why buy a beck when you can buy a jps on a tube frame

why buy a beck for $25,900

When you can buy a JPS on a tube frame for $25,400.

Save 500 bucks and pick up a much better paint job and from what I under beter fit and finish. And I missing something?

Couldn't have said it better !

Both have plusses and minuses. I'd be willing to conceed that the JPS fit and finish is a bit better. Heck, John's cars are as nicely finished as many IMs I've seen. The Beck does have some advantages itself, though. It's a bit roomier inside due to the frame design, and the top is of a scissors frame design, making it easy to raise and lower. Also, the Beck has leather upholstery standard, if that matters to you. For each advantage one has, the other has a different one.

All that said, these two manufacturers are probably the two closest out there for value and features. I've talked to and done business with both of them and they offer superior customer service, as well as just being a genuine pleasure to work with. You can't go wrong either way.

I'd strongly recommend attending one of the big Speedster gatherings and comparing the cars side by side, as well as speaking to the manufacturers. Both John Steele, and the Hines family will be at Carlisle next week, if you can attend. So will I, and you are more than welcome to go for a ride in mine.

Don't forget depending where you are the shipping costs will also impact the relative costs for each. If you are in the east, the Beck's proximity and shipping advantage will nearly wipe out the difference between the two.

...and with at least one of those manufactures, you don't need to hold your glass outside the car when it is raining should you want a drink of water!

Didn't all CMC's come with a poncho, booties, a bailing sponge and a large nail to punch drain holes in the floor?
......Let's not forget the soap on a rope!

Dale, I paid extra for that option.
I'm still trying to figure out how to get the ice maker working.

I'd suggest some further research into what exactly is meant by "tube frame", but I got into trouble the last time I suggested that a standard body bolted to a pan made out of boxed steel wasn't the same thing as a tube frame fully bonded into the body.

I'm sure both are adequate. They aren't the same thing.

My two cents; tube has come to mean it isn't a hacked-up VeeDub.

Tube frame - custom frame? Remember a "birdcage" Maserati type 60 - a tube frame where the LARGEST tube in the whole frame was about one inch diameter? Very light - very fast. How about a Cobra frame, with two parallel 4 inch diameter tubes, or two parallel 2 x 4 rectangular tubes - both are available. Then we have the a 2 x 3 rectangular tube custom VW frame. Very confusing. The steel industry recognizes both round, square and rectangular tubing. What's an enthusiast to do?

Better you should talk direct to JPS and get the real skinny, but FWIW, the "welded tube frame" from JPS is a replacement for the front portion of the VW pan. The aft portion is retained. So it is a hybrid, I guess you could say. As I undersatnd it, the IM is a fully welded up tube frame, no pan involved. Not sure what Beck does. The IM, therefore, is a "new" car for title purposes, and not a reconditioned historic VW. That might be important to some. The more you get away from a plain VW pan, the stiffer the car will be, and stiffer is better, as I overheard some gal say at a picnic once.

Cheers!

Kelly, the Beck is a completely new frame with no VW parts. The main rails are 3" diameter round DOM tubes with square or rectangular crossmembers. In front the torsion beem is a main crossmember, making the mounting points much further out than on a VW frame. The same goes for the rear. They have a picture of the frame on the website, but it's not the best quality.

The one downside is that you don't get a VW VIN because you aren't using any of the frame.