How do you answer questions?

I always answer "it's a replica of a '58 Porsche Speedster."

That seems the best way to handle it.

I get several responses:

- '58 cool. (I think the word replica gets missed)
- I thought so. It looks awesome.
- You mean it's a kit? Did you build it? (No, it was made by a company in Indiana).
- If it was real you wouldn't be driving it right? (I have a licensed tag frame that says "If it was real, I wouldn't be driving it." That helps cut down on some of the parking lot discussions.

I just like being honest and it sets a comfortable vibe with others. Your mileage may vary.....

>
>

John;   This comes up a lot and I bet you'll quickly find that very few of the "Porsche" people, and especially those who own original 356's, know a lot about their models.  Oh, they might know a bit about their car, like previous owners, when and by whom the restoration(s) were done (very few 356 owners do their own work), if it had been raced, where and by whom, etc.  But knowing detailed mechanical things or the differences between the four build series (T-0, Pre-A, A and B) are beyond all but a very few in New England.  Like I could count them on one hand (Plus a finger if I include Adam Wright at Unobtanium in Ravena, NY).  The closest knowledgeable guy to you would be Rainer Cooney in Barnstead, NH or Alex Dearborne at Paul Russell Restorations in Essex, MA.

I always tell people that it is a replica, to which they almost always say, "So it's a 'kit car' then, right?"   I say "yeah" if it's a pushy guy I would just as soon get rid of, or explain that it's a custom-built car, if it's a nice lady.  Beyond that, you'll have to play by ear.  Some people want to really impress you with their knowledge by asking inane questions, others just appreciate it as a beautiful car.  I always take more time if the person says something like "I had a '58 Speedster back in the day", because they know what it's all about.  

BTW:  Not a lot of people have actually seen a 356 before in this day and age.  Many think it is a Karman Ghia.  I have also found that the most appreciative people of my Pearl-White Speedster are gnarly Biker-types and most women.  I understood the women thing, as the color combo appeals to them (literally, of any age) but the Biker guys are usually mechanical or body-shop guys and appreciate the work involved to get the "look" that my car has.   That works for me...

Bottom line is, if I'm in a hurry I just tell them it's a 1957 Porsche Speedster and let it go at that.  If I have the time, I'll patiently answer ANY of their questions.

Hi , John. We get to Belfast now and then and love that area. There are some great Speedster roads out there.  I'm sure you've seen the VW shop just outside of town with all the bugs and buses in the yard. He's a nice guy, very knowledgable and may be able to help you out if needed.

I've had my car for about 10 years and found that short answers are the best with people who have no idea what it is. If they just say it's beautiful , a big smile and a "thank you".  If they know it's a Porsche I tell them it's a replica of a '55 Speedster almost right away.  If they're still interested and want to know the running gear etc., you know they are really car people and probably don't care that it's a replica. At that point I answer any questions they have especially if they want one.

Welcome and happy motoring!

It sounds like you have a pretty good grasp of it already John.

I categorize it in the following fashion:

Cars next to me at the stoplight or as I'm walking away: Q - "What is that?" A -"It's a '57 Speedster."

At the gas station when they've walked over: Q - "What is that?" A - "It's a '57 Speedster." Q -"Is it a kit?" A - "No, it's a custom built reproduction." And if the conversation progresses I just answer their questions as they ask them until my car is filled up and then I'm out.

At car shows I just set up a sign explaining the details of the car including that it's a reproduction.

 

A replica of a 57 Porsche, built better and faster than the originals...Thank you!

John,

I also don't "string people along", but my response is not always the same.  I may or may not have lots of time to answer questions, so that's a big factor in my response.  In addition, I divide the people who ask about my car into 2 categories: 1) the curious, who like the car and want to know more, and 2) the pontificators, who already know everything about my car and want to impress me with their knowledge. 

I take a much time as possible with category 1 folks, since it's fun to share what I have with those who are also car folks.  I never have time for category 2, no matter whether I am rushed or not.  Fortunately for most of us, there are way more folks in category 1 than 2.

