should be simple, thanks to VS, it's not

I can't understand why VS wouldn't hire someone to drive his finished cars for 2 to 3 days to get them fully sorted.  He could add the cost onto the final price of the vehicle, and I'm sure most, if not all, paying customers wouldn't mind spending $500 more to get a fully sorted car.   Then, VS wouldn't have to shell out money for long distance repairs and they would have a lot more satisfied customers.

Then-again, I think Troy likes it this way, because he now has access to lots of low mileage, near-new VS speedsters.

VS should hire Troy to sort out his new cars.  After owning 32 speedsters I'm sure he has the sorting down to a science.

Somebody makes what some might thing is a disparaging remark about Germans and there is no response. However, a similar comment later in the thread about hispanics results in a fit being thrown. 

Where was all this righteous indignation when the the first disparaging remark was tossed out about Germans? Don't they deserve the same treatment and consideration?

Political correctness, I think this falls into that category, is best practiced, if at all, in an even handed manner, isn't it? 

My experience with the 30+ Vintage cars I have owned is that they were well built and typically didn't require much in the way of sorting, I just make them nicer. 

I continue to recommend Vintage to prospective new owners, because the vast majority of cars from Vintage are trouble free.   Additionally, in the unfortunate situations like this one, I know that Vintage will make it right and they did.

If you have the budget to afford an IM or a Beck, by all means do it and you'll have a very nice car.  If you're looking for a nice Speedster at a reasonable price, Vintage is who you want to call.

VS? Not with all the problems I've seen (or had) lately. Just not worth the aggravation!

Yes, it can be very aggravating trying to fit Vintage parts to a CMC. 

BobG posted:

Somebody makes what some might thing is a disparaging remark about Germans and there is no response. However, a similar comment later in the thread about hispanics results in a fit being thrown. 

Where was all this righteous indignation when the the first disparaging remark was tossed out about Germans? Don't they deserve the same treatment and consideration?

Political correctness, I think this falls into that category, is best practiced, if at all, in an even handed manner, isn't it? 

You're right, as usual, Bob!

I'll start. My paternal Grandmother was a Schmidt. My maternal Grandfather was a Meyer. All of my ancestors (except my paternal Grandfather) were Swiss/German

... and I've never been so insulted in all my life!

Some sarcastic idiot even insinuated that German engineers ought not to be held in reverence, and that Herr Doktor might have drank schnapps on the job. Reading between the lines, it's clear that this moron thinks the people of Italy may not be as concerned as they might be about fit and finish. 

This sort of blatant racism and intolerance cannot be tolerated! Because if there's one thing we can't tolerate, it's intolerant people. So, you (you know who you are) better become more sensitive to the feelings of the engineers of the Father (or mother, or non-familial guide) land.

Or else.

Welcome to the mother of all slippery slopes.

Therefore, I pledge to be equally offended by anything potentially disparaging anybody says or writes about anybody else based on ethnicity, sexual orientation, bar b que style preference, height, weight, hair color or lack of hair at all, dress, manufacturer of their Speedster, IRS or swing axle, 4 speed vs. 5 speed, absence of diamond stitched upholstery or hat size.

I reserve the right to be offended to an equal, but not increased degree, by any other topic not enumerated above that I may encounter anytime, anywhere under any circumstances.

BobG posted:

... absence of diamond stitched upholstery...

What about the presence of it? Or is that covered by the coda paragraph at the end?

 I want to make sure I can remain a "butt-hurt keyboard warrior". 

I am offended by diamond stitched upholstery. I have a long and storied history of objection to it, chronicled on this very site. If I see it I run away screaming like a 13 year old scared girl.

You sir, are the Commanding Officer of the Butt-Hurt Keyboard Warrior Brigade.

Accept no substitutes, smoke em' if you must, tip your wait staff and be home by midnight!

Seems like we keep pulling stuff out of the 'ol 'Gotcha Bag'! JK 

I have no idea what's happening around here anymore.

That's ok, Ted, because I like soup!

Ted, me either and I started this firestorm...

