The price of Replicas is going up

Ahh yeah.  That's the car that was all done up for SEMA this year. It has some of cool parts on it and some nice interior work. 

100K nice? I dunno. You'd have to reaaaallly like it. I think the price is inflated a bit because it was featured at SEMA.  This is one case where I think you COULD recreate it yourself for that price (or less).  

Nice car just the same,
Ted

This car is really decked out with a lot of  stuff like engraved windshield supports,door handle buttons, a huge stereo/speaker system in rear seat area, upholstered firewall and engine lid underneath etc etc....tons of extras !

If you look closely you will see that it's wearing a pair of my wind wings. These were my prototypes. The owner of this car saw these wind wings on my car down at VS and offered me cash on the spot for them. The red went well with his upholstery. I got a few calls about these wings from people who saw this car at the SEMA Show in Vegas.........Bruce

OK, so they put $100K into it.  So they say. Does that mean it's worth >$100K?  I'm gonna say not.  Is it an astonishingly well done and beautiful replica?  Certainly seems so.  Emphasis "replica"  We have been over the ground where folks get all spun up and go off and make "reproductions", and this is a different sort of adventure than a replica entirely.  A proper "reproduction" might be well worth $100K and more.  There is a thread here about a reproduction Spyder effort in New Hampshire, with orders for seven or more (?) in hand, w/ price tags at ~$650K.  All hand-built aluminum, done to 100 pt specs.

"Everything has either been chromed, or gold plated. There are lots of detailed hand engraved pieces, on the windshield frame, the steering wheel, and also the gas cap"

The beauty of a Speedster is in it's spartan-ness and simplicity, and it's easy to lose sight of that fact when modifying a car. These guys really missed what these things are all about. It's too bad, because when Ted posted this car's pic in another thread recently (and all you could see was the exterior) it caught my attention; but seeing the interior and trunk has pretty much ruined it (for me, anyway). And does anybody here see the point of wrapping the engine compartment in red leather?

Reading the ad copy, I don't know what he's talking about. No VW parts at all? It's sitting on a Beetle floorpan! And how come there are no pics of the "custom" front and rear suspension?  (maybe because they're VW)?  VW freeway flier transaxle. And with 160hp (through IDA's with no air cleaners) at 7,000 or 7500 rpm (the only way to make that much hp with a 1915, which is VW based, is to wind it up) it's no jump in and go anywhere at a moment's notice driver.

I'll say it again- these guys reallly missed what these cars are all about. And it may only be my opinion, but that car's not worth 100 grand. Al

PS- If anyone thinks I'm off base, feel free to say so. As I said, it's only my opinion...

Why buy a replica when you can get the real thing for $100K, http://www.ebay.com/itm/Porsch...mp;item=272110843985

I like the custom work but for what it is the price tag is not at all reasonable.

Isn't this the SMS build?

You beat to it Al.

 No VW parts? It's on a VW chassis and last I checked a 1915cc motor is a VW Type 1.

It's a nicely done custom that showcases one particular builder's concept of a "Show Car".  Their eBay ad, with all of the typos and errors, certainly portrays a car far greater, in the end, than reality.  Why?  Well, for one, it's on a Swing-arm suspension (max'ed out lowered, too) so that will limit road-worthy performance from the get-go.  Nice Ice Cream or C&C or show car, yes....Canyon Carver?  I think not.  Besides, with the engine described and that suspension, Pearl (and a number of other cars on here) would leave it in the dust.  Daily driver?  Maybe, once the leather is removed from the engine compartment.

To their credit, the custom engraved touches are very, very cool - I've got my "Frank Zappa" fake replica steering wheel, after all - and their attention to detail is very much to be admired by shade-tree builders and pros alike.  I would have loved to see it in person, just to get ideas for things that I might be able to do, too, same as I do at other shows with cars that are "special".

In the end, though, for $100K I would probably have a clone of Matt Stoich's or Bob Carley's IM-6 built for me, take delivery and never look back  - That dust cloud on the horizon would be ME!

Hope springs eternal. It never hurts to ask. A rising tide floats all boats. Insert  any other cliche's that may apply.

A guy can do whatever he wants with a replica, and that's cool. But I also think that posting something for sale for $120 large opens it up to some criticism, constructive or otherwise. There have been cars that I looked at and said, "yeah, I can see giving $120k for that". This isn't one of them.

It's got nice paint. It's got some Heuer clocks on the dash, so that's nice (not Monte Carlo's, but that'd be $5k in watches). I'm not really sure why the dash-plate seems to be set up for one that's missing, but perhaps he was saving a place to mount his  Montblanc watch when he finished polishing it.

Sadly, the Magnus Walker wheels do nothing for me. Nothing. It's all a matter of taste, and I know I'm in the minority-- but to me, every set I've seen looks like they belong on a lime-green 1st gen new-Beetle with a bodenvase holding a plastic daisy on the dash. This car included.

I sort've like the raised white letter tires. Um... I like the IDFs?

I like the color of the interior... but it's here that this car really loses me for good.

There's a current custom-car trend towards throwing in diamond stitched vinyl, just to show you can (apparently). I know it's a show-car thing, but that much of it looks a bit like Louis XIV had a hand in the choices. Diamond stitched vinyl on the engine lid? Don't mind if I do. Diamond-stitched gas-tank cover? But of course. 

The sea of diamond-stitched vinyl is broken only by the studs and eyelets, all shiny and polished to a fare-the-well. Hundreds of studs. Like a rhinestone cowboy, riding out on a horse in a star-spangled rodeo. I don't know that I've ever looked at a speedster interior and thought it might be improved by the addition of 250 shiny studs and eyelets, but then I'm aware that I'm just a retro-grouch.

