I am considering having a Vintage replica Speedster built but have never seen or driven one. Is the anyone in the Sacramento area that has one that I could see?
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Ron, an idea here. Contact the people at Vintage Speedster and ask them if
they had any recent customers in the Sacramento area.
Also, see if the PCA, Sacramento chapter (1000 members) have any replica
speedster members.
Vintage Speedster is a very credible outfit. You need to take a trip to
Hawaiian Gardens, a suburb of Los Angeles and visit the shop. The people
there are very helpful.
Bob Gieser
03 Boxster
they had any recent customers in the Sacramento area.
Also, see if the PCA, Sacramento chapter (1000 members) have any replica
speedster members.
Vintage Speedster is a very credible outfit. You need to take a trip to
Hawaiian Gardens, a suburb of Los Angeles and visit the shop. The people
there are very helpful.
Bob Gieser
03 Boxster
Bob,
Thanks, good idea. I have spoken with Kirk at Vintage speedsters and he had recommended this forum. He did say that he has sold cars in this area.
Ron
Help this dude out.
There's plenty guys in your area with Vintage Speedsters.
Doesn't Theron still have his for sale? That's a pretty nice one and brand new.
@Ron Enfantino Ron, there are a few SOCers going to the (Sacramento) Bug In. Click on this LINK to see who's going. You'll be able to see & talk Speedsters with these guys! 
I also have a very nice 8,500 mile silver with black interior Vintage for sale and it has a 1915cc motor.
PM me if you are interested.
Ron, you are most welcome. Good luck. Plenty of responses to your post.
Great forum. I always wanted a 356 replica. Bought a 2003 Boxster
instead though.
Take care,
Bob
Great forum. I always wanted a 356 replica. Bought a 2003 Boxster
instead though.
Take care,
Bob
Ron,
There will be about ten cars traveling from Auburn,CA to Lake Tahoe the week of September 7-10, 2017. We are getting together for a BBQ at Anthony's Classic Autowerks on Thursday September 7, 2017 (not sure what time yet but it'll be about dinner time) and you can check out a variety of cars there. You can probably drive one as well. Anthony's shop is located at 165 Borland Auburn, CA.
Robert
MusbJim posted:@Ron Enfantino Ron, there are a few SOCers going to the (Sacramento) Bug In. Click on this LINK to see who's going. You'll be able to see & talk Speedsters with these guys!
Thanks. Where and what time will you guys be gathering in Sacramento area?
Ron
Ron Enfantino posted:MusbJim posted:@Ron Enfantino Ron, there are a few SOCers going to the (Sacramento) Bug In. Click on this LINK to see who's going. You'll be able to see & talk Speedsters with these guys!
Thanks. Where and what time will you guys be gathering in Sacramento area?
Ron
They are meeting at the Park n Ride at Sunset and Jackson at 0700 hours the day of the event.
@Ron Enfantino, I'll be there with my self built, no...bespoke car, unknown body, probably CMC. Rick from Lodi will be there as well, his may be a CMC also. I'm sure there will be others, usually see two or three. You can text me, 916 390 8949.
Chris
Robert M posted:Ron,
There will be about ten cars traveling from Auburn,CA to Lake Tahoe the week of September 7-10, 2017. We are getting together for a BBQ at Anthony's Classic Autowerks on Thursday September 7, 2017 (not sure what time yet but it'll be about dinner time) and you can check out a variety of cars there. You can probably drive one as well. Anthony's shop is located at 165 Borland Auburn, CA.
Robert
Thanks Robert, If you will let me know about what time you will be gathering at Anthony's I will drive up from Sacramento. This looks like it will be a great opportunity for me to see some Speedsters. Much appreciated.
Ron
Robert M posted:Ron Enfantino posted:MusbJim posted:@Ron Enfantino Ron, there are a few SOCers going to the (Sacramento) Bug In. Click on this LINK to see who's going. You'll be able to see & talk Speedsters with these guys!
Thanks. Where and what time will you guys be gathering in Sacramento area?
Ron
They are meeting at the Park n Ride at Sunset and Jackson at 0700 hours the day of the event.
Thanks Robert, I'll try to be there early.
Ron
Troy Sloan posted:I also have a very nice 8,500 mile silver with black interior Vintage for sale and it has a 1915cc motor.
PM me if you are interested.
Thanks for the response. At this point if I decide to pursue a Vintage Speedster I'm leaning toward having a wide body for me but I would like to see your car sometime when it might be convenient for you.