Hey not all Italian cars are Fiats ya know.  Some are Ferraris that have pretty decent fit and finish even if Fiat owns them. I'm 100% Italian and I'm offended.  Only because we were barely mentioned. I too would like to be in the protected class but my people don't complain enough.  I'm just kidding about this. I hope nobody has crossed me off their Christmas list because some my posts.

BobG posted:

You sir, are the Commanding Officer of the Butt-Hurt Keyboard Warrior Brigade.

I'm really relieved to hear that. I thought that perhaps my membership was in peril, but now I find that in a stunning reversal-- I'm the Kommandant of the entire brigade!

It makes me want to offend the whole lot of you, just because I'm an interweb hard-case wannabe.

No sweat, Frank........

As the disparager of "Hans and Fritz", all I can say is "Some of You guys must not have been paying attention to the "Katzenjammer Kids" during the 40's - '60's comic strip Golden era, but that's OK.....Not your fault if your parents only let you read "Blondie", "Little Orphan Annie" and "Peanuts".   You pro'bly tried to read "Pogo" and TOTALLY missed all the political sarcasm imbedded in it, too, and then Berkley Breathed and his "Opus" and even weirder "Outland" was way beyond your political tolerance, especially with how he handled the Vietnam era, although it would be well worth your tIme to go back and read some of the comics during the Nixon days.  20-20 hindsight and all that.  

"Hans und Fritz" were mainstays in my home, because BOTH of my 'Granmudders' were German (Oberamergou und Dreslan) who married loving Irishmen met in the huge factory mills of New England after they all left their homelands and became "Americans".  They both instilled in me a strong sense of self, but an even stronger compassion for those others around me and their sense of place in their (and my) life.

In that vein, some of you might like to "chill out" about the comments of others.  YOU were not brought up in their culture/households and might have difficulty assimilating your background to theirs.  Doesn't make either of you inferior to the other, just different.  The best human beings I ever met in my life were those living in the Aldeas of Northwestern Honduras in the 1960's.  They had nothing compared to us fortunate Americans, but they had a dignity and compassion for others seldom seen hereabouts these days. 

This is a car forum.  Let's talk cars, even if that means someone vents once in a while.  They vent because they've been hurt and our compassion lets us listen. 

Oh, wait!    We're combating this with levity!  OK! I get that, and sorry........   Ignore that diatribe just above.   

Carry on, Dear Leader and Commanding Officer of the Butt-Hurt Keyboard Warrior Brigade of Stanistan!  I'll try to keep up (and it ain't easy, believe me.)

Troy Sloan posted:

Yes, it can be very aggravating trying to fit Vintage parts to a CMC. 

@Troy It's a top! I've done 3 (VS) of them and the other two worked and fit fine...this last one was botched from the start. Troy look at the pictures. Again I ask you, Would you be satisfied with that?

Wow. I wonder if the British car forums engage in this kind of dialog?

I've installed VS tops and each one has been very well tailored. I have no idea how something like that got shipped out but it did.  I would talk with Kirk once again and see if he will do right by you and replace it.

"Wow. I wonder if the British car forums engage in this kind of dialog?"

Yes, but there is always tea involved.  Maybe scones, too.

Berkley Breathed rocks.

He's doing Bloom County as a FB page now. Most excellent.

I used his "OPUS Screen Saver" for years.  Even got an autographed copy at a Comdex show one year when he was working a booth next to ours and we would go hide and get coffee together.

Berkley Breathed rocks.  So does Scott Adams!

Also: Excellent.

...finally....a thread drift...!!!

Hey...........      I'm new here

Can anyone tell me how to get a hold of speedster replica car that's perfect?   Us Jews want to know!   

Also   I would like to start a petition that only allows a 2 paragraph maximum from the following fiction writers:   

SIR STAN GALAT ESQ,  

THE HONORABLE  GORDON NICHOLS

and,  THE REMARKABLE  CANADIAN GENIUS,  AL. B

best regards,

Tebs

ps       Hey did I ever tell you guys about my VS front bumper  It was off by 1/32 of an inch..  took me 2 years to fix it...    lol  

I'm flattered, Tebs, that you think of me that way. Only 2 paragraphs? I don't know...      I'll have to sleep on it. Maybe I'll have something to say in the morning. Meanwhile, deep in Heschland....