I agree with Jim Kelly, with a coda on a certain class of category 2 people.

Sometimes, if guy has clearly drawn the short straw in life, and just wants to hang out around the car. Often these guys will start spouting misinformation about Porsches VWs and MGs, and what a "Speedster" is, etc. I almost always give these guys the time and attention they want. I agree with almost everything they say, no matter how outlandish. I just feel so bad for them, I want to make them feel good about bumping into me.

But yeah, I've got no time for "it's a fake" beater-truck man. 

Keeping it simple.

Q: What is that?  OR Is it real?

A (regardless of who's asking): It's a replica. '56 Speedster.

Q: So it's a kit?

A: Nope. I bought it just as you see.

Q: How much?

A: You tell me how much you earn & I'll tell you if you can afford it.

When at a car event, I put this sign on my windshield to take the wind (and bluster) out of all the P-car (and other self-proclaimed) experts blah, blah, blah.

Q: Why a Replica?

A: They're kinda like breast implants. Everybody knows they're fake, yet they're still nice to look at and waaay more fun than the originals. 

 

People is people.

Most just think the car is cool and want to know more about it, car guys or not.

But, there are always a few who, for some reason, feel put off or even 'cheated' by our little charade. I think they see us as the guy who wears the fake Rolex and is trying to appear something he's not.

As other folks have suggested here, a good way to defuse the situation is to be up front from the start and maybe make a joke or two about it. If they're still in a huff, they're probably not worth wasting any more time with. And some Porsche guys - a very few - are absolutely furious about these plastic abominations occupying space on the same planet they inhabit. It's my opinion that those guys have problems much deeper than how they feel about our cars. Just walk away and maybe recommend a good therapist.

Short take - I tell everyone, whether they ask or not, and even if they're already completely fooled, that it's a replica.

It's the cowboy way.

 

Sacto.....I love my fake Rolex !   I'm too afraid to wear my real one in a public place !

Bruce

> On Aug 6, 2017, at 10:13 AM, SpeedsterOwners.com <**************> wrote:
>

IKWYM 

I'm convinced, Cowboy Way.

 

John Nickerson
johnnickusa@me.com



> On Aug 6, 2017, at 1:31 AM, SpeedsterOwners.com <**************> wrote:
>

I had a sign made like Jim years back.  It's awesome.

And last week I ordered a vynil transfer sticker (4x6) with the similar text ( less words, discrete but visible) to place on the lower passenger corner of the windshield glass.

There are too many critics in the Seattle area.  And surprisingly most seem to be in my age group (40-50 yr old tech guys.)  More money han common courtesy and sense I guess!   

Most also seem surprised when I show up at gatherings in my 2015 C4S and ask why I drive a plastic car having a perfectly original car.  My response is simple... I enjoy driving ... then I critize their automatic transmission cars,

Lfepardo posted:

 Most also seem surprised when I show up at gatherings in my 2015 C4S and ask why I drive a plastic car having a perfectly original car.  My response is simple... I enjoy driving ... then I critize their automatic transmission cars,

I like your style.

Lfepardo posted:

I had a sign made like Jim years back.  It's awesome.

And last week I ordered a vynil transfer sticker (4x6) with the similar text ( less words, discrete but visible) to place on the lower passenger corner of the windshield glass.

There are too many critics in the Seattle area.  And surprisingly most seem to be in my age group (40-50 yr old tech guys.)  More money han common courtesy and sense I guess!   

Most also seem surprised when I show up at gatherings in my 2015 C4S and ask why I drive a plastic car having a perfectly original car.  My response is simple... I enjoy driving ... then I critize their automatic transmission cars,

"My tech start up is better than your tech start up......so there!"

If it's a short contact where I'm backing out of a parking space to leave and someone shouts "what year is that?" I'll yell back "it's a 56." If someone really wants to gab about my car I don't hesitate to fully explain what it is and where it came from. 