Ron
Hi Ron- I don't yet have a car but planning to order one from Kirk in January. I've done some extensive research including meeting with both Kirk (Vintage) and John (JPS) a couple times each so happy to share what I've learned and my plan for my car. I'm buying a roller from Kirk and working with Anthony to build the motor and transmission.
Everyone on the board here is great and very helpful. I've spoken with Mitch, Terry, Anothony, Will and Troy and have learned a lot from all of them. The one thing I've not done yet, surprisingly, is drive a speedster so looking forward to doing that next week when we meet at Tony's shop.
Blake
Bwkirk posted:Hi Ron- I don't yet have a car but planning to order one from Kirk in January. I've done some extensive research including meeting with both Kirk (Vintage) and John (JPS) a couple times each so happy to share what I've learned and my plan for my car. I'm buying a roller from Kirk and working with Anthony to build the motor and transmission.
Everyone on the board here is great and very helpful. I've spoken with Mitch, Terry, Anothony, Will and Troy and have learned a lot from all of them. The one thing I've not done yet, surprisingly, is drive a speedster so looking forward to doing that next week when we meet at Tony's shop.
Blake
Blake,
Do you know what time we should meet at Tony's? I'm really looking forward to seeing some replica Speedsters, i've never even seen one.
Ron
I'm planning to be there about 5:30. Sounds like there will be a good turn out of owners and cars so should be plenty to see. If you can, I recommend you go down to visit Kirk in S California and while your down there stop by to see JPS just for perspective. I'm going with Vintage but as I said, only for a rolling car.
Look forward to meeting you next week.
Blake
@Ron Enfantino Hey Ron, looking forward to meeting up with you at Anthony's shop in Auburn next week. You'll have a chance to meet these great folks who make up the SOC. All very down-to-earth people always willing to offer assistance and info for those interested in these cars.
See ya then!
Ron, sorry it's taken a while to reply to this.
Just sent you a private message (when you log into this site, there should be a red ball at the top of the page, next to your name - click on that and choose 'Private Messages' from the pull-down menu.)
Bwkirk posted:Hi Ron- I don't yet have a car but planning to order one from Kirk in January. I've done some extensive research including meeting with both Kirk (Vintage) and John (JPS) a couple times each so happy to share what I've learned and my plan for my car. I'm buying a roller from Kirk and working with Anthony to build the motor and transmission.
Everyone on the board here is great and very helpful. I've spoken with Mitch, Terry, Anothony, Will and Troy and have learned a lot from all of them. The one thing I've not done yet, surprisingly, is drive a speedster so looking forward to doing that next week when we meet at Tony's shop.
Blake
Ron, whatever you do...DON'T drive Mitch's car, it will spoil you for a 5-speed which Anthony would love to install for you but man...talk about $$$, you better have a good looking first-born you're willing to give up.
BTW, welcome to the Madness (in advance)
And don't let VS source your motor!
Ha, I was going to say you were probably wise going with a roller. In addition to engine issues, I think some have ordered 3.88 Freeway flyers only to discover 4.125 R&P transaxles.
WOLFGANG posted:Ha, I was going to say you were probably wise going with a roller. In addition to engine issues, I think some have ordered 3.88 Freeway flyers only to discover 4.125 R&P transaxles.
@Wolfgang Who besides Mitch are you aware of that got a 4.12 trans rather than a 3.88? He is the only one that I know of out of literally hundreds of cars and using the word "some" makes it appear to be much more common of an occurrence than it actually is.
@Bill Prout Vintage has produced thousands of cars with engines that have been trouble free for thousands of miles and many, many years. Jim Ignacio and plenty of others can attest to that. I myself have had 37 Vintage Speedsters (and 3 JPS) and without exception they have been fine cars.
Now, be prepared to read all the horror stories (satisfied owners rarely post) from the handful of SOC owners who have had a problem with Vintage, but also know that, by far, the vast majority of cars sold by Vintage are fine and that Kirk does stand by his cars when there is a problem.
Stan will typically be the first to respond.
@Ron Enfantino if you're not aware, @Troy Sloan has bought and sold around 40 Speedsters (it's his hobby), 37 of which were VS. Every single car beautifully prepped and sold by Troy was bought very quickly by satisfied buyers within days of being posted for sale.
On the other hand, VS has sold over 3,000 Speedsters worldwide. Hope to see you in Auburn, and you'll be able to get a first-hand perspective to guide your car decision.
