I'll never be able to afford a 2L and / or  a 5 speed.  With help here from many, I have learned how to adjust my valves,  start the car up with old gas and plugged fuel lines, redo most of the electrical system etc.

And for me my speedster works wonders.  Special thanks to Panhandle Bob, today for his post.  

You're a GREAT example of a true enthusiast...willing to get your hands dirty, trying to get the most out of your machine, open to learn, and appreciative of your machine despite challenged specs.....embracing what you DO have, rather than dwelling on what you dont!. KUDOS Art!

Maybe we like our cars because they expect something of us.

Modern cars don't, really.

A modern driver can jump in, push 'D', and, between a sip of latte and a quick text, be on his way.

Our cars need to be listened to. Fiddled with.

They need their gears shifted. Their gauges watched. Their noises heard.

They need someone who's paying attention. Someone who knows when things are going right and going wrong. Someone who knows, if things are wrong, what to do.

Our cars expect that someone will be controlling the traction. They're not likely to be doing that on their own.

Our cars are apt to get into trouble if no one is looking after them.

I think that's what we like about them.

@Sacto Mitch you nailed it!  I just had this discussion with my friends a few days ago.  They prefer brand new performance cars, and I simply prefer the days before computers.

As I mentioned to them, there's just a connection you have with the pre-computer cars, where every sense is heightened, and every ride, however mediocre in nature, is an experience.  It is simply being "one with the car": feeling what the car feels, smelling what it smells and/or produces, and hearing what it hears and/or makes.  And as you mentioned, being able to quickly identify and react.

And that is what I love about my Speedster, its crude underpinnings wrapped in a sweet bubbly exterior.  The only thing silky smooth is the many coats of polish on the paint.

-Kevin

West Coast Customs has already done  the rebody thing 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...amp;feature=youtu.be

Alan Merklin posted:

West Coast Customs has already done  the rebody thing 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...amp;feature=youtu.be

That's the Cayman they made to look like the 356 and it has that ugly hump when the top comes off.