"I have no idea what's happening around here anymore."

"Ted, me either and I started this firestorm.."

I've been the cause of a couple of sh*tstorms here, Will; sometimes they develop a life of their own and there's no stopping them.   

"ps-  Hey did I ever tell you guys about my VS front bumper  It was off by 1/32 of an inch..  took me 2 years to fix it...    lol  

And right proud of you we are, Tebs!

Alan Merklin posted:

I've installed VS tops and each one has been very well tailored. I have no idea how something like that got shipped out but it did.  I would talk with Kirk once again and see if he will do right by you and replace it.

@Alan, I did, sent it back and he acknowledged it was cut to short so they stitched another 11/2" onto the front but ignored the side curtain flaps left to dangle in the wind. Just gad I didn't spring for a stayfast top.

Let's get back to the origin of this thread which periodically raises its head over the years.... and that's the justifiable complaints about shoddy quality control.

I keep thinking that someday Kirk will realize the cost saving (and reputation enhancing) value of adopting a "quality control procedure" to his builds. Something as simple and effective as Gordon's check list attached to a clip board, that's religiously adhered to, and follows the build every step of the process.   

But, on the other hand (not being directly involved) it's sort of entertaining to periodically follow the 'exposed misadventures' of Hans &Fritz & Julio !!!  

As I said yesterday, if you're looking for a nice Speedster at a reasonable price, Vintage is who you want to call.

If you should have the atypical experience of being disappointed for any reason at all find comfort in the fact that you have the SOC to go on and on and on about how dissatisfied you are.  Even after you have been MORE than compensated for your troubles.  You never have to stop the bashing.  Feel free to remind everyone about your horrible experience in every post, on a daily basis.  Do your best to convince potential new owners that Vintage would be a bad choice, even if there are literally thousands of Vintage owners out there driving their cars with a big SEG on their face. 

Again, if you're looking for a nice Speedster at an affordable price, Vintage is who you want to call.

Oh the politics...

crhemi (Bill) poboiinhawaii posted:

Oh the politics...

Popcorn and beer time, Bill! And I'm so glad I'm not in the middle of this one...

I suddenly hear the echo of George Brown (MHRIP) extolling the virtues of Intermeccanica..............

And so endeth my second paragraph (to keep Teby happy - Ola, Teb!)

In all fairness, though.......We've all been following all of the builders for a looooong time, now, and we all know that VS cars are very well built, but to a more affordable price point (and shorter build timeframe) and sometimes build issues creep through.  I have never heard of an instance where a customer issue was not resolved by Kirk, and that is especially true with the higher volume of cars being built there.  Things happen......Kirk fixes them.

Ρ2forTeby  : You all trudged through that eternally long epistle of my heater installation and me going to a new, space-saver battery on the recommendation of a couple of (anonymous) Beck owners.  That battery works great in a Beck, because it is mounted in the rear, close to the engine, with a short cable to the starter.  Putting it in the nose of a CMC and running 12 feet of 2 gauge battery cable to it doesn't make it, so I'm relocating the battery to the rear, like a Beck.  No harm, no foul.....Who knew the resistance of 12' of cable was a lot to ask of that model battery?  But what the heck......Moving it might cost me $30 bucks and a couple of evenings in the shop listening to "Los Lobos".  Things happen.........Just Fix 'em.

@Gordon, Then let me be the first you've heard of...

Gordon Nichols posted:

"Wow. I wonder if the British car forums engage in this kind of dialog?"

Yes, but there is always tea involved.  Maybe scones, too.

 

Hey...HEY!

And Crumpets!

The forward location of the little battery works for my CMC. I think the cable came from CMC and I don't know if it is #2.

Gordon and Michael- What battery are we talking about (exactly)?

Odyssey PC680