vintage speedsters? air cooled v. water cooled

First time poster. Im close to buying a speedster and have this major question. Do u think I should go with the air cooled or water cooled engine. I live in Oklahoma. Anybody know anything about the builder, "Vintage Speedsters"? Thanks.

Never heard of them before.....
Besides your in the wrong forum....this thread belongs in Newbies...

Edward, I live here in OKC and have a Vintage. Might catch up sometime and take a look.

J. thanks for the post. Did you have any trouble titling the car in Oklahoma? What was the tax and title bill on it when you got it? How has it been as for as maintenance? How about insurance? Did you drive it back or have it shipped? I have a somewhat romantic vision of flying out there and driving it back? Its kind of a Jack Keruoak thing. It sure is a beauty? I'm thinking about british racing green with tan interior.

Actually the car was originally purchased by Jim Ward in the group. Insurance is cheap via State Farm. Plus, the maintenance is easy. This is the first car I have ever done my own work on.

The British racing green/tan is great color combo, plus it is pretty rare for these cars. As far as a driving it home, most in the group would probably recommend not going that route. It take a few thousand miles to work out all of the bugs in these cars right out of the shop.

Although I don't recommend driving it home - I would go out to Calif and take a week's vacation to drive it around before having it shipped. That way you can catch any assembly bugs and not have to deal with them long distance. I definately like the idea of a modern Subaru engine - especially if heat, AC and low maintenance schedule are desired. Breaks with tradition but you already did that by going fiberglass.

Thanks for the advice. I think you are right about not driving it home. I like the air cooled engine because my first car was a 1967 bug. It was the easiest car I ever owned to maintain. I am little leary on a water cooled subaru engine in a custom car. I don't work on cars so I would have to find someone with the know how and willingness to assist me. I already know a good VW mechanic.

Ed; if you had a Bug, the VS is pretty much the same thing. As reliable, economical and easy to work on. And Kirk Duncan, the shop owner is a great guy to deal with.

If you're the rebel type who likes to break with tradition go with the SAW (Specialty Automotive Works) route. Pretty powerful with more modern comforts but with the look.

Not pushing the Subaru engine (I'm buying the Subi powered Cabriolet from SAW) but its maintainence can be done by any local Subaru dealer plus you have the On-Board-Dianostic module to point out any engine problems. I went for the Subaru because I wanted an Automatic trans- mission so my wife can enjoy driving it plus I'm really getting too old to do any major wrench bending. I loved the VW engine since we go back to the 50's when my first Bug was a 1950 split window with a 25 hp engine and mechanical brakes. You could probably stop it quicker by dragging your feet out the door, but with a top speed a little over 50 mph you really didn't need anything much stronger.

Well said Nolan - except Florida is pretty "elevation challenged" (flat) if memory serves. If you live in hilly terrain, top speed was considerably higher, at least during the downhill half of the trip. WA-HOO-O-O-O-!!!

Dave: I had the split window over in Germany. I was stationed near Bitburg in the Eifel mountains. You're right, I could hit higher speeds down hill however rembering the brakes I wouldn't push it. I remember once my wife and I were returning from visiting her family in England we were flat broke, save for a few schillings, and the the VW ran out of gas. No gas guage back then, so I switch the resrve lever over which gave us about one gallon of gas to get back home. We had nearly 45 miles to go so I did the old drive up and coast down with the engine off trick and we made it with fumes to spare. God I loved the little old bug and kinda wish I still had it, mach nix sticks (semaphore trn signals that would work when ever they felt like it)and all..

Not only are they cool Nolan but you could sell them for a pretty penny nowadays.

I loved that recent picture in a magazine of an old dirty bus that had large letters painted on the back, "40 Hp at work. Don't honk, just pass"!