Hey all. I’m new here and hopefully a new potential buyer. I would like to buy one for my wife and I was wondering due to the bucket seats, would someone of a height of 5’3” be able to see/ sit well out of this car?
thanks
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Yes, you may have to raise the seat a couple inches for her. That may make it undrivable for others though.
@Kevin Seymour I am 5'4" and going on 10 years of speedster ownership. I have zero issues and IMHO there are many benefits of being short. I sit below the windshield which reduces a lot of fatigue on long drives.
My Wife Connie is 5'2" and no issues...
Fewer bugs in her hair...
Thanks for all the responses. Makes it easier to pull the trigger.
Great gift, Kevin! Make sure she drives one before you buy it. Just sayin'
Excellent advice. I found my Speedster with 200 miles on it because it was purchased by a woman's husband thinking it was similar to a Miata. I never got the entire story but there was definitely serious buyers remorse. A Speedster is NOT a Miata although after 14 years of "sorting" mine now comes very close but the tab was over 25 large after buying it.
I'm a "giant" at 5'6" but my seats sit quite low - the top of the side bolster is even with the sill. Even so, Most of my head is below the top of the windshield. There is a bit of space to raise the seats, if necessary, by sitting the seat rails on top of square steel tubing. Doing that, you can almost raise in 1/4" increments.
Anyway, as most mentioned, I doubt that she'll have any seat trouble with a Speedster.
Now, keeping her right foot off of the gas pedal - That might be another problem!
I also agree that it is really important that she drive it before you buy. It is NOT like driving a Mazda Miata, for sure, and seems to be very much an acquired taste for women, even as passengers.
I remember seeing a gorgeous 550 Spyder in South Carolina when I was living there. A local mechanic asked me to come over to help with a minor issue and the car was stunning - A Beck, Jet Black with red lipstick interior, with a 2,110 T-1 engine and a few bells and whistles. The owner was a local Realtor lady who received the car as a birthday gift from her husband. She loved the look of it, but hated to drive it for all of the "too's":
It was too noisy, too windy, too smelly, too bouncy, too hot in the sun, too cold in the shade, too small to hold anything (she apparently had one of those huge Michael Korrs purse-bags), too low to the ground, yadda-yadda.
Moral of the story - Drive before you buy!
A cushion could help btw, Marty had a power seat bottom module from a 944 installed in his IM. just saying.
I agree with all the warnings about buying a speedster for your spouse without her driving one. As everyone says, these are not modern cars.
They may look nice, but owning and driving one is not always an easy matter.
Don't buy one for your wife because you like it. She may have a completely different viewpoint.
I’m not worried about my wife liking it. She is a car gal. She raced cars in her younger years. She is a warrior, she wants the car just as much.
Happy Wife - Happy Life !!
Ain't that the truth. It has been a hard lesson for me to learn.
Better late than never :0).
It is still easy to forget at times.
She raced cars? Spyder for sale. Just sayin'.
A little more than I can afford, but nice ride.
If you want to keep the seat adjustable for taller drivers, look at the mounting bracket that the Porsche 914 used for its seat. As you slide the seat forward on the runners the seat gets higher. There is also a 4 toothed cog for additional seat tilt. The tracks are available on ebay and will fit aftermarket seats (the toothed cog will take a mounting bracket - just be sure to get all the pieces.
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