I’ve been looking for a coupe with A/C for some time with no luck, so I’m considering a build. Would love to do a speedster but in South Texas that means driving in March/April or October or at 3 AM
Does anyone have any feedback on Greg’s coupe at Vintage in Hawaiian Gardens? Has he built any or is that his plan?
I know John at JPS does coupes but there is some talk about retirement.
Any and all suggestions will be helpful
Many Thanks!
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Greg Leach (@VSpyder) is the only builder of the pre-A coupe. Johns builds As and Beck makes Cs. Greg has a very good reputation in these parts so I would reach out to him.
Greg has elevated the Vintage Speedsters, coupes and Spyders to a very high level of fit, finish, and functionality.
The difference between my 2002 and 2016 Spyders is marked.
He does have a backlog like Carey at Beck, and Henry at IM. Call him and see how far out the wait is on coupes.
john i think has been in "retirement" for some time..
I've been building a Pre-A coupe with Greg at Vintage Motors in Hawaiian Gardens. It's going along well. I, too, opted for this for the build for it's all-weather possibilities (it get both hot and rains a lot in the northwest).
When we started he warned me that this would be a 12-14 month process. We are now over 2 1/2 years. Admittedly, I have a lot going on in this build (Subaru, special interior, a never before done A/C install to preserve the Pre-A dash, AirKewld brakes, etc.), and covid happened (is happening). I hope it may be done this fall. Greg has been happy to communicate with me, and press the build along, but it has taken considerably longer than was represented. I've written two pretty big checks. So if you are not bashful about embarking on a three year process, you'll get a great product. If you'd like to have it next year...forget it. No one can do that for you.
Thank you. Got a note from Greg's assistant, they will not be taking any orders for Coupes for the foreseeable future. Call back in several months to see is they change their minds. is what I was told.
I talked to Greg the other day, as I had recently bought a cable shifter to install in a Spyder(not mine, I already have one). Anyway, they make a Stainless Steel shift lever and that comes from a different shop, I needed to pick the shift knob color.
He is SLOGGED with orders for cars. I can understand that he doesn't want to go too far into the future.
Greg just raised his prices on Spyder kits by $8k! I’m glad I got my order in before the increase.
I, personally would never do business with JPS ever again
I'm now in Mexico for a few months but two weeks ago, on my way down here I stopped to see Greg. He no longer had an office and show room. He tore out all of it and is building all new offices etc. It's gonna be nice ! Busy Man !! Bruce
@TNT posted:I, personally would never do business with JPS ever again
I don't want to "like" this, but I did. Really sorry, TNT - nobody deserves to go through the John Steele wringer.
Nobody,
It took less that 5 minutes with Mr. Steel for me to make a decision to walk away before I ended up in trouble. That was a loss for him. I had my check book in my pocket. Best money I Didn't spend !.............Bruce
@aircooled posted:It took less that 5 minutes with Mr. Steel for me to make a decision to walk away before I ended up in trouble. That was a loss for him. I had my check book in my pocket. Best money I Didn't spend !.............Bruce
I'm glad your radar was up, Bruce.
John-boy caught me at a point in life where I was unfortunately a lot more trusting of an oily salesman than I am now. I guess knew (in theory, if not in practice) that sociopaths roamed the earth freely, but I'd never encountered a full-on narcissist before John Steele. John believes strongly in the Übermensch, because he's firmly convicted that he's the son of god.
He gave me a valuable lesson.
It's not that I'll never get taken again (because I don't want to be the guy who's always "looking out for number one"), but he did teach me that I need to actually meet a guy in person before I give him a huge pile of money. He helped me to understand that some people lie like you and I breathe air in and out.
I'm not a violent man at all, but my hands were clenched into fists and I was seriously thinking about a nice roundhouse to John's nose within 5 minutes of meeting him. I guess you and are had a similar experience, Bruce - it's just that mine came too far down the road to easily correct. At least I didn't land in the LA County lockup.
We weren't even out of the airport and he had already hit on my wife right in front of me at least 3 times. It went downhill from there.
I had gone to LA to pick up the car and drive it home (to Illinois) with Jeanie. The car wasn't done, the hardtop was still in the mold (the one he splashed from the top he was supposed to be buying complete from Russ Rodriguez), and the car left us stranded on the first drive, 30 minutes from his shop.
I've told the story multiple times, and it was nearly 20 years ago now... but I've never come so close to actually beating someone to death.
I don't imagine he's changed, because he lacks any capacity for self improvement. He already thinks he's perfect.
Forewarned is forearmed.
way back when i flew down to meet John at his business,,didnt like what I saw and ordered from Kirk
