When did your madness begin?

I tend to go overboard with almost everything I do.

 

In 2000, I was 37, a father of 3, and doing OK in my business. I had put "fun cars" on the back-burner for 15 years, and finally had a bit of money in the couch-cushions to play with. The idea of something simple, cool, and impossible to rust had a lot of appeal.

 

I thought, "This will be perfect-- it's a VW. How carried away can I really get here?"

 

I had no idea.

At birth as far as I can tell.  Every picture of me, no matter how young, seems to include me holding a toy car.  I still remember reading car magazines when I was in grade school, and I have memories of an article in a magazine (Car and Driver?) of when Chevy first offered limited slip.  As for the Speedster subset, it started when I met these wonderful folks at Carlisle in 2005 and got invected with the Speedster strain of the virus.  I am now a carrier.

Stan, now I know why we're never allowed to sit on the couch at your house 

I guess it was about 1956, with me being about 11 years old at the time. The neighbors a few doors down had an uncle that would stop by their house several times a week for dinner. He had this new at the time, silver coupe that he would park out front of their house. I would drive up to it on my bike and admire it everytime it was there. Just within the past year or two, through the wonders of Facebook, I was able to make contact with "Uncle Victor's" nieces and learned more about the car and the man...nothing like I had imagined over the past 50 years.

Rich - very cool pics. Car looks like a '55 Porsche Continental. Very Cool! 

 

After 28 years as PCA member with 6 various Porsches (3 - 356's,  3 - 911's) had enough of the snobbery, sold my last P-car and threw my money at sailboats. Speedster replica in marina parking lot caught my eye.

 

After scouring the weekly Auto Trader for 6 months, I found the VS I currently own. 15 years and 95,000 miles later I can still say this is hands-down, the most fun sports car I've owned! Meeting my new SOC friends is icing on the gear-head cake! 

Yes, Jim, that's what it was. Someone here schooled me on that model a couple of years ago when I initially posted these. Before these photos were passed onto me by my old neighbors, I had somehow hoped the car to be some very rare breed...but alas, the lowly Continental model, no Carrera . But it sure was fun seeing it nonetheless, I thought it was lost forever To my memory bank. I had also imagined old Uncle Victor to be some rocket scientist or something, but nope, his nieces told me he was a crazy old coot who just bought the car on a whim, kept it for just a few years and sold it...noting the condition, he didn't take real good care of it either...the pix had to have been taken within a few years of purchase. It needed a good Clay bar treatment!

 

Alas, I'm destined to be remembered by my blood relatives as a "crazy old coot" too!

"Remember"...how about "know"?

 

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, nice story.

 

I was 13 when I saw my first speedster, an original at a local car show and I was sold. I went through split buses and beetles but none seemed to fill the gap that my speedster does. 

"The Madness" for me began as soon as I started noticing cars, much like Lane, I think.  However, the 356 variety began in 1958 when I admired a white Porsche in the parking lot at North Syracuse High School.  I soon learned that it belonged to Mel Dickinson, my algebra teacher.  I would always look for it when arriving by school bus and once again when departing.  My Dad knew of these cars and even pronounced the name correctly, two syllables, POR-SHA, as Ferdinand would have preferred, I'm sure.  What really set the hook was having a short ride in it.  BANG----ZOOM-----a goner for certain.  

I was in college, in Colorado, in the 60's; a friend of mine had a 356 coupe which I drove often.  I always liked those car's.  Now, rather then deal with an original, I want the updated model.  Still looking.

It started with my older brother.  He came home on leave from the Air Force with a 1959 Speedster - Dark Moss Green.....Looked really cool.  This must have been around 1965, when I was 15 years old.  When he went "back to work" in Florida and Nevada, my father graciously offered to keep it limbered up and I would go along for the rides.  Even cooler.

 

Then, in the summer of 1967 I volunteered for a small medical outfit that provided inoculations and health info to people in Honduras and Guatemala.  As I was leaving for the plane we stopped at a Magazine stand and I bought the very first Issue of "DUNE BUGGIES and hot VW's"  (emphasis on Dune Buggies, back then).  This was the cover:

 

 

I carried that magazine with me everywhere in Central America that summer, reading it cover-to-cover a number of times and getting it dog-eared before returning home in the Fall.  Within weeks I had bought my first VW pan and was stripping it to become my first Dune Buggy (which had a wooden body, similar to one in the magazine), followed by a '57 VW Oval Sedan Daily Driver and another 6 Dune Buggies built to finance my Freshman year at College.  

 

Decades passed until I sorely needed a hobby and bought a CMC body on a whim.  The rest is pretty much documented on here........along with a lot of unexpected and cherished friendships from my "other Family"!

 

 

In a Porsche showroom in Greenville, SC in 1963. Age 24--- I was traveling with Whitehall Labs out of Columbia SC as a territory salesman selling OTC pharmaceuticals and stopped into that dealership just to drool. I had a wife and two kids on the magnificent salary of $5,200 a year plus a small bonus.  Drooling was all I could afford but I went crazy over a gray 356 coupe and have thought about it all my life.

 

15 years and and 4 VW Bugs and assorted company cars later, I went on to become VP, Sales for Whitehall in NYC with a 400 person sales force making a bundle  but too busy to have a "hobby car" but still thinking about that grey 356. We introduced Advil in 1985 and it's still the largest over-the-counter product in the world today.

 

I retired at age 52 and mover from CT to AR and started thinking about that grey 356 from so many years ago.  I knew that Top Gun and Doc Hollywood both used Speedster replicas

which was just the car I wanted to have.  3 replicas were used in Doc Hollywood and I almost bought one of them that was in Dallas by then but it was winter and that car had no top so I didn't want to drive it home like that.

 

Searching Hemmings and ebay I found my VS with 500 miles on it in Monroe, Lousiana in July, 2007 and bought it on the spot. It opened up an entire new world for me and came just as I was selling the second of our airplanes and was quitting private flying after 20 years of flying. 

 

Today the Speedster has 39,060 miles on it and the "new" engine has 17,000 miles. This spring will see it's 7th trip to Carlisle plus one 3,837 mile round trip to CA for the western event. 

 

I still think about that gray 356 in Greenville, and sometime think of a new replica coupe but 

could never part with my VS. It's fully sorted, looks better than when I bought it and is a wonderful car for long distance trips.  The knucklehead buddies in the SOC are truly icing on the cake and half the pleasure of getting involved with "the madness."  

 

See ya'll in Carlisle in 44 days!

 

My madness started when I was 5 yrs old in the 1950's. I got a toy Speedster for my birthday-metal, wind up, heavy, working steering wheel, painted on driver, labeled "Made in West Germany." I was on the ground zooming that wonderful object around making car noises for hours. I got a further madness boost as a teen when a rich kid in town got an early 911(and I'm on a Schwinn!). Finally got some real quid and bought a 924 Special Edition with the moire seat covers(ew--wrong P car!) And now waiting for my a JPS Suby coupe having sold my Beck last year. Dag I've had a case of chronic relapsing madness for 60 years!

Road and Track, and Sports Car Graphic were my constant reading materials as a kid.  Had a Bugeye Sprite at sixteen, and just went from there, always with British cars.

 

I've had three IMs - all used - and plan to keep my current one.

 

 

Back in the early 80s I watched a local TV car show called 'Driver's Seat'.  On one of their episodes they test drove an Intermeccanica.

 

The next day I sent a letter to Intermeccanica, asking for a brochure and price list.

 

When the package from Intermeccanica arrived I spent a couple of hours building my new 1984 IM.  If I remember correctly, the basic car was around $27,000 and a car with a few desirable options, such as a larger engine and front disc brakes, ended up with a $32,000 price tag.

 

That sounds like a bargain compared to today's prices, but back in 1984 it was considerably more than I could afford.

 

I put the thought of buying an IM out of my head, but every once in the while I'd pull out the IM brochures and dream.

 

Jump ahead to 1999 and while reading the car ads in the Vancouver Sun newspaper I came across an ad for an 1984 Intermeccancia.  Henry at Intermeccanica had placed the ad and was selling the car for a client.  I drove in to Vancouver a few days later and took the car for a test drive.  It was white with a red interior (not my first choice of colors) and had a stock 1600cc engine (seriously slow), but I was in love.

 

I bought the car that day.

 

I finally had my 1984 IM.

My very first car was a 1951 Plymouth convertible that my father bought me for $55 when I was 17.  It didn't run and I had to rebuild that flathead 6 before I could drive it.  I hated that car and was embarrassed to be seen in it when all my friends were driving 55-57 Chevys.  After I got out of high school, I saved up enough to buy a 57 Chevy and from there moved on to many other cars through the 60s, 70s and 80, (that I wish I still owned) including 2 MGAs, 1970 AMX, a 914, 356 coupe, 2 - 911s and a 930.

 

Bear with me and I'll get to the point.

 

Fast forward to the summer of 2006.  I notice a swollen lymph node on my neck that seems to be getting larger.  Finally, I show it to one of the radiologists I work with and a quick CT scan shows that I have cancer.  It's a tumor at that base of my tongue that has metastasized to a lymph node and it's off to Stanford for 5 weeks of radiation and chemo, which thankfully melts it all away and I've been cancer free for the past 7 years.  That life changing event was a real eyeopener and left me with an understanding that life is short, so do it now and I did and still do.

 

I always loved the two little MGA convertibles that I had owned and I decided I would buy another one.  While I was searching the Internet for MGAs, I saw pictures of a beautiful blue widebody Speedster made by a company called Vintage Speedsters and made an appointment to speak with the owner, a guy named Kirk.

 

I only had a couple of thousand dollars to spend on this new toy, but no problem, I owned a home with some equity.  My new "Life Is Short" policy over ruled my good sense and I refinanced my home to pay for my new toy...best bad decision I ever made!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, Troy, it seems as if you are enjoying life to its fullest now, and good for you.

 

 

I should say that my actual stimulus to start looking at speedsters came from the movie Doc Hollywood.  Having owned a couple of Karmann Ghias (a coupe and a cabriolet) in the past, I liked the sound of Michael Fox's car, plus the look of complete freedom you had in one of these little contraptions.  

 

Seeing Kelly McGillis driving one in Top Gun didn't hurt, either. 

Troy,  Is that your wide body speedster?  That may change my thinking!  I have sorta been looking for a Roadster D.  Hmmnnnnnn.  John

Cool thread! All great stories!! 

Well, we're just like fishermen...

 

Troy.  Sweet 914.  73?  I had a 1973 914 2.0 L (4 cylinder) sport model.  Loved that car.  4 bolt Fuchs.  Being able to put the hard top into the rear trunk was awesome.  Try that in a 911.

funny we all seem to have the same interests-but ended up in the same place.had p-cars for 20 years and none gave me the pure joy I get from my speedy!

June,1964 I was thumbing to the beach on Highway 39 from Buena Park CA. to Huntington Beach CA. to go body surfing with my buddies at Tower 17.

 

Guy pulls over to give me a ride. He asked me if I liked the car, I said yes, nice Saab. He looked at me with disappointment and then proceeded to take me to school about his 1963 Porsche Coupe in which we were riding.

 

I got out 20 minutes later a changed young man. The experience stuck through a 912E, 911S and my replica Speedster which is the most fun of the three I've owned. Fun, economical and doesn't keep me up at night worrying about somebody messing with it. 

"The Madness" Circa 1964....

Read "Boy Gets Car" a fictional story in Jr. High and decided right then and there that someday, I would build..... "a car".

Did the mini & bike go cart stint. At about the same age , I saw my first Speedster that was owned by a local doctor and thought it was an ugly duckling....( Kid's what do they know?) My first driveable car was a $235 ...'57 Chevy,

In the early 80's I dabbled in fixing, rebuilding wrecked VW Beetles for resale.

My first "kit" car that I resurrected back to life was a Bradley GT II.

I continued the madness to doing numerous Gazelles, MGTD's, a few more Bradley GT's, a BMW Z3 rebody on Miata, a '53 Corvette replica, a couple of 350 hp. '23 'T Bucket builds, two tubbed Pro Street pickup's too.

Then in 2000, my first CMC speedster full build. I am now on my 34th Speedster project which I'm doing for my wife Connie.  I've lost count at the total of projects I've done but I know it is somewhere around 60 or so.   Madness no, insanity......... Yes!

Epilog: After Carlisle, Connie and I are going fishing :~)

This is a great thread.  Troy, I love your sunset photo.

 

 

Learned to drive a flat 4 '67 VW. Was hooked on gear jamming. Worked with a bunch of motorcycle nuts n decided to get one. They said no: in this climate a bike is a toy. So, I bought a '71 Cuda Convertible and was hooked on the wind in my hair feeling.
In 2010 I decided life was to short after a successful kidney transplant. I wanted a Plymouth convertible but also looked at Chevy. Saw a speedster! Found CL and then SOG!
Flew down with best bud n bought from A SOC member in San Diego. Drove it to Canada up the PCH!

Took my 80 yr young father for a twisty and he said, This car makes me feel young, Johnny."
No kiddin' father!

SOC member was David O'Brian I think.

Forgot the obligatory face palm when got maturity n sold the Cuda!

This '83 IM Roadster 356D is NOT going to leave me!

Austin - Dave O. is a surfing buddy of mine and he took a lot of pride in that car! Its nice to know it went to someone who enjoys it just as much! 

Grew up back-seater in this F-84 sweptwing ;=)

 

..... and that's my Dad's '58 coupe

 

       
       

Yes,  that is my super widebody Vintage Speedster.

       
       

I think it was a 1970.

       
       

That is a great picture isn't it.  Amazing what you can do with Photoshop!

       
       

Bob.
I went to Marina High school in Huntington Beach and also thumbed rides to the beach on Beach blvd. nearly every day in the summers of 64, 65, 66 and 67.  We had our spot at lifeguard station #7 on the left side of the pier.  You must have been a hodad or a grimmie to be that far down the beach! ;-)

Troy: On occasion, we would go down to the cliffs on your side of the pier early in the morning and then hit 17 later on.

 

On a big day when somebody got their hands on a car we would cruise down to the Wedge and take our lives in our hands or go further south to Trestles.

 

Were you a Golden Bear attendee?, Harmony Park, Retail Clerks auditorium Rendezvous Ballroom before it went up in smoke?

 

Never a single problem thumbing down 39 in those days. Probably against the law and considered much more dangerous today.

 

 

I was born with the madness. My father was career military but retired when I was born. He was car junkie and his baby was a 1930 Model A. He built our garage for working on his A. It had a hoist and full set of tools you would find in a shop. He died when I was quite young but the DNA stuck with me. I bought my first new car at 17 a 67 VW bug. Then the insanity took off. Here is the list. You will note a lot of collectables that were not at the time. Most of these I bought new in the 70's when I should have been buying CA real estate. 69 VW Bug, 69 BMW 2002, 72 BMW 2002Tii, 72 Porsche 911s Targa, 63 Porsche 356b coupe, 73 BMW Bavaria, 75 Mercedes 240d, 75 BMW 2002, 78 Peugeot 504d, 76 Porsche 912E, 81VW Golf Diesel, 82 Peugeot 504d wagon, 84 Chevrolet Suburban, 83 Peugeot 505, 85 Peugeot 505 turbo, 88 Jaguar XJ, 88 Chevrolet Suburban Diesel, 66 Tbird Covertable, 83 Porsche 911S Cab, 81 Mercedes 300d, 87 Mercedes 300TD, 00 Mercedes ML320, 77 VW Westfalia, 96 Mercedes SL320, 10 Vintage Speedster, 06 Dodge Ram 1500. The current stable includes the last two and the Mercedes ML. I had a few company cars along the way as well and I missed some early teen cars that were garbage. I think about all the real estate I could have bought along the way, but then I think about all the fun I would have missed. I am proud to say my son suffers from the same evolutionary trait. He is currently driving a Cayanne. This timeline reflects both recessions and family rearing and goes from age 17 to 64. I would bet you all have similar stories. 

Like a lot of SOC folks here my dad now 87 got me started.  He had some MG's and Triumphs.

 

My first car in 1972 was a 67 Bug that was rolled. It ran great just had a few dents in the roof. Next a Triumph GT-6, a 1970 Porsche 914 (4), 1972 Triumph Spitfire, a few more Bugs, a Lotus Europa S-II, my first brand new car a 1985 Honda Civic that was still going after 360,000 miles, 10 mufflers and 3 clutches, etc., a new VW gulf a new 2005 Ford SUV my Hang Gliding vehicle and now my 2009 built SE/Beck Speedster.  Loving it with the SOC and my local SOC'er friends Syl and Maggie.  Did all my own maintenance to keep these cars going.  So I thought I could at least work on an old school Speedster as I can't do much with a modern car.

 

The picture is from the 80's of my Lotus S-II (loved this car) with my Spitfire in the background next to my friends AMC Gremlin!

 

Pete

 

BTW you guys didn't notice in Troy's pic's the guy (not sure if it's Troy or not) with the so 70's  heals on his boots...

Yup, that is me with the heels on the boots and the porn star mustache!   I'm 6'1" and those boots made me 6'4"!

       
       

I used to hear the music from the Golden Bear, but was too young to go in.