I find it very irritating when someone asks "what did it cost?" I recently explained to a young man who was sitting in the passenger seat of a car at a convenience store, that asking about the cost of a vehicle (you didn't even know what the vehicle was until asking the first question) is actually rude. He didn't blink an eye but continued to ask more questions as I backed out of my space to leave.

I've had lots of similar experiences to above. I have 3 categories:

The casual nice/beautiful car comment followed by what is it? They get '56 Porsche and Thank You.

The genuinely interested car guy/gal who asks a lot of questions and gets real answers, that it's a VW engine replica of a '56 Porsche.

Then the Porsche/general car snob who points out all the "wrong". They get "Exactly what you did build with your own two hands and drive here today" or" "Real" Spyders are trading at 3.5 million plus, got any spare change?" That depends on how much of an a$$ they are. 

I've got more money in my car than most Boxster and some 911 owners. I'd still rather drive my plastic fantastic.

P.S. I intend to buy the newest Cayman S I can afford when I retire in a couple years so I can kick their asses on the track. Beautiful car. I'll have one topless and one coupe, they'll look great in my garage. Definitely a stick, no PDK for me!

An automatic Porsche is like artificial insemination. Yes, it still gets the job done, but your missing out on the best part.

And if there isn't a third pedal, it's an automatic.

The cowboy way? It's a 19__ Volkswagen Beetle posing as a 1957 Porsche Speedster.

Lfepardo posted:

I had a sign made like Jim years back.  It's awesome.

And last week I ordered a vynil transfer sticker (4x6) with the similar text ( less words, discrete but visible) to place on the lower passenger corner of the windshield glass.

There are too many critics in the Seattle area.  And surprisingly most seem to be in my age group (40-50 yr old tech guys.)  More money han common courtesy and sense I guess!   

Most also seem surprised when I show up at gatherings in my 2015 C4S and ask why I drive a plastic car having a perfectly original car.  My response is simple... I enjoy driving ... then I critize their automatic transmission cars,

Those are the guys who walk into Barrier or Park Place and pay asking price in cash...

I have a friend who always buys Paul Allen's old ones...2 or 3 years old that is..

I have said this in the past. I have owned a variety of Porsches since the 60's and now have a couple, and will push them out of the way to drive the JPS.

What is the difference between a porcupine and a Porsche ???   A porcupine has the pricks on the outside.......

In fairness, that might have some truth to it, but there are plenty of really nice Porsche owners..

 

 

Terry Nuckels posted:

The cowboy way? It's a 19__ Volkswagen Beetle posing as a 1957 Porsche Speedster.

 

Okay, so maybe I'm a rhinestone cowboy.

 

John Nickerson
johnnickusa@me.com



> On Aug 7, 2017, at 9:41 AM, SpeedsterOwners.com <**************> wrote:

> Terry,

> I take your point but mine’s a Beck so, no VW chassis. Chamonix poser perhaps….

The Cowboy Way - 

And because I'm working on a Bicycling video of a ride across the Dakota Badlands - (This sounds really awesome with headphones...)

Couple days ago on my way to Home Depot a dude rolled up alongside in a van and asked me what year Bridget was.

"1952," I told him.

Normally I revel in telling the car's story though. At cars and coffee, every week, at least one or two old dudes sidle up and start asking me esoteric MG questions or telling me their story (every car guy of a certain age owned or rode in an MG TD during his formative years, including me).

With the knock-off wire wheels, and the radiator visible through the front grill slats, my car passes for the real thing with most people (after all, what kind of psycho-moron would put expensive real knock-off wires on a worthless replica TD?), and then I tell them it's a kit car on a Beetle pan. 

The effect is rather stunning. They usually don't believe me. And they always want to look under the hood—even though I just told them it's a rear-engined abomination with less than two percent Genuine British parts. Then I show them the EJ22 hanging out over the back wheels. When I tell them it's 140 horsepower, they go crazy.

These are old guys who remember what 50 horses (generously speaking) could do on a race track. 

"Eight-tenths the weight, three times the power," I tell them. "Handles fantastic until you try to change direction."

We laugh and laugh.

I have plans with the Spyder.

