The SAW/SAS Tubaru Queue

Out of curiosity, I thought it might be interesting to start a thread and see if we can assemble a bit of a view in to the pending queue for the Specialty Auto Subaru based cabriolets and coupes.

I've been surprised by the continuing emergence of people identifying themselves as being in the queue. There definitely seem to be a lot of orders on the books and with the recent extensive discussion and resulting wager made by former SAS owner Steve O, regarding the "realistic" timeline, it should make for interesting reading.

If you've got a car in queue, let us know whether it is a cabriolet, coupe or speedster, when you ordered it and when you currently expect to receive it.

I can think of a half a dozen off the top of my head when I add in Charles creme brule coupe.

-Jeff

Who is Specialty Auto Subaru?

Let me make this easy....well at least give it a good start.

Steve Pritchard
John Legate
David Hunicutt
Gonzo De Villa
Dan Walsh
Scott Teele
Charles Gardner
Ed Santana
Nolan Scott
Paul Robbins
Bod Rosendale

Car's Built

John (red cab)
Stuart (silver speedster)
Mine (black Cab)
Bill Re (silver Cab)
Rob (dark green Cab)
Mike (silver car)
Mike Guthrie (Black Cab)
Randy Aldrich (red Cab)

After several years of tracking, I have come to the conclusion that one car is completed about every 3-4 months. With the current Que, that I know of, which doesn't mean there aren't more out there, your easily looking at a 3 year wait.

Well, I'm in there somewhere. Maybe you can sort out where I should be in that queue. I gave Steve my deposit on June 1, 2007. I'm 71, been waiting for 50 years for a 356 and hope I don't have to wait 50 more.

I know there are some out there that I don't know about. I fear how many????

Prior to any of my progress payments I have made a trip to Steve's shop. My last trip I saw Michael Guthrie's Turbo in its final stages of completion (Black Beauty thread)
Paul Robbins', Steven Prichard's, and Ed Santana's cars labeled and in various stages of construction.
I believe Nolan Scott's car is currently being painted
Charles Gardner's coupe is in her final stages as some of you may have witnessed the mysterious lack of moisture inside the passenger compartment at Carlisle
Gonzo deVilla's car was on offer to be brokered, not sure where that stands...

..and then me???
2.5 Turbo Flared Cabriolet
June 06- 2 years this month, and still enthusiastic and optimistic. For the money and practicality purpose, Steve L builds the kind of car that will best suit my needs- Hands Down.

I'm still somewhere in the mix too. I put my money down for a wide body turbo cabriolet in March of 2006. I tried to sell my place, but no takers. I hope he finds a way to start pumping these cars out a little quicker without compromising quality.

Wait! Nolan doesn't have his car yet?


wow.

Well that is 13....I don't think I have much to worry about on my bet. He would have to pump one out every month. Not a chance. Hell I could be tempted to make the one year bet a two year bet?

But..... Bob had a long talk with Steve. That's got to count for something.....

Steve, I'm with you, I think your bet is a safe one at this point.

I'm a bit frustrated, I've been saving for four years and could now afford one but I'm not willing to wait another three or more years. So many great cars out there, including some amazing new American cars (now there is something I never thought I'd say). (G8, CTS-V etc).

I wish SAW would license out all their great engineering and someone with expertise in scaling up a shop would pick it up under license.

-Jeff

Jeff, check with Carey Hines at Special Edition. They're doing some water-cooled cars now, and they have a Convertible D coming out that'll have roll-up windows.

Lane,

That sounds promising. I followed with some enthusiasm the thread about the BMW/Mini/Chrysler engined car they were working on, but sounded the alarm when the factory was slated to close or lose a big customer. Unfortunately that ultimately put an end to that driveline option.

What is the expected power plant in the latest incarnation?

-Jeff

They had a rear-engined, water-cooled car at Carlisle with an Audi/VW 1.8 in it. I think that you could get them to do that right now, but I also believe that they are continuing development on the mid-engined version utilizing the Audi/VW drive train. Chime in here Carey, if I have some of the facts wrong. Give Carey a call.

I did not realize theat Carey was doing the convertable D. I thought he was only doing the limited production C based super 90. If that's the case the he going to give IM a run for their money.

You have it right, Lane. Although there have been rumors of Chevy picking up the Tritec factory for use in their sub compact cars in Brazil, which would certainly re-spark my interest in that project. Currently it is all being retooled around the newer VW/Audi stuff mid engine. Rear engine watercooled is currently available (and proving to be rather popular).

The D is well in the works. Has been for quite some time. We decided to fabricate almost all of the components in house, rather than outsource, so it is taking longer than I'd like, but moving forward nonetheless.

Carey,

Please tell us about the VW engine, how many HP is the 1.8L and what size engine does it compare to in the air cooled line?

The standard 1.8 NA motor is a Brazilian Flex Fuel motor new from VW do Brasil. 115-125hp, 10.5:1 compression, Marelli ECU and Bosch injection. Customers are reporting 38-44 MPG. Specs for the 2.0 NA are about the same. These motors use a flashed version of the stock ECU with a standard OBD-II port that can be read by anyone with a scanner. The larger turbo motors are better suited for standalone management and require laptop tuning.

Best thing is that the overall engine possibilities are nearly endless, as the bolt pattern for VW/Audi is the same for SO MANY years. We have done 8v, 16v and 20v turbo motors, and they all bolt up to the same box.
HP figures over all the builds have ranged from 115-350hp.

It is hard to compare to any TI aircooled motor because of the low end torque and very flat torque curve. e.g. 125 aircooled hp feels nothing like 125 watercooled hp.

What is the weight difference between the aircooled and watercooled engines? Being that these are rear engined designed cars.

Paul,

It varies heavily with the motors. The NA 8v Brazilian motors are between 20 lbs lighter to 10 lbs heavier than a TI, both lighter than a TIV. The turbo motors, fully decked, can range from 30-50 lbs heavier (a few even more). Obviously this is something that is taken into consideration when we modify the chassis.

Is this the SAW/SAS Tubaru Queue or did I miss something? Wasn't it originally started to find out how many of us were in the queue and where we were in the queue? Wha' happened?

I remain,

Confused in North Kingstown.

Typical for around here. Threads start out in one direction before going twice around the barn and winding up on a totally different subject - often about Vince.

...and usually begins to wander by the second post (again, kinda like Vince).

Wait a minute, Vince isn't the one that "wandered" all the way to the East Coast!

As the originator of the thread I'm not sure its wandered. It did start out about the Tubaru queue based on my interest in a water cooled roadster on a shorter timeline than the likely timeline based on the SAW backlog (and I wanted to know if Steve would need to pucker up :)).

I think discussing other similar water cooled/FI driveline options is fair game as that is one of the key differentiators of SAW but a few others are getting in to the game.

-Jeff

I think a water-cooled "D" from Special Edition is a great idea. Can't wait for it to be a reality.

Did anyone see the METS game last night? I heard they blew it!

Okay, as long as we're REALLY wandering away from the original thread, here's a bunny with a pancake on its head.

Sweeeeeeet!!!

LOL!!!

Here's a photo of "the Hoff" holding a bird.

Waaaaaaaay to much hair!

Hey, I've seen that picture somewhere before . . . . Hmmmmmm, I think it was Carlisle . . . . taped to Lane's Dash. The Hoff is his HERO.

LANE > > > >

I edited it in seconds and you had responded before I even got it done . . . You ARE the lurking KING!

I acquiesce to your inability to stay even moderately on thread.

Anyone have a pirate photo?

Tom - It was a slow afternoon. A VERY slow afternoon.