Vintage Speedster reseller or another scam?

If you go to the "Gallery" part of the site, the first picture up is a nice charcoal gray car, with a "VS" crest clearly displayed on the hoodhandle.

Very interesting.  The paragraph below, from their home screen, implies an affiliation with Vintage Speedsters since we know Vintage Motorcars has not produced 3,000 cars.

As of July 2013, Vintage Motorcar has hand built over 3,000 Speedters. We produce more cars in one week that some manufacturers do in a year.

Noticed the same thing, Troy.  A call to Kirk or Mary Duncan would solve that mystery.

Several months ago I was at Vintage and asked Kirk when he planned to retire.  He said there was a group in Arizona hounding him to sell Vintage for some pretty big bucks, but that he wasn't interested.  I wonder if he has reconsidered and this is the first stage of a sale???

TO BE CLEAR...THIS IS TOTAL SPECULATION ON MY PART!!!

Well, the website's home base is Phoenix, AZ.

Probably taking advantage of the Mexican labor and cheap parts or Mexican parts and cheap labor, whatever....

Kirk has guys that have worked for him for more than 20 years, without ever missing a day of work!

Well, if you consider SAS, I guess two cars in a week...

Look at the FAQ's and they discuss the "jackstand test" the verbiage is lifted almost word for word from the VS website.

Long Beach is a stone's throw from Hawaiian Gardens as I remember. They say that is where their cars are built.

Seduction Motors is located in Chandler Arizona,   suburb of Phoenix.    ????

I don't like Vintage MotorCars logo, graphics etc. Very Art Deco, which isn't the late 50's early 60's era,  That of course has nothing to do with their cars.

I contacted Vintage Motorcars this morning and asked a few questions. A gentleman by the name of Justin responded via e-mail that VS has been purchased by the company in Phoenix and they are at the very beginning of the process of establishing the new company, Vintage Motorcars. 

He stated that they will be running both websites for awhile.

Bob

Thanks for the effort on everyone's behalf here! VS is a big supplier to all of us for parts and service in addition to their cars.  I would hate to see that change.  New owners typically buy a business as they see ways to change and make it better and more profitable.

Art

Last week I ordered a headlight bucket from VS and it arrived with broken glass. I emailed them with a picture and they immediately shipped a new one out.

I hope this is indicative of what we hobbyists can continue to expect from VM, art!

I hope they reach out to us and build a rapport with the members of the SOC.  They can learn a lot from us.

As far as profitability, my guess is they could easily double the production with targeted advertising.  Kirk did basically zero advertising and relied on word of mouth to sell his cars and did VERY well.  If the new guys approach it right, they could easily double the production and profit. 

Troy:

I sent a message back to Justin suggesting just that they consider just that, and provided our website address.

I agree Troy!  They offer way more than what's on the web page.  In this new world, you need to get it all out there.  I have been surprised more than once to learn of items they carried, never seeing them on the website.

This is pretty huge. Good for Kirk and Mary.

I hope this outfit can deliver. 

I'm with Stan. Kirk and Mary built VS into the biggest company of it's kind producing Speedster replicas in the entire world!

How many of us can say that they built the market leader in units sold of any product? Mavbe a few folks on here, but I doubt very many.

VM has a great opportunity to build on that legacy and would be wise to counsel with some folks on this site. We will see.

I can't imagine this will be another Thunder Ranch/CCW/CCW/Kitzkrieg deal.

This may still be a work in progress.  Hopefully, Mary will let the site know when the ink dries, and the check clears.  

Mary has been in and out of the hospital this year.  I wonder if that has anything to do with the decision to sell?

Hi guys,

This is Justin with Vintage Motorcar/Vintage Speedster.

I just wanted to make a little introduction but I wanted to do it properly and be as respectful as possible to this website.

I have been wanting to post the news about Vintage but have been waiting until the time was right... till everything was just absolutely PERFECT . Well I knew that was a bit delusional as nothing in this world is ever perfect. But I wanted to try to have some things in place before posting.

One thing I wanted to have done for certain is to have the blessing of the admin from this website. I contacted the admin a week or so ago (maybe longer) to inquire about site sponsorship/advertising etc... because the last thing that I wanted to do was to come on board and NOT be a supporting member. I have been waiting to hear back about site contribution etc... before I made the introduction but I guess the admin has been out of town and here we are.

I also wanted to wait until the website was MORE complete and was waiting until we did the redirect on Vintagespeedster.com etc...

BUT... here we are

I guess I would like to tell you a little bit about myself.

I have been a fan of these cars since before I could drive. My first encounter with a vintage speedster was when my parents would take me down to the gas lamp district in San Diego and I would go and visit the dealership VIP classics that was open till 10 or 11pm or so. I would just drool over the speedster and take the little brochures  and carry them with me everywhere... and to this day I still get excited when I see a speedster from any manufacturer

I am an avid car enthusiast. I am not a Chevy guy or Ford guy or Porsche guy etc... I love ALL cars. I have had a large array of cars ranging from 36hp to over 1000hp and the 36hp car puts as big of a smile on my face as the 1000hp car did. I just enjoy all of the experiences that each car and type of car provides. I think there is something to appreciate from every brand and really every era of cars.

My background starts with working for several high end car manufactures (mainly BMW, MINI, Rolls) and I have been in the classic car business for many years. I have owned many Speedsters and several Spyders and always loved them. I am a huge huge fan of the cars.

We are really looking forward to building a strong relationship with our customer base (past and present) and we are going to try to be more involved with the site and fun runs etc... One thing I learned from my time at MINI is to help build the sense of community. Plus when you are friends with the community it isn't work! Its FUN!

We want to continue on building the great product that Kirk and Mary have developed. I am absolutely thrilled with the product and think they have really developed an amazing car. I can't get over how well the doors on these cars open and close. It really is incredible. Kirk and really his entire crew, some of which have been with him for almost 30 years, have done an incredible job. We want to continue his legacy and of course move the brand upwards and onto a bigger stage.

Kirk and Mary are still involved in the business as I am in Arizona and they of course are still in California. They are managing the builds and doing the parts and service end of the business. I am concentrating more on the Sales and marketing portion of the business day to day. Kirk is the first person I speak to in the morning and we probably talk 10 times a day.  As we get more settled in and I learn more of the ins and outs of the business and relationships they have established Kirk and Marys roll will subside and they will be able to enjoy a much earned/deserved retirement. So basically... if you stop by Vintage... Im not there and if you order a car you will deal with me but the same eyes and hands will be putting the cars together etc... As of now the product is still the same. We will be implementing some changes down the road but they are all minor minor things that I think will just add to the great design of the car. There are many moving parts to a business and obviously a car is made of many moving parts. There is a large learning curve to getting to know any business so I am integrating myself in one step at a time.

Well, I think I just wrote way more than most people care to hear...

If you have any questions are want to talk feel free to give me a call!

Thanks for taking the time to read this post and I look forward to meeting you guys soon!

PS I will likely be changing my screen name or getting a new one... something more company appropriate. This was just a personal account.

Concerning the logo... a very large company sent a very large letter about the previous logo and we needed to change it. We didn't want to completely change the logo and erase what Kirk and Mary built and obliterate our previous customers but we did have to implement some major changes. So we were left with the large obstacle of making major changes but not erase Vintages history. It was actually a pretty monumental task.

Good on ya, Justin!  It's refreshing to read a post from a "new owner" that sounds like a normal guy.  Keep up the good work that Kirk started and you'll have LOTS of supporters from this site and the hobby in general.  Welcome, welcome, welcome.  

should to maintain the customer  service as Vintage has done you will suceed.....

As is our custom here.....Welcome to the madness!!!

Congratulations to you, Justin as well as Kirk and Mary who ae really beloved members of this 

SOC tribe.  They have joined us on annual events and have been good friends to not only Vintage owners but all Speedster fans regardless of the brand of car.

An exciting time but a little bittersweet too but best wishes for future success and health down the road.

Short note.  For the first few years of ownership I wan constantly "improving" my car and smetimes I caused problems that Kirk was always happy to help me iron out.  I'm talking more than a few occasions where I had to call Kirk for advice.  The best advice I ever received was one day when Kirk said to me "why don't you just DRIVE the damned thing!"

That's what I've tried to do ever since.

Thank you all for the warm welcome!

We are most definitely excited to bring new things and ideas out of Vintage. Our biggest concerns first are getting familiarizing ourselves and then we are looking to improve the product. Teething is always a concern with any hand built car and that goes just the same with a restoration of a classic car. You can do a full body off restoration and put all the new or restored shiny pieces back on the car, but the first drive down the road... well usually you end up with a laundry list of issues that need to be corrected. We are implementing some new quality control items and just being more diligent overall. Like I said before we are really just looking to raise the bar. I think someone posted on here, its not about reinventing the wheel.... we are just looking to refine it and where needed update it. There is no such thing as perfect and there is always room for improvement. Before we invent new products and ideas, we need to define and refine.

We are going to be up in Monterrey for all of the Auctions etc... and I plan on shipping a Speedster up there to drive around as well as run a few through the auction. If you are in the area or will be joining in  the events as well it would be great to meet some of you!

Thanks again for the welcome!

Justin - You should consider coming to Carlisle next May to meet a lot of your east coast customers. It's the biggest such gathering in the country and a blast as well.  Henry Reisner (Intermeccanica), Kevin and Carey Hines (Beck/Special Edition), and John Steele (JPS) are always there.  Henry and the Hines often join us for dinner and other events.

This just hit me... Vintage Motors must be building Jim's new car...

No wonder he's been so sheepish about talking about it.

Veeeeeery interesting.

Jim - you ole' dog!

Justin, I live in Gilbert, AZ and have a 2013 VS. I am really looking forward to meeting you and visiting your showroom/shop when it's ready for customers.

I've visited Kirk in Hawaiian Gardens and that was a great experience. I feel the Phoenix operation will be as well.

GWPage

Ted, great observation  Jim you'd better get a Sharpie, for Kirk and Mary to sign your car, (under thehood or engine lid) as the last SOC  VS made!

Art

Great to as you put it ..... just looking to raise the bar..... But keep in mind the reasonable, VS pricing ... is an incentive.

Fast, cheap, good. Pick any two.

From the ultra-low mile cars on ebay, I'd guess almost everybody would give up a little "cheap" to get a bit more "good".