Vintage Speedster for Sale

For sale: Essentially new, 2004 Vintage Speedster. Less than 100 miles on it! Absolutely perfect condition. Black with Tan seats, carpet and top. Nardi steering wheel, dual carbs, 3.88 trans, front disc brakes, 1900 cc, stereo/cd player tucked under dash, dual mirrors, bumper guards, leather interior, full tonneau cover, carpeted trunk, monogrammed floor mats. Has always been stored in a climate controlled garage.

Paid $19,845 including the cost of shipping the car in an enclosed truck to Little Rock. Asking $18,000. We could help with transportation, as I have a trailer that's perfect for transporting a car like the Speedster.

Email me and I'll send you lots of photos. This will make someone a great deal.

OMG.. what a deal!

Speedster "D"

For those contemplating the purchase of a Speedster, this would be the time to count your coins....what a deal!

Hey guys, thanks for the comments. Yes, this is going to make someone a great deal. I've put some pictures up on a website. You can see them at www.summit-sw.com/speedsters/black.html

Take a look. I think you'll agree that it's a gorgeous car. Nothing shines like chrome on black.

Email me for details. Thanks, Bill

Bill, this seems like a great deal, but I'm curious how a two year old speedster winds up with less that 100 miles on it. I think I put that on mine the first day I got it!

Hi Brian,

Yes, it sounds kind of like the story about the old 56 T-Bird that was found sitting in a barn under a cover with 3,600 miles on it. Almost too good to be true.

The history on this one is that myself and a couple of co-owners with me in a software development company started a partnership to purchase/restore/sell antique cars. I discovered a Speedster while I was out in Hawaii installing software, drove it and fell in love with the car. We subsequently purchased three of them from Vintage and saved about $2,000 per car by buying three of them at a time. If you sell too many cars, Arkansas requires you to maintain a car dealor license, which wasn't a problem, until we checked into the insurance cost. $10,000 per year. Ouch. So, we put our partnership activities on hold.

The black Speedster has never been registerd and we've put about 100 miles on it just keeping it running and not letting it sit idle. One of my three partners wants to sell out now, so to raise some cash and buy him out, we've decided to sell one of the Speedsters.

The car is absolutely beautiful and is in perfect condition. Needs a good home and someone to show it off!

Bill

Bill,
The car is amazing! Beautiful! It is what I've been looking for since I was 10 years old. The only thing holding me back is time. Would live to fly out there and drive it back and put a few hundred miles on it on one weekened. I live in Southern California.
If the car is still around in the first week on June, then maybe we can make a deal.

Jose Oliva
www.joseoliva9@hotmail.com

We'll keep in touch with you, Jose. Got a couple of parties very close to pulling the trigger right now, but who knows.

What a great trip it would be going back to LA. It's kind of like driving in a parade everytime you get behind the wheel in a Speedster.

Bill

You sound so enthusiastic about the car, "it's like driving in a parade every time you get behind the wheel"! Yet,in two years you have only driven the car 100 miles? Actually you really don't like parades very much, do you?

Of course, it's risky to drive an unregistered car and I think it's difficult to insure them also; so that's one plausable explanation. But, then, that begs the question, "Why didn't you register your car"?

Other readers might find it interesting to click on "summitbill" above at the left side of the page (below Bill's name) in Bill Dodgen's original post in this string, then click on "last 50 posts" then click on the Post dated 8/18/2004 titled: "Red, Black or Cream, take your pick". I think John Leader summarized my thoughts in his responses in that string. Skepticism is its own reward.

Anybody who considers buying an unregistered kit-car or an unregistered turn-key custom built auto from an out-of-state owner should thoroughly research the registration requirements in their (the buyer's) State of domicile. In-state registration renewals and transfer of presently registered autos from other states is far more routine than registering a car that has never been registered (anywhere).

To research posts about registration issues, click on the link below and enter the word REGISTRATION (or DMV) in the search terms box, caveat emptor.

https://www.speedsterowners.com/forum/search.asp

please call me re: your speedster. 817-875-4647 need details please

Bill,

Our partnership to purchase/restore/sell antique cars purchased three Speedsters in 2004 from Kirk at Vintage Speedtsers. They are all top of the line, beautiful cars, and we have the original MCO's and invoices from Vintage, which we are happy to provide to any interested party. We started the partnership with the goal of selling one or two Speedtsers (plus other genuine antiques and other replica cars) per year. After negotiating with insurance companies for six months, the best we could do on a dealorship policy was an anual premium of $10,000. Since this was more of a hobby than a business with us, we decided not to go forward with any more purchases and to sell at least one of the speedsters.

I registered the Ivory Speedster in my name and paid the sales tax on it. It is licensed in Arkansas as a 1961 Volkswagen Porsche Replica. It was the first one registered in Pulaski County, Arkansas, as I had quite a time educating them as to what they were registering. We even took the vehicle to the police station for an inspection and photos. This Speedster is driven to and back from work on a regular basis, and I love taking it out for errands on the weekend. It is thoroughly a joy to drive.

One of the partners wanted to register the Red Speedster in his name and begin driving it, but he just never took the time to get pictures off to Hagerty for insurance and to do the paperwork. And we didn't want to incur over $1,000 in sales tax and then sell the car a few months later. Long story short, two of the cars have set in our company warehouse for a couple of years, though we do start them up and drive them up and down the road to keep them lubricated and charged up. One of the partners wants to liquidate his interest in the partnership now, so we've decided to get serious about selling one of them.

Your advice to fellow forum members is good, Bill. Beware of deals that sound too good to be true, or cars with problems with the paperwork, etc. But that is not the case here. Call Kirk Duncan at Vintage. He'll tell you how we negotiated for a better deal by buying three at a time, and how we were like kids in a candy store waiting for them to be built. He drove them to the Auto Transport Depot in Los Angeles where they were put in an enclosed transport carrier as we didn't want them exposed to the elements during shipment to Little Rock.

We are extremely busy in our software developement company. Our clients keep us going 24/7 to keep up with their demands. I've owned the company since its inception in 1982, twenty-four years ago (about the time PC's were invented). We're not a fly by night outfit, just a few guys who love antique, classic cars, but found ourselves too busy to do justice to buying and selling them. I'm happy to answer any questions anyone has. Please email me.

Bill Dodgen

Thanks for following-up with the details of how your car trading business partnership turned into a hobby. I notice you admit to some challenges registering the one car that eventually became registered. I guess running a software company 24/7 can be very distracting. I've always sort of assumed software people were accustomed to using the scientific method and being very process oriented (Prior Planning makes for Perfect Performance). You and your partners must really have your hands full!

Registering ANY replica is something that requires research into local laws. Nearly every state has a "special construction" title that our cars easily qualify for, but the hang-up is that no one is keen to title the as a late model (in the year of construction) for fear of needing to pass an emission test.

Registering this car will be no more difficult than registering a new Vintage or JPS (or Thunder Ranch, since the frame horn section from a donor VW is reused specifically so that VIN stays intact), and probably easier than a Beck, SAW, or Intermeccanica. How to go about properly titling a replica has been the subject of a lot of discussion. It's a big deal with any car- but as far as I can tell, this car is no different than any other from a registration standpoint.

I'm not really sure what axe there is to grind here.

No ax, just a caution. I think that in several states applying for a registration or re-registering an automobile that has had a break in its registration history requires an on-site inspection by the DMV. I've heard these inspections are a little less pleasant than proctoscopy. Showing-up at the DMV with an odd shaped old VW Bug just might just raise a few questions in the (alleged) minds of some of the DMV inspectors.

Given that ANY VW pan (or partial pan) has likely had an extended period of unregistered dormancy between the last time the VIN was registered and when the car was built, this one should be no more or less difficult to get registered than any other speedster using the pan VIN. I don't see how Bill's complete (but unregistered) car is any different than the stack of pans various builders keep in the shop, waiting to be built into speedsters. The difficulty arises in the legality of registering the car as a VW at all- and that is no different with this car than any other using the VW VIN.

It seems like a nice car for the money. Good luck, Bill.

Hi, Bill. How does the title from Vintage read? What year VW? Is it made out to an individual name or a to firm name? Thanks.

Thanks, Stan. We've received 15 emails on the cars this week. And the Ivory one sold yesterday. Lots of interested parties. In talking with Kirk Duncan at Vintage yesterday, he said he's backed up with orders for about three years. I think he was exaggerating a bit, but I know they are selling like hotcakes, especially to Europeans where the going price is about $30k (in US dollars).

Howard, the MCO to us from Vintage listed the buyer as Vintage Sportsters, LLC., which is the name of our partnership. I can see Bill George's point that a state might have a problem with the MCO being assigned to another party. That may not be the case with various states, but if it is, we can title it here in AR and assign the title to the buyer. It took about 15 days for us to receive a title on the Ivory speedster. I'll also check with Kirk at Vintage and see if he could reissue the MCO in the name of the new buyer. He may not be willing, or legally able, to do that, but I'll ask.

Thanks for your posts, fellas.

Bill

In Maryland, any significant modification to the body of a car can qualify the car as a "Street Rod."
They took my word for it when I took a photo in to the MVA (read as DMV in MD). All they wanted was a VIN.
In my case, the roller pedal in place of the gas pedal alone was enough to exempt me from inspection and qualify me for the plates. It's $35 for the special number plates, $51 for registration every other year and there's a 7,500-mile driving limit per annum.
I no longer have an odometer. They no longer care.
Might be different in other states.

Howard, Vintage will just send you the donor vehicle's (VW Beetle) title. In my case it was in the name of a previous owner of the donor car. My local DMV here accepted it fine and just went ahead with a regular registration as a '68 (in my case) VW Beetle in my name.

Cory,

Illinois is similar, in that they also have a "custom, and street rod" title progam, which allows you to title a replica in the year the vehicle is built to represent, with the name of the manufacturer as the "make" (I've got mine LEGALLY titled as a 1958 Intermeccanica). Doing the title properly is the only way to fly.

CONGRATULATIONS... to Patrick Ongena who is the proud owner of this new Black and Tan Vintage Speedster. The car will be delivered to him in Dallas next week. Thanks, fellas, for all of your posts and helpful comments.

Also, I'd like to congratulate Lars Holmen from Denmark who just purchased the Ivory Speedster that I've owned personnally for the past couple of years. Sad to see it go, as I've thoroughly enjoyed owning and driving it.

Bill

Thanks Bill. What a gentleman and complete professional to do business with! This is my second Vintage. Extremely glad to have one back. Sellers remorse from my first lasted 4 years.

Congrats Patrick, this car is SWEEEEEEEEEEEET. I am sure you are tickled pink to get back into the Speedie race. Again congrats from a fellow VS owner with a Black Speedie!

Speedster "D"

Thanks. Bill delivered the car to my home (10 hours round trip!) What a deal! Car is the greatest. The most amazing thing is we were still unloading from the trailer and my neighbor stopped and is buying one this week! Could be the start of a new local club. Note to all: where is the best source to buy Porsche front and rear emblems, and can I replace the V/S emblem with an authentic Porsche emblem on the hood handle?

Do a search for Stoddards Porsche Parts or Klasse 356. You can replace the hood handle emblem with the equivalent Porsche part. Congrats on your purchase, I thoroughly enjoyed my Vintage as well prior to my IM.

https://www.speedsterowners.com/forum/readmsg.asp?t=7348

I'd like to post a picture of my incoming VS and the outgoing 79 VW convert, but I can't figure out how the heck to attach photos to this page... what am I doing wrong??

Patrick,
https://www.speedsterowners.com/help/

CONGRATULATIONS to Cal Monsma who took possession of a beautiful red Vintage Speedster last Saturday. We trailered over a red Speedster from Little Rock to Cal's home in Oklahoma City.

With that sale, our Speedster partnership is ended. It took just three weeks to sell all three of the Speedsters we owned. Quite a pleasant surprise.

Thanks to all of you who offered posts here. I think it really helps prospective owners gain the confidence to pull the trigger on a deal when they hear from guys like you who have been there and done it.

Personally, I know I'm going to have Speedster withdrawal and want to get back in. I was hooked at first sight.

Thanks again.

Bill Dodgen

Check out my new ride! Sold the 79 for the speedster