The Starke Revolution

Listed options raise the price to over $325,000.  Does anyone know if one has ever sold?

They have sold several and they were just on display at Monterey Car Week. They were taking pictures with Magnus Walker alongside their cars.

Another well structure pyramid of poop dejour'

Hope they have a hot line for Saudi Princes to order!  $120k gets you a factory new 911 GTS.

Robert M posted:

They have sold several and they were just on display at Monterey Car Week. They were taking pictures with Magnus Walker alongside their cars.

 I'm starting to think that says more about Magnus Walker than it says about Starke.

I saw the STARKE Speedster in person at WERKS on Friday. It was parked next to a Convertible D. The adjacency with the Conv. D really elaborated the Starke’s size and dimensional differences from the Conv D. It’s a big car. A lot like a full size Honda Accord next to our tiny clown cars. 

The following is just my opinion. I felt the proportions were simply off. But then again, I’m a bit of a purist. The hood felt long, the butt felt too wide, the rake of the windscreen was a bit too much. 

That said, the guy I was with loved it. And I heard two other people within earshot singing it’s praises as well. Including its interior. So there’s that. 

As as far as Magnus is concerned. I had a great interaction with him, very relaxed, chill conversation while around a fire pit. He seems very genuine, or at least very convincing. He liked my replica. His deal is he’s happy when cars are driven and people enjoy to drive them.  He seems to like factory stock as well as hot rodded or outlaws  

If you approached him and said you have a pristine ‘56 356 with 20k and you won’t drive it, he’d probably say that’s nice, and move on. He asked me if I enjoy driving my car, to which I said hell yeah. I mentioned our SLO event and he just said that’s awesome. 

Kevin, thanks for the update.

Did you get a chance to talk to anyone from Starke?

I don't remember if you were on the forum yet when Starke first appeared here a few years ago. To be charitable, his general attitude towards our cars and the claims he made for his 'product' turned off a lot of folks.

For a long time, there were only artist renderings, and when a prototype finally appeared at the SEMA show, it was, well, shrouded in mystery. I don't recall seeing evidence that any independent reviewer was ever allowed to examine or drive the car. And another year or so passed before there was any noise about a second car even existing, despite claims of brisk sales and 'many' happy customers.

Starke also seemed reluctant to engage in any give and take here about construction details - where the car was built and by whom. Instead, we were bombarded with posts that sounded like a slick sales pitch, with no real facts.

How many cars were they showing, did you see them running, and were you able to talk to anyone who wasn't with Starke who had actually driven one?

Thanks, again.

I imagine that it drives like a 1st generation Boxster - a nice car, but things have progressed in the 20 years since they came out.  $200-300k for a used Boxster with a body kit is ludicrous to me, no matter how nicely it is done.  There are so many more special cars available for that kind of cash.

Oh NO!!!  Such a fine automobile

Sacto Mitch posted:

 

Kevin, thanks for the update.

Did you get a chance to talk to anyone from Starke?

I don't remember if you were on the forum yet when Starke first appeared here a few years ago. To be charitable, his general attitude towards our cars and the claims he made for his 'product' turned off a lot of folks.

For a long time, there were only artist renderings, and when a prototype finally appeared at the SEMA show, it was, well, shrouded in mystery. I don't recall seeing evidence that any independent reviewer was ever allowed to examine or drive the car. And another year or so passed before there was any noise about a second car even existing, despite claims of brisk sales and 'many' happy customers.

Starke also seemed reluctant to engage in any give and take here about construction details - where the car was built and by whom. Instead, we were bombarded with posts that sounded like a slick sales pitch, with no real facts.

How many cars were they showing, did you see them running, and were you able to talk to anyone who wasn't with Starke who had actually driven one?

Thanks, again.

 

I was on a mission Friday to check out the cars at Werks Reunion and get out of there as quick as possible; as the inland temps were heating up and I didn’t feel like getting stuck in the Bay Area traffic as temps were in the high 90s / low 100s. 

Therefore I didn’t speak (or want to speak) to anyone. 

As it relates to STARKE (the man), I do recall his comments not sitting well in this forum.  That said, if I had to like the head of an auto company in order to purchase their car, I’d probably walk to work. I certainly wouldn’t want to drive a Porsche, or anything tied to Porsche’s name. 

As it relates to STARKE (the car), it’s not my thing, but appears VERY well constructed (more so than my VS).  The one I saw was a light brown. I know STARKE has shown a blue car in the past at shows. The fit and finish was great, appeared factory. The body work was flawless as well and the interior (although not my bag) looked great. So, while I can say I’m not a fan of the car, I really cannot knock the fit and finish of the vehicle. It’s well thought out and executed. 

As it relates to WERKS Reunion itself, I really wasn’t impressed. I was hoping to see a lot more older Porsche’s and/or rare Porsche’s at the event. There were a few, but frankly it was swamped with new stuff. If I want to see a new Cayman or Cayenne or GT3, I’ll go to the dealership. Therefore it took me longer to park my car and get a coffee then it did to experience the show. 

Here is one car that I pulled my iPhone out to document. See attached pics. 

That would be a cool car to have. A very storied history.

Kevin:

Thanks for posting that. I'm with the current owner. Keep it in tip top mechanical shape and leave everything else alone.

Gotta love those seat covers.

We are all DEEPLY NOSTALGIC...so much so, that we spend ridiculous amounts of dollars on that old BATHTUB from the 50s and 60s.....before IRAN, before AIDS, before GLOBAL WARMING, before ASBESTOS/LEAD/CHOLESTEROL.

Just what is it about a poorly constructed, overturned, under performing bathtub that has spawned a full blown replica industry?

Very hard to let go of the MALT SHOP, HEMIs, L88s, CHEESE BURGERS, and our beloved SPEEDSTER. Certainly we welcome new tech although a WATER COOLED 911 was tough to swallow and took time for adjustment....look at the prices now of all air cooled PORSCHES...thru the roof. WE cannot let go........

AND we should not........

Kevin - Bay Area posted:

, if I had to like the head of an auto company in order to purchase their car, I’d probably walk to work. I certainly wouldn’t want to drive a Porsche, or anything tied to Porsche’s name. 

 

I laughed! It's funny because it's so, so true.