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Closed41 replies

Ready for some IM advice...

FM Former Member
Hey there everyone. I hope this is the right forum for this question.

My superformance is gone. Mixed emotions, but its been delivered and I have been payed, so its a little late for second thought.. lol.

Ok, I need your help on a car I have the hankering to buy. I almost pulled the trigger on Paul Harfords 'Butch', but based on its 'outside the norm' construction, I thought it might be hard to sell again if I ever decided to (sorry Paul). Its a gorgeous car and if this was a forever car I would have nabbed it in a second. I initially set my budget in the 20-25K mark, and after doing ALOT of research, talking to all the mainstream manufacturers (VS, Beck, IM, ThunderRanch etc.) I have decided that Intermeccanica is the way for me to go so my budget is out the window. Its not that I wouldn't be happy with any of the others, its that I would be happier with IM, and coming from the superformance, I think it will fit the bill.

So, there are two cars I am looking at and need some advice on. One is Henry's personal car, a blue speedster with very few 'options' on it besides the bigger engine. I am sure there is value in owning one of his personal cars as its been pampered and mechanically will be perfect when I get it. The only thing I don't LOVE about this car is the light blue color. Its nice, just does not meet the picture I have in my head of the car I will be driving for a couple of years.

The other is Brian Hawthornwaites' 2003 IM Speedster which was used as a show car at Carlisle the year it was built from what I understand. I believe Robert Bigham owned it for a year as well before the current owner bought it from him. The car is black with tan top and tan leather interior, which is both my and my wifes favourite color combo. I have talked to the owner and he seems like a great guy. The car has between 7-8K miles on it, 140HP engine, ac, polk audio stereo with xm radio, power windows, custom covered rollbar (which I love), roadster seats, and is generally in lightly used shape. He is not really trying hard to sell it, and is requiring $37,500 for the car. The nicest thing about this car for me though is that its actually registered as a 1958 Porsche Speedster on the title. My cobra was registered as a 65 and I know the value of this for insurance etc. Also, he is only 2.5 hours from me so its an easy pickup for me.

My question: would I be overpaying if I gave him this much money for the car? Would I lose a lot of money if I sold it in a couple years with another 2-3K miles on it? It seems that IM's hold their value very well, but I don't know how much this car would cost to build today. Originally this car was 42-43 to build in 2003 as far as I can tell. Its a gorgeous car and I really think I would be happy with it, but would like the input of others before I pull the trigger on this car.

Here is a link to the pictures of the car. Vic Weals is the name of the current owner. Feel free to contact me offline if you have some non-public opinion on this matter. Thanks.

https://www.speedsterowners.com/files/thmblist.asp?sf=/vicweals

James
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FM Former Member
Hey there everyone. I hope this is the right forum for this question.

My superformance is gone. Mixed emotions, but its been delivered and I have been payed, so its a little late for second thought.. lol.

Ok, I need your help on a car I have the hankering to buy. I almost pulled the trigger on Paul Harfords 'Butch', but based on its 'outside the norm' construction, I thought it might be hard to sell again if I ever decided to (sorry Paul). Its a gorgeous car and if this was a forever car I would have nabbed it in a second. I initially set my budget in the 20-25K mark, and after doing ALOT of research, talking to all the mainstream manufacturers (VS, Beck, IM, ThunderRanch etc.) I have decided that Intermeccanica is the way for me to go so my budget is out the window. Its not that I wouldn't be happy with any of the others, its that I would be happier with IM, and coming from the superformance, I think it will fit the bill.

So, there are two cars I am looking at and need some advice on. One is Henry's personal car, a blue speedster with very few 'options' on it besides the bigger engine. I am sure there is value in owning one of his personal cars as its been pampered and mechanically will be perfect when I get it. The only thing I don't LOVE about this car is the light blue color. Its nice, just does not meet the picture I have in my head of the car I will be driving for a couple of years.

The other is Brian Hawthornwaites' 2003 IM Speedster which was used as a show car at Carlisle the year it was built from what I understand. I believe Robert Bigham owned it for a year as well before the current owner bought it from him. The car is black with tan top and tan leather interior, which is both my and my wifes favourite color combo. I have talked to the owner and he seems like a great guy. The car has between 7-8K miles on it, 140HP engine, ac, polk audio stereo with xm radio, power windows, custom covered rollbar (which I love), roadster seats, and is generally in lightly used shape. He is not really trying hard to sell it, and is requiring $37,500 for the car. The nicest thing about this car for me though is that its actually registered as a 1958 Porsche Speedster on the title. My cobra was registered as a 65 and I know the value of this for insurance etc. Also, he is only 2.5 hours from me so its an easy pickup for me.

My question: would I be overpaying if I gave him this much money for the car? Would I lose a lot of money if I sold it in a couple years with another 2-3K miles on it? It seems that IM's hold their value very well, but I don't know how much this car would cost to build today. Originally this car was 42-43 to build in 2003 as far as I can tell. Its a gorgeous car and I really think I would be happy with it, but would like the input of others before I pull the trigger on this car.