Since I'm going to go nuts with the rivets and all the little Porsche-y details (legit horns, legit jacking points, Auto Pulse pumps, correct gauges, etc., etc.), my opening gambit is going to be to ask, "what do you think?"

I figure most people have got to guess correctly, because after all, how many real 550s do you see tooling along on public roads? 

Once could say the same thing about 356s. Or MG TDs, for that matter.

 

 

DannyP posted:

P.S. I intend to buy the newest Cayman S I can afford when I retire in a couple years so I can kick their asses on the track. Beautiful car. I'll have one topless and one coupe, they'll look great in my garage. Definitely a stick, no PDK for me!

Danny:  I looked at a Cayman R last week - just over 4,000 miles, and in perfect condition.  The price was a 'little steep', so I passed.  The guy has just been holding it all this time.

But what a track car that would make, and it was a six speed manual.

Several years ago at the Porsche swap meet in Hershey, Pa. a well known seller of Porsche books loudly proclaimed, "I know everything there is to know about Porsche's,  when the factory wants to know something they call me "!! To which I loudly proclaimed "no you don't ", it was a completely spur of the moment reaction to a pompus "Porsche expert". My teenage son was absolutely mortified at his usually laid back father !

I've had my cabriolet for about 2.5 years now, and in all that time, there was only 1 person who really knew his stuff.   He looked it over and asked me if it was an Intermeccanica. He said he had only ever seen that level of detail in an IM.    This took me aback, as usually, I get something like "you don't see those olds Karman Ghias very often!"

I'm like most of you all...   The answers depend on the person asking, and how they act.   I'm more than happy to talk, as long as I'm not wasting my time!

 

Like all of us, the reactions/questions/comments I receive run the gamut.

Most folks have a broad smile and say: "Beautiful!" or "We had one once." or "Wow!"

But I also get the: "Is it real?"

My typical reply to them is..."Well, you're looking at it, you tell me."

I feel that: of course it's real, it's occupying space, has shape, substance and (usually) I'm sitting in it and it's running, c'mon moroons, of course it's real...

...if they're nice, and usually they are,  I then explain that it's not...

Don't you know it is mostly a waste of time... just kidding but if your trying to get something done a few conversations at a stop, gas bar or store can get your schedule in a muck and your not getting much done on your Honey Doo List that day.

Which is one of the features of these cars. Not a bug! A feature!

When I get the "is it real" question, depending on how snarky I am feeling that moment, I may say that "No, it is a figment of your imagination".

Usually I just say that it is a factory built recreation.  Most people are surprised by that and I may spend a couple of moments showing them what differentiates the real from the faux. But then, most folks aren't into much more than the aesthetics of cars.

 When you park it, MusbJim's sign is, in my opinion, the way to go. That way you control how much information you give out regarding the car and it's components. I don't attempt to fool anybody. I try to avoid the word Porsche or Speedster unless I attach "recreation" to those terms right out front.

My car may be phoney, I try to be genuine.

I haven't run into any negative comments since moving here to the Florida Panhandle. 

I am pretty much past giving a flip what people think. My money, my car, my time.

A couple weeks ago an owner of an original Speedster was looking my car over.

He really appreciated the details and things I had done with it.

 

When asked....I just simply say it is a VW based replica...easy peasy...

Late to the party, as usual.  anyway, I'm with the majority here, i think.  If the first question is what year is it, and that's the question 85% of the time, I say its a '57.  They might say it's beautiful, and I say "Yes it is."  If we are stopped and standing there, and there is more interest and other questions, it sorta depends.  I will not mislead if someone wants to know more.  Further discussion often starts with a tap on the fender, explaining it's fiberglass.  And then we get down to brass tacks about what they want to know.  All this fluff about snooty Porsche-philes is something I have so far managed to avoid.  In many ways, I guess I am one, having had two 356s in days gone by.  So I am able to tell the difference, and can explain said differences if it suits.  Curiously, can't say as I've ever had anyone ask me how much it cost.  And here is the universal response without exception with everyone that notices the car [and there are many who do not even notice]: smiles.  Which is pretty cool.  And yes also you will see thumbs pointing up sticking out windows on the highway as folks pass you, after having slowed up a bit to catch a better look first.  all good.

bart posted:

When asked....I just simply say it is a VW based replica...easy peasy...