... and then there's the "black mamba" shifter and the steering wheel. I'm not sure if the builder consciously went over the top here because this was a SEMA show car, but I'm very sure I could never rest my hand over the top of that wheel without looking at some prison tattoos on each digit (something tasteful: "T H U G" on one hand and "L I F E" on the other, or the like). I just don't have the knuckles for it, so there's that.

As an aside, I once had a siding guy who had an 18" swastika tattooed on his back working on my house. He'd have loved the steering wheel and shifter, but he'd also have been about $118,500 short of being able to buy it (unless he was somehow able to bring some blow across the border without getting caught).

The windshield posts and filler cap leave me speechless. They show all the restraint of a Dale Evans cap-gun set from the '50s.

It looks like some peacock feathers need to be stuck somewhere. I'm sure they'd look awesome down in the footwells.

It really does have cool paint...

Roxanne - you don't have to drive the Speedster tonight.

I like the paint.

"In the end, though, for $100K I would probably have a clone of Matt Stoich's or Bob Carley's IM-6 built for me, take delivery and never look back  - That dust cloud on the horizon would be ME!"

I'm with you on that, Gordon!

That car was in Kirk's (Vintage Speed) for some kind of work while they were working on our brakes and oil leak when we picked up our "new" car in August.

What I can't believe is the guy's trust in the engine to not throw oil all over that gorgeous tuck-n-roll leather!

It is a beautiful car but the whole back "seat" for a sound system?....

Want to hear something funny?  We did the paint, GT moldings on the bumpers, hood and deck lid hinges, e brake, and the tank and cap minus the engraving (no, we did not wrap it in leather).  The car was not done by SMS, its a CMC car that was finished by the guys who took it to SEMA,  Not sure what it has for suspension or running gear left our shop right after that.   

To quote Robert M., "I like the paint".

I guess it is a purpose build car, it was built for SEMA.

It's a good looking car, I would just take off some of the SEMA flair pieces.  Anyone know what the minimum flair pieces is?  I think it's 15. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7SNEdjftno

The interior looks like it was done by the guy that did the Bunny Ranch.

And where the hell did they get that it is a "Beck body"?  I guarantee Beck had nothing to do with that body.

This looks like a do - over from "Pimp My Ride."

Gary

Tom, how are you familiar with the inside of the Bunny Ranch?

...I actually love the paint, very cool combination.

I er, um, must have seen it on um, er 60 Minutes.  Yea, that's it, 60 Minutes, that's the ticket.

Will Hesch posted:

...I actually love the paint, very cool combination.

I was serious-- I really like it too. I like the color of the interior with the paint, as well.

I kind've like how the driving lights are aimed to spot low-flying aircraft operating in stealth mode (with their lights off). This is also useful for finding squirrels up it the trees at night, as well as signaling the international space station that you are on the road.

I'm so psycho about colors, that every time I see a new speedster with a cool paint job, I wish my car was that color.

I should just paint it like Janis' cabriolet, she had every color in the rainbow on that car!

gwan2cruz - Gary posted:

This looks like a do - over from "Pimp My Ride."

Gary

Looks like what a inner-city pimp would buy if he had European tastes.

  Once again, just because you can, doesn't mean you should.  Nice paint.

Will a Beck body fit on a VW pan?

After a year of bodywork on my car (I get distracted. Lol), I am intimately familiar with CMC bodies!  I would bet a donut that is a CMC body.  

Btw it would have looked much better if they had thinned the lips in the fender wells.  Not my type, but I do like the paint very much!

"Will a Beck body fit on a VW pan?"  Nope.  it's designed for their tube frame and is very different inside.  The engine compartment is also different, and that is one of the tells that this is not a Beck body.

Talk about FALSE advertising!

The car is a CMC. 

YAY!

CMC Owners, UNITE!

We're not second-class citizens, anymore!!!!!

(of course, we ain't exactly first class, either.....But some of us are cool......)

Gordon Nichols posted:

YAY!

CMC Owners, UNITE!

We're not second-class citizens, anymore!!!!!

(of course, we ain't exactly first class, either.....But some of us are cool......)

Especially if the resident Dr Clock had something to do with the build.....

Yes, I speak from experience, and now I have some class.  Who says you can't buy class?  

Gary

Classy Motor Cars!

Yeah!  Classy Motor Cars!    (thanks, Bill!)

Stan's critique is worthy of my paper or a good art critic website. Appropriately snarky, yet refined.

As so often happens, I'm with Stan on this one. It looks like the process of creating this car got completely out of hand. $100k, no.......no,no......and can you get 160hp with that set up?

It's all about air movement, Bob. The power is in the heads, and 160hp is within the capability of a good set of 40x35 heads. With a 1915 it would just have to be set up to rev to about 7,000 or 7500rpm with power, so it would be more of a screamer and not so much a driver. A 1600 would have to rev to 8500(?) or more to make the same power with not a lot of torque below 4500 (or so) rpm, while a 2276 would be all in by 6,000rpm with a ton of torque from idle on up. Guess which engine would be more fun to drive?

My reply reposted from another thread:

Lane is correct.

I've had several phone calls about this car and my father spoke with someone associated to the build.  They are claiming they bought a Beck body, off the chassis, and built their own VW/custom frame to fit it.  I can't speak for any work they did, but they DID NOT but a Beck body.  Not only would I never sell just a body with no chassis, this IS NOT a Beck body.  From the front trunk, engine bay, inner panels and a few other cues, it appears to be a CMC/Fiberfab/VS/JPS body.  

Thanks ALB. 

I checked the Ebay ad and they have removed all references to the body being a Beck.

Beck talks, people listen!