Here is a link to the pictures of the car. Vic Weals is the name of the current owner. Feel free to contact me offline if you have some non-public opinion on this matter. Thanks.

https://www.speedsterowners.com/files/thmblist.asp?sf=/vicweals

James
FM Former Member
Well, I can turn off any urges I have to buy it if its a car I am paying 5K too much for.. I am a patient guy when it comes to spending that much money on a toy... there will always be another one that will show up right after you hand over the check.. so if you guys think this is too much money for the car, I will walk and wait.

James
Gordon NicholsGordon NicholsMassachusetts 1993 CMC Supporting Member
Jim:

I have personally seen and driven that car at Carlisle. It is, indeed, an extremely fine example of both a replica, AND the kind of extraodinary coachwork that IM is famous for. I also recall it being featured in Kit Car Builder or some mag like that in the past year or so.

Your knowlege of the original build cost is right on, and I would be willing to say that, to duplicate it in today's money would require upwards of $50K, easily (no kidding).

I know that Brian never drove it much, as it was simply the wrong type of car for his Plantation community on Hilton Head (where the speed limit within the community is 20mph!!), so he never took it out (and was never home much to drive it anyway - he travels a lot).

Biggs bought it as a "stop-gap" car while he was having his real dream car built, so didn't have it long either, but I simply do not know the present owner and what he's been doing with it for the past year. I DO know that all of them have treated it like a piece of jewelry and have babied the heck out of it, so it may even be better now, than when it was delivered to Brian.

My background is in building Dune Buggy, Street Rod and Speedster Replica kits and the bottom line is, in my opinion alone, that at $37,500 you are probably paying a very fair amount for this car, and potentially $3K - $5k too little. It should hold its' value well and if, after a couple of years, you decide an IM Roadster is not exactly what you really wanted, you should be able to easliy recover your investment.

Gordon

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FM Former Member
Well, I pulled the trigger. I talked to Henry and based on the glowing praise regarding this car I have contacted the owner and let him know I am coming for the car. The owner is a great guy and I am happy to be buying a car this nice. I of course have to see it, but have gone through all the cars details with the owner and everything is described as I had hoped. Now, to figure out how to get up there and bring the car back.. lol.

Anyone in the charlotte area want to go for a drive on saturday up to the mountains...its only about 2.5 hours each way...

James
FM Former Member
Where did I find it.. did a search here in the classified and contacted the owner. He did two posts a couple months ago regarding this car for sale and I didn't see any responses to it.. so I wrote an email on the off chance he still had it.

Rollbar has to go? Are you kidding me??? That is one of the best parts of that car in my opinion.. I guess its a personal thing, but I like the protection it affords and I love the looks. The fact that its covered with the same fabric as the top also helps quite a bit on looks, but even without I would keep it.

I have told the owner that I am buying it, and he has agreed to this... so hands off. If something changes I will let you guys know for sure.

Can't wait to pick it up and drive it home. Still trying to find a way up there.

James
FM Former Member
Well, I'm home... just. At the last minute my buddy backed out as he has to go out of town next week and the family blah blah blah.. he will need me some day.. lol.. so, I had to convince my wife to pack up the 2 kids (3.5 and 5 months) in the minivan and go for a 4.5 hour drive each way on mothers day weekend (anyone know of a good cheap diamond dealer). Luckily the previous owner of the car owns a hotel so we stayed there. Now, the drive there was ok as we split duties and could talk... the drive home was VERY good for me, not so good for mom stuck in the car with two kids that were loosing it all the way. At one point she swerved off the highway on an off ramp and when I asked what was wrong she said "just don't talk to me... how hard is that car to drive?". Of course since she told me not to talk I couldn't tell her how sweet it is.

So, the car. The owner and his wife were some of the nicest people I have ever met... seriously. I dont think he really wanted to sell it, and his wife sure didn't... but I took it home. It was all wrapped up in an airplane hangar that was as nice as most peoples homes. The car was immaculate and I could not believe it was even 5 years old. Saying that Henry and IM make a fiberglass replica is like saying that ferrari makes a carbon fiber kit car. This is a car.. as nice and as comfortable as any I have driven. It still gives a nod to the olden days in that it has a choke and an air cooled engine that sputters at you when its cold, but thats it. What a great car.. did I say that already?

Well, there are a few things I think the car could be doing a little better mechanically, but I just drove it 1/20 of its entire mileage in one trip.. so I will let it rest before wrenching on it. These are not major items at all, just things I will fix soon.

I will post pics in a day or so, but I swear this car got more thumbs up and "what year is it" than my cobra ever got. Its a car for all ages and genders.. beautiful thing.

James
FM Former Member
Oh, and by the way, I sort of, kind of, asked about it and got a look rather than words... but there were a thousand painful words in the look. If I might paraphrase the face contorsion.. "Are you $hi__ing me? Maybe next year, but next weekend I am getting a massage on saturday, another on sunday, and in between that, me and the girls are going to wring that car out for you...".. it will all probably happen except for the driving my car bit...

Anyway, I don't think I will be in attendance this year, but nothing this side of a weather forecast saying thunderstorms every day all day will hold me back. Have fun and keep that cold beer in the cooler in my memory... its all worth it though, I have a dream car in the garage. Maybe I can spend next weekend going over it front to back and figure out what to change first...

Also have to come up with a name for her/him...any suggestions?

James
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