Some people need to learn some matters.

IMHO, if Shelby is building them, they are Shelby Cobras, not replicas..or if you prefer, continuation cars.  Porsches , Ferraris being built today are not replicas.

Heres a question.  If you are driving and someone roles down the window and says what year...knowing you cant have a conversation...what do you say back?  Or if someone walking past says nice car is that a 57 do you say yes or do you go through the whole replica speak?

I usually say it's an 2010....it's a replica.

The usual question I get is "what year is it?"  I always answer a replica of a '58.  The most common response is "cool". Most are positive.  Some people never hear replica.  Sometimes it starts a deeper conversation.  I just feel better telling it like it is.  I have Porsche badging which I have debated, but still like.  A lot of people never talk to me but feel like they got to see an original Speedster.

I bet down here at least in Florida where there are a ton of Porsches I get asked 6 out of 10 times right off the bat if it is a replica which is great and makes it easier to just say yes.  A guy asked me tonight if it had the original engine...no other question but that. my response was yes original vw engine that was built with the car back in february...it's a replica!  He could care less...he was drooling.  I don't care if people know or don't.  It's a vintage speedster Porsche replica...

 but it is a vw.. and they were vw's and porsche is vw as is audi, so where was I going again???.it's a porsche. it has porsche parts, it's a porsche.it looks like a porshe,so it's a porsche, just makes sense, kinda like my bug that has 1 vw part in 1 motor and 2 vw parts in the other motor,4 glass fenders,glass hood,glass nose, and it's still a vw. like my brothers dragster with a 496 blown chevy motor, it's a chevy, but only has 1 chevy part in it.I have oe 356 porsche parts for my 356, the body is glass as is my ford roadster racecar that dosent have any ford parts at all,I dont like rust. call your car what you want .....after all it is yours. if you have to explain it they probably wont understand anyway.

356 replicas are like Geo. Washngton's orignal axe.

Of course the handle has been replaced several times and the head is new too.

Here in Washington State, a car is what the MAN sez it is... what is on the title.

That's a real quandary for a guy in my shoes.

 

My car has no fewer than five possible VINs. It has a 914/Cessna engine, a VW gearbox with a broad range of sources for the guts, 356 and Bus suspension parts, front brakes from a 914, rear brakes from both a Beetle (DS) and a 356 (PS), a clutch from a Kombi, engine bits from TRW and a 912, a non-standard handbrake, actuator cables from Carey at Beck, a frame head from a 356, structural tunnel and frame-horn metal inside from a Ghia and a Beetle and lots of other crazy **** going on.

 

It carries 1964 356B numbers, and I've let the Registry guys know that VIN is flatlined. Done as a 356, now living in a replica shell made by CMC. I don't have an accurate Beetle or Ghia VIN, a Bus VIN or a 912 number, either.

 

Technically, it's a mutt. Generally, it's a kit. Specifically, to the People's Republic of Maryland, it's a kit based on a 1964 Porsche 356B. I've termed it a resto-mod for Carlisle purposes, told folks in traffic it's a '73 Beetle SS and other folks it's a 2006 that was built from parts.

 

I might be lucky that the parts are all visible under the skin, and the Gee-Whiz factor seems to overcome the nose-on-a-hook thing. And, let's be honest, you can't buy a kit to make one like it. There's a giant difference between putting a car together and truly building one, and I feel like most of the folks here have some blood in the game.

 

I don't know if I've ever turned a wrench on the Porsches I've owned. If I'm being perfectly honest, there's an almost inherent fear of the marquee. "How do I dare turn a wrench on this thing that somebody charges $165 an hour to fiddle with?"

 

I used to be scared, anyway. Now, in a car that's cost me almost ten times what my last Porsche did, I've removed whole pieces of it in a parking lot to get rainwater out of the 2424-cc engine.

 

Of my '73 Beetle SS.  

 

 

Good on ya, Cory.  Glad to see you posting.  I'll tell a funny story on myself and how I responded to the original/replica question.

 

I had a wide body Vintage built about 95 or 96: 2110 CB engine, deep dish Porsche wheels ala Max Zimmer, silver with black stripe, a real beauty.  I flew down to Vintage, picked up the car, and drove it back to Central CA with one overnight.  I followed break-in procedure during the drive and took it straight to the oil change place near my house.  I waited in line, and when I was next to be served, the manager came out, looked at the car, and said: Hey, nice car, that's a Porshce, isn't it?

 

I hadn't even thought about questions people would ask me, so I was unprepared.  I looked at him kind of sheepishly, and said yeah.  He then said that he was sorry, but they didn't change oil in Porsches any longer since the owner had a lawsuit brought by a Porsche owner.

 

I didn't have the stones to say that it really wasn't a Porsche, it was actually a replica, and titled as a VW.  I just hung my head and backed out to the street, having learned a lesson about being straight-up.

Does not matter what you have, someone will try to piss on it. Stereos, houses, vacations, occupations.

 

My favorite distraction is to ask what they own and then listen to them go on. Each to his own.

 

One fella said he had a Dodge 440 6 pack and then folded his arms and stuck his chin out. Horse power was his measure of success.

 

The fellas at the British car show liked it but really stopped to think when I told them how many times Ive crossed the Rockies in it. Little IM will do 100mph (not recommended).

To Jim Kelly,

I remember your story and laugh whenever I remember it. Hoisted on your own petard, aye. Too funny.

Gotta develop thick skin in this world, especially if ya wanna think and live outta the box, as all replica owners do!

When asked,"What is it ?" I just say its a car. There are car people and people who buy cars and you can pretty much tell who they are buy their lead in question.

Cory .......... you oughta just say it is a home made car!  

Cory--I liked readng your post-that one of yours is definitely irreplaceable---that's for sure!

 

Tell us more about the "Cessna" part of the engine---I am intrigued.