TheSamba.com :: View topic

Fri Jul 06, 2012 6:12 pm

I'm am looking for some info on these cars. Like production of them through there mfged years and if there are any kits that have been produced to build your own. It seems as time creeps up on me my taste for old vintage cars grows stronger and so does that darn price tag. Any information would be great.

Fri Jul 06, 2012 6:17 pm

http://www.beckspeedster.com/beckspeedsterinventory.html

Fri Jul 06, 2012 7:12 pm

More info then you will ever need

www.speedsterowners.com

Sat Jul 07, 2012 11:02 am

I have looked at the beck site and saw that in there price guide they offer pre-assembled cars and what I am looking is an un-assembled kit so I can do it all myself. I haven't had the chance to check out the speedsterowners sight yet but thanks guys.

Sat Jul 07, 2012 11:12 am

The fit and finish can vary greatly. The Beck is the best.

Sat Jul 07, 2012 12:00 pm

Ill have to take a better look at the pdf when I get home. Kinda hard to see it on a blackberry screen.

Sat Jul 07, 2012 12:07 pm

The Intermeccanica cars were nicely made -

http://www.intermeccanica.us/availablecars.html

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1317018

bryan

Sat Jul 07, 2012 8:59 pm

The Becks are nice, as are the Vintage, but neither compare to Henry's work at Intermeccanica.

They are the Rolls Royce of the Speedsters.

Sun Jul 08, 2012 4:42 pm

Thunder Ranch builds a nice replica it is pretty correct replica. check out the thunder ranch web site see what you think, If your interested you can call me Chris at 6192136799 and i can awnser any questions. we are now building the speedster with an aarm frontend as well as beam. we also have been installing 2.5 subaru engines n/a as well as turbo pretty peppy.

Sun Jul 08, 2012 5:07 pm

Nothing like cheap advertising....

Sun Jul 08, 2012 5:21 pm

thunder ranch wrote: Thunder Ranch builds a nice replica it is pretty correct replica. check out the thunder ranch web site see what you think, If your interested you can call me Chris at 6192136799 and i can awnser any questions. we are now building the speedster with an aarm frontend as well as beam. we also have been installing 2.5 subaru engines n/a as well as turbo pretty peppy.

Maybe a pretty good speedster, but the kit you sold my buddy for his RSK had some pretty crappy parts.. Like house door hinges for tilt up back section and a windshield that did not fit the car and a gas tank that looked like someone in your shop used it to mix bondo on and front beams where roller bearing were full of sand/grit where you sandblasted frame before paint but did not bother to protect bearings...

Could not honestly recommend your cars to anyone after seeing what you produced for him. And every time he tried to get resolution of a problem it was a real effort to get Blunder Ranch to respond.

Dale

Sun Jul 08, 2012 6:05 pm

we will be under new management come tuesday and those problems you had with that kit will be solved the quality will come up as well.

Sun Jul 08, 2012 6:48 pm

Chris - I'd hope for the sake of Thunder Ranch that the quality comes up. I haven't heard many positive reviews on the company over the past few years, so the market will give you their vote after Tuesday. And management changes don't matter if the crew is still following bad practices...

Good luck. Beck and Intermeccannica are your benchmarks.

Sun Jul 08, 2012 6:49 pm

If someone has feedback, they should start a feedback topic.

Sun Jul 08, 2012 8:55 pm

Intermeccanica is by far the best by a long shot!

Mon Jul 09, 2012 1:25 am

my Intermeccanica was originally bought and built in '79 and well done by the original owner. I'm the 3rd owner and drove it as my only car for 6 yrs.

aside from how it looks it's just like driving a low 2 seater bug that's about a foot shorter. and depending on what engine you put in alot faster. it's solid as any 'real' car.

the fit and finish on it is nice. doors click shut with one finger and not alot of push either, very nice.
hood and engine lid fit just as nice with even seams. mine has never been wrecked and has original gell coat in nice but somewhat oxidized shape.
no problems with the 33 year old glass at all. so I must agree the Intermeccanica is really nice.
mine is an old one built on a cut down bug floorpan, these days they make their own frames bonded into the cars body. no donor car necessary. and mine was defiantly a kit, I have the instruction manual and receipts for the parts the builder bought.

if you look at one that has been in an accident and fixed by a shop, all the fitting of bodywork and those nice door seams aren't guaranteed to be nice any more...but I guess that's the same with any old repaired car. I definatly don't think it's more fragile than the real thing

I've seen a beck 550 in person and it sure was cool. no complaints about that, but it was harder to slide into, very low and small doors. but it was a nice product.

anyway, mine is nice and it's 33 years old so that's a good thing. no regrets buying it whatsoever.

Mon Jul 09, 2012 6:46 am

CMC/FiberFab kits still come up pretty regularly in unfinished form.

Surprisingly, despite their reputation, they were pretty well made. They did suffer from some butt sag but that is easily repairable. The interiors were marginal but Vintage sells everything you need to upgrade the interior.

I bought my CMC slightly damaged:

I bought some replacement parts from Intermeccanica:

Grafted them on:

And had a very good result:

Mon Jul 09, 2012 6:59 am

jspbtown wrote: CMC/FiberFab kits still come up pretty regularly in unfinished form.

I bought my CMC slightly damaged:

I bought some replacement parts from Intermeccanica:

Grafted them on:

And had a very good result:

See? It WILL buff out... :lol:

bryan