IT IS REALLY a PORSCHE based REPLICA because DR. PORSCHE invented IT AND the VW......so it IS ACCURATELY described as either or possibly MORESO as a PORSCHE. I would say that there is MORE Porsche than VW in most......with some MINOR small exceptions like SUBY power although THEY got their flat BOXER design from Dr. P also.

Yes...NOT original SPEEDSTERS or ROADSTERS but nonetheless(3 words(LOL)) quite a bit of PORSCHE in them darn reeplicars(sic). 

SAFE!

I think mine is nearly 100% VW.....the only Porsche parts on it are  the badging...... and I suspect that is fake....

 

One theory I float by folks who want to chat a bit is that our cars are really a lot like the very first Porsches. Most dudes at the gas station think of Porsches as expensive, glitzy, uber machines. They don't realize how humble the beginnings were.

In early fifties Germany, Porsche was just barely a functioning company, with very limited resources - they had to rely on the VW parts bin as much as possible and get what performance they could by building on that.

Sound familiar? We start with a Type 1 case and upgrade crank, cam, pistons, cylinders, heads, valves, carburetion, exhaust, cooling, etc. Same with the chassis - start with the VW layout and tweak what you can without breaking the bank.

Basically, we're following the same path that Porsche did way back then and ending up with almost the same result - except his headlight switches were better.

 

Depending on who was asking, I would go into great detail to confuse or just be a smart a$$. 

Q: What year is it?

A:  What year do you want?  It is a replica of a 57 Speedster, manufactured in 2003 by Vintage Speedster on a 1970 VW pan.

Q: Is it real?

A:  Sure it is a real car.  4 wheels, a motor and it has been licensed by the State of Nevada to drive on the streets.

If it was someone that was truly interested and wanted to know more about BADSPD, I would go into great detail.  Including giving this website and names of the manufactures that are out there, saying check them all out on the web.

Now I drive what it is and still.....  What year is that, a 72? No a 69 912, first year of the long wheel base and last year of the 912.  Is that different then a 911? Yes, it is a 4 cylinders.  Oh a VW motor! No it is the same motor that was in the 356SC. What are 911's?  6 cylinders.

Guess what I am saying, does not matter what we drive, if someone likes it, they will ask questions, with or without knowledge of what they are asking.

El Frazoo posted:

Late to the party, as usual.  anyway, I'm with the majority here, i think.  If the first question is what year is it, and that's the question 85% of the time, I say its a '57.  They might say it's beautiful, and I say "Yes it is."  If we are stopped and standing there, and there is more interest and other questions, it sorta depends.  I will not mislead if someone wants to know more.  Further discussion often starts with a tap on the fender, explaining it's fiberglass.  And then we get down to brass tacks about what they want to know.  All this fluff about snooty Porsche-philes is something I have so far managed to avoid.  In many ways, I guess I am one, having had two 356s in days gone by.  So I am able to tell the difference, and can explain said differences if it suits.  Curiously, can't say as I've ever had anyone ask me how much it cost.  And here is the universal response without exception with everyone that notices the car [and there are many who do not even notice]: smiles.  Which is pretty cool.  And yes also you will see thumbs pointing up sticking out windows on the highway as folks pass you, after having slowed up a bit to catch a better look first.  all good.

El F 

Pretty much my experience so far except for a couple "know it alls" who don't. 

I fall back on my 2 356's as well. Amazing how it all seems to come back.

I'm getting a small 3x5 sticker with basic info:

'57 356A Porsche Speedster

replica

by BeckSpeedster.com

120 HP

CB Performance mill

Dual Carbs-Disk Brakes

Sikkins Silver Blue Paint

Lots of good advice from all. I'm amazed how many have offered their experience(s).

My Thanks.