Don't mean to offend current VS owners. A VS is good Speedster value for the $. I was being somewhat flippant. Agree that you only really hear the squeaky wheels - but a "gaggle" of people (a quarter of owners?) have gotten VS's and quickly became disenchanted by the lack of QA and the required sorting out required. Yes, maybe new owners' expectation were too high (and their DIY capabilities too low). New cars puking oil, seizing up, catching fire, steering not connected, bad master cylinders, ya-da-ya-da (even hub caps flying off after few miles) is not what new car buyers expect. Nor getting the wrong transaxle, having it whine, or popping out of gear. Maybe only 20-25 have complained here - but how many low mileage Seedsters do you see out there for sale that still need sorting out? For entertaining reading just search for Annalise's new VS purchase thread. These are people that maybe didn't know about SOC (to read is a Speedster right for you) or simply threw in the towel and moved on. It becomes a great hobby (even profitable business) for those that can spot the deals and square away the issues for resale. I'd prefer one sorted out by Troy or Alan over a new one fresh out the VS door.
As Jim pointed out over 3300 cars in 30 years sounds like a lot (1 every 3 days is great for a small shop) but in 26 years there have been over 1M Mazda Miatas built! I agree you can't expect the same quality even though the price points are near identical. One is custom built, other is assembly line production. A bespoke oil painting vs a numbered print.
And how many are out there that have never spoken up about QA issues? Not all VS owners are SOC members...
I was a customer that had an issue, it had a simple resolution that never got resolved leaving me bitter!
Buyer beware is all I'm saying.
@Troy Sloan I'd bet your bread and butter is most likely made up of dissatisfied VS customers cars. You should be working for VS as QC...I would not hesitate to buy one of your used and sorted cars!
Like I said, be prepared to read...
FYI, My "bread and butter" is made up of Social Security and pension money! I can't think of a single car that I ever bought from a dissatisfied VS owner, but I sure know far more satisfied VS owners than dissatisfied owners.
For the record, I do know another forum member whose VS had the same issue as mine - a 4.12 r&p in a '3.88'. He contacted me privately, not wanting to air his laundry here before negotiating a resolution with Kirk.
His car was made around the same time as mine, so it was probably a supplier issue that Kirk was having at the time. If I recall, Kirk offered him what I thought was a fair compensation for a problem that some will argue should never have occurred.
This particular issue can be hard to spot. If you haven't driven other cars or taken careful measurements, you may not realize you don't have a 3.88. After all, there's only about a 300 rpm difference at highway speeds. In my case, fourth gear was also the wrong ratio, so the difference was easier to spot.
But with all the issues I had on my car, and with all of the other issues I've read about here over the past five years, I think the main point is that the buyer of any hand-made car should examine his new car very carefully before driving it. The less time that went into building and finishing the car and the less it cost to make, the more likely there are going to be things that need fixing.
And for whatever it's worth, I still think that you can greatly reduce the odds of having serious problems with a new build by having dedicated, trusted builders make your engine and transaxle for installation into a roller.
"And for whatever it's worth, I still think that you can greatly reduce the odds of having serious problems with a new build by having dedicated, trusted builders make your engine and transaxle for installation into a roller."
VERY WELL SAID: it would be nice for things to be smoother and more predictable but such is the "MADNESS" of the TUB....hope things get ironed out
going forward. Its a challenging game that we play....I'm trying to get over a small oil "OOZE" that is not even a leak. BUT....an engine should not LEAK or OOZE....I'll get over it or cough up $4000 to split cases/tear down and new gaskets(?)...NO WAY
Thanks Mitch. I stand corrected Wolfgang, there are 2 known Vintage owners who received 4.12 rather than 3.88 transmissions, so using the word "some" (out of 3,300 cars) was appropriate...at least technically.
For the record, I've got no beef with Vintage, and never have.
I've got no idea if people experiencing issues are a minority, and plurality, or a majority (and neither does anybody here). I do know that there are no shortage of cars with less than 2000 mi. for sale here, there, and everywhere, and that there have been no shortage of people posting here with mild to serious issues with their cars "as delivered". Again, perhaps this represents a more vocal minority, but the validity of the complaints can't be discounted.
These cars aren't for everybody, so perhaps there's a bit of that baked in the cake as well, but I guess I've always figured that one point (in isolation) is a point of isolation. Two points is a trend, three points is a line. Vintage builds more cars than anybody else, so there's bound to be more complaints. It's too bad that the complaints are mostly about the same things.
What's universally acknowledged is Kirk's willingness to stand behind his cars, something that other CA builders have proven less serious about. For the money, Vintage Speedsters represent a very, very good value. If I were doing this again, I'd think really hard about doing just what the OP is doing- buying a VS roller, and paying somebody to do a drivetrain.
I can't speak for 3500 VS owners.
I know of far fewer than 100 people who own them.
But, of those, a whole bunch have had transaxles that didn't contain what they should have or engines that blew up or carburetors that were never set up right or backfires that couldn't be cured or suspension bits that hit the frame or brakes that made awful, moaning noises or headlight switches that burned up or doors that didn't fit right or blinkers that didn't blink or gas tanks that weren't properly vented or yes, even hubcaps that flew off.
So, as a responsible citizen, when I see a young, blushing bride cruise into the forum on her way to Kirk's 24-hour Wedding Chapel, asking earnestly if anyone can show just cause why this wedding should not take place, I find it more conscionable to speak now than to forever hold my peace.
I usually tell her that while marriage is a wonderful institution, she might want to put off the wedding a while until she checks out her future hubby's family tree.
Truth is, despite all of this, I'm a satisfied VS owner and often recommend that the wedding proceed.
But I also suggest the services of a professional wedding planner to take care of the details.
The gist of all this is that the safest course is slightly used car that someone like Troy has bought, sorted, detailed, and then wants to flip. Almost all of us have had some sorting issues regardless of the manufacturer. Some makers are a bit better than others on the QC thing, but good (and bad) can be had from all. Do research and go into it with eyes open and you will almost certainly be happy.
Oh yeah, Ron, your decision to join in on the upcoming cruise is the wisest thing you could do.
Sacto Mitch posted:
I can't speak for 3500 VS owners.
I know of far fewer than 100 people who own them.
But, of those, a whole bunch have had transaxles that didn't contain what they should have or engines that blew up or carburetors that were never set up right or backfires that couldn't be cured or suspension bits that hit the frame or brakes that made awful, moaning noises or headlight switches that burned up or doors that didn't fit right or blinkers that didn't blink or gas tanks that weren't properly vented or yes, even hubcaps that flew off.
So, as a responsible citizen, when I see a young, blushing bride cruise into the forum on her way to Kirk's 24-hour Wedding Chapel, asking earnestly if anyone can show just cause why this wedding should not take place, I find it more conscionable to speak now than to forever hold my peace.
I usually tell her that while marriage is a wonderful institution, she might want to put off the wedding a while until she checks out her future hubby's family tree.
Truth is, despite all of this, I'm a satisfied VS owner and often recommend that the wedding proceed.
But I also suggest the services of a professional wedding planner to take care of the details.
KUDOS...very carefully CRAFTED criticism....you are to be commended for your truthfulness and warning! yet tip-toeing thru the mine field. Hope for the best and MANAGE that which is likely to go WRONG is good thinking.......plan to avoid the worst scenario
It is sometimes a pain in the neck and somewhat lower though, to have to do the fine tuning of the car, even with the well intentioned builder helping out ... but then you have to know that this will be what is expected of you when you buy a hand made car.
The major issue of course is if you have a drivetrain issue like and engine or tranny then it gets to be even more fun trying to get something fixed by a mechanic who may have no clue on what your are bringing him.
Here another just discovered a few minutes ago
https://www.speedsterowners.com...6#566091701649416796
So what's going on at VS?
Bill Prout posted:Here another just discovered a few minutes ago
https://www.speedsterowners.com...6#566091701649416796
So what's going on at VS?
As someone once advised me, in a strong tone, when defending the "meticulomania" and "perfection" in almost all of IM builds, is that there are a VARIETY OF PRICE POINTS in the REPLICA market and one's EXPECTATIONS should be accordingly. I'm guessing that these ills are a function of that and one might need to temper/ADJUST to these so as to NOT feel slighted. I'm not sure delivering a car without seat-belts or fitting the wrong TRANNY/DIFF fits that wrinkle but it appears that such things happen to some and is the status quo. I'm eager to see how this plays out as I've only been around for 4 months and hope that wrongs are promptly and conveniently RIGHTED
Well sorted, site sponsored car, below retail.
https://www.speedsterowners.com...dster-now-with-video
So, yeah.
-=theron