What year is it?????

I have my brand new Vintage Speedster and I just love it!!!!
I keep getting the question "what year is it?". I told some guy it was a '57 and he asked why the heck would I drive such a valuable classic? I told someone else it was a 1970 and he said should get a Porsche book because its imposable to be a '70 with that body style. I even told some people its a 2009. That really confuses them and usually has to be explained in detail.
So how do you all answer the question "what year is it?"?
Bill

i just tell people it's a 2009 and i just finished building it to look like a 1956 speedster.

most people just accept it and move on with a blank look. fewer seem to completely understand this. Even fewer ask more questions - these are mostly Porsche guys.

Bill--what Mango said plus this;

I can relate to your question because it used to drive me crazy.

They all start with "What year is it" and to that I always answer "It's a Vintage '57 Porsche Speedster." That satisfys almost all the time and I feel OK that I did call it a Vintage (the maker).

Some will then ask follow up questions like:

"Is it real?"
"Is it a kit car?"
"How much is it worth?" (My peersonal favorite.)

I simply say that the car is only two years old, that they are being made again in a factory in Southern California, and have made over 2,500 so far. Thay they are improved a lot over the old ones--for example, the body is fiberglass like a Corvette so it'll never rust. It has disc brakes rather than the old fashioned drum type and some even have air conditioning. Usually that's the end of the conversation unless you are dealing with a smart ass.

On the "how much is the car worth" question, I'll say "between 50 and $150,000. If they are sincere I'll even hand them one of the Vintage brochures and a card that Kirk Duncan gives me for car shows. And talk about what it really costs to get into one of these cars.

I show my car in some shows and that's where you get all these questions.

In fact last Saturday I showed it at the annual "Balloons and Car's Fest". After 5 straight 1st place trophies plus one "people's Choice trophy" I came in a miserable second Saturday! Lost to a Jaguar XKE that I know must have belonged to one of the judges! Well, the car was unbelievable and perfect in every detail but still----

If it has the beehive separate tail lights - I'd tell them a '55 replica -- if the oval tear drops I's say '57 replica. That was the major quick visible difference between the years.

For a quick answer I tell 'em "It was built as a '59". That seems to satisify most people. If they want to know more, I tell 'em more.

'58 was last year for Speedster - so a '59 would be a cabriolet or a D-Convertible though. Both would have non-emergency use tops.

I say '57. That usually does it for the casual types. If questions keep coming, and there is interest in the car (and me) I go in to the details of the replica build. So I amend my response to a '72 -- the donor V-dub. Then as I explain about how much of the car is brand new, I end up saying it is an '07.

I won't say this is exclusively the only question asked, but it is by far the most frequent. Seems to me that someone is either going to know what the car is, or he is not. If he does, then he will not ask the year question (because he knows the answer well enough), but something more intelligent, or maybe just exclaim how beautiful it is, etc. etc. -- all too true. If he does not know what the car is, and he is standing there next to it, he can see plainly that it is a Porsche (says so front and back) and so he is stumped, 'cause it sure don't look like any Porsche he has ever seen. So he has to pull on that thread, but recognizes his ignorance of the brand, and can only wonder what year it must be. It's how it works for me, actually. When I go to a car show and there are old or obscure brands there thast I do not know ver4y much about (e.g., Alpha-Rs), while admiring these beauties, I wonder what year they were built. It's just natural, for some reason.

Wolfgang,

Wrong on 58 being the last Speedster. There were 31 59's Vin #84923 - 84954 all Carrera GT's and most I think maybe all were pushrod motors not OHC.

As per Dr. B Johnson's book and Porsche factory records.

58 was the first Convertible "D" or Roadster so there was overlap.

I tell them it depends what part!

Better yet, when I had my Spyder, I'd tell them it was a 1948 Tucker.

Most would smile and walk away.

(Some time ago, I decided to find a 1948 American car (my birth year)that looked decent and do a complete restoration.
The only problem was the only decent looking 1948 car was a Tucker and no one can afford to buy one)

Except for the rear engine axial helicopter engine - a '48 Studebaker could probably pass for a Tucker. I had '53 Stude Commander - wish I hadn't sold it for $100! Guy when surprized when he said he would get it towed home and I said well why not just charge the battery and drive home.

http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3D1948%2Bstudebaker%26ei%3DUTF-8%26fr%3Db2ie7%26fr2%3Dtab-web&w=500&h=332&imgurl=static.flickr.com%2F3099%2F2672331845_4a0fa6dee9.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2Fgordon-runkle%2F2672331845%2F&size=147k&name=1948+Studebaker+...&p=1948+studebaker&oid=6d15b7ade64893e4&fr2=tab-web&fusr=Gordon+Runkl...&no=1&tt=551&sigr=11mbm6lp2&sigi=11gd3kqab&sigb=12skp4era