Initial REVIEW of Vintage Motorcars California > Factory Visit (formly Vintage Speedster's) and Seeing my Car for First time!

Here are some pics of the finished product 

Great looking car!!! Really like the hard top and the white wall tires !!! ENJOY!!

Very nice.  Greg is the best.  Enjoy.

Very nice for sure!

Very nice review. If the video was taken within the last couple of weeks, that may have been my Speedster being sanded. Enjoy yours. I am looking forward to mine in a few weeks!

Great looking speedster!!  Glad to hear you are enjoying it.

Arden posted:

Great looking car!!! Really like the hard top and the white wall tires !!! ENJOY!!

Thanks! Those are one of my two favorite features - my wife LOVES the heated seats, she uses when we drive in the evening. 

550 Phil posted:

Very nice.  Greg is the best.  Enjoy.

I’ve been very surprised how on it Greg’s  been with after purchase support - they are in the process of mailing me a new door latch gratis because the one I have sticks a bit more than the passenger door and also the part I lost in the back of the hood emblem.

Greg told me to connect him with my mechanic after the first 1,000 miles - the car is now tuned to the optimal specs and I could immediacy feel it driving to another level. 

jprpdr posted:

Very nice review. If the video was taken within the last couple of weeks, that may have been my Speedster being sanded. Enjoy yours. I am looking forward to mine in a few weeks!

It’s definitely the best first test drive along the pacific coast highway! Some of my first pics driving along the coast  - greg tried to convince me to help me save money as I “probably would never use the hard top”. In that regard, unfortunately he was wrong and sort of right, During summer, I never had the top on, the full toneau was my favorite cover, But as it cooled down recently, the top is incredible and to me personally looks more bad@ss and looks totally different than my summer version. I basically feel like I have a new car since I put it on again two weeks ago and will probably keep it on till next year. For me, the hard top is essential!

Lfepardo posted:

Great looking speedster!!  Glad to hear you are enjoying it.

Lfepardo I don’t have a great photo on me now, but THANK YOU for recommending me to get an upgraded lining for the hard top. The perforated lining makes you feel incredible with the top on - probably the reason I love having it on so much. The quality of the interior lining is even better than my original 356C. If anyone plans on getting a top, definitely recommend upgrading to this lining - looks period correct and feels incredