Ryan Motors

I have come across the name of ryan motors as a builder of speedsters, but cannot find much on them. Are they still in production or out of business

They are goners. Click the "Makers" tab at the top of the page. Ryan's listing (and story) is at the bottom of the "Makers" lineup.

I purchased a turn key product from them in 1997, at that time they had received a favorable write up in one of the kit-car related mags. They and Vintage Speedsters were both competing for the same product price range @ about 16000 for the turnkey base price. With eng/trans upgrades and both tops, the cost ran to 21000.
The car was promised to be dlivered in 6 weeks which ended up to be about 12, part of that was finding and matching the hardtop, ordered after the car was near completion.
Three people I delt with, Bill who handled sales, Larry who was very knowledgable about the overall package, and Tom was of some general help though deferred many questions to others. To my understanding Ryan was not in the operating picture when I delt with them.
While my car was being built they were talking about hope of merging with some brit firm, developing rentals with a co. in the Las Vegas area. I received a letter from the Desert Winds financial group regaurding their interest in backing Ryan Motors and the use of my 50% down as collateral. The week I sent my remaining payment I called to verify them receiving it, the phone had been turned off, An oversite on paying the phone bill I was later told. (though my heart required restarting)
I stayed in contact with them for about two years on an irregular basis. They provided help in covering repair costs for the electrical wiring probs, & sent replacement parts, ie compufire unit that failed, and a new header for the soft top, that pulled apart. They sent me badges, a passenger side mirror, a car cover all free after I received the car. They gave $ back on the hard top because they had not met the promised delivery date. They payed for the cost of the tittle surety bond that colorado required.
The placement of elec wiring and oil/fuel hoses showed the lack of quality assembly technique, as did the water leaking into the interior when driven through rain eventually rusting out the pans. Most speedsters are not driven through rain, slush, & snow.
I believe about 50 or 60 Ryan speedsters were made, whether that is turn key complete or not I not sure. Any other info. about Ryan Motors
I would like to hear.

There have been many, many, small-time, seat-of-the-pants kit car "companies". Most of them were guys operating out of their garage or some small auto service or body shop trying to make some extra money with replicas of various types. I would advise against buying one of these cars, new or used, unless you can fix it yourself. They almost always have a wide range of problems due to crude and amateurish construction techniques.

I only have one problem with Ryan. When I originally put together the Vintage Speedsters site in 98-99. The photos I took of Vintage cars and posted on the Vintage site, showed up a short time later on Ryan Motors' site. They were being passed off as Ryan Motors cars, however I had the negatives. Ryan vanished a short time later.
-=theron

And those were darn good photos, Theron :) If my coin had landed heads up I'd be driving a Vintage Speedster. It would be nice to have the maker still available, quality in product and good business practices endure.

Victor,
I'd be interested in pictures of your hardtop. If you got a car with both tops, and a turbo motor (pictures) for $21K new, you did really well even if the builder isn't around any longer.

Stan
Added a pic of my hard top hanging and I am looking for side view. I don't have the fixed side windows that fibersteel's top sports, so visually it appears heavier. I believe my final cost on the top was about 350.00 and has extended the use dramatically. The differences of the two tops are with the soft top up things are compact and a bit intense if the wheather is foul. The hard top provides more head room, tan liner, larger side curtains, and wide rear view, plus it's quieter. Its nice to have both options, though the best is without either.
I added the turbo last spring. When I purchased the car I had them put on the CB Performance comp. fuel inj. However the harness had pinched wires and insulation was compromissed. Add some wet, it soon began to have random problems and eventually I pulled of the fi and drove it with a set of kadrons. Last spring I began craving power and bought the additional turbo stuff with a new harness to add to the fi :) Craving satisfied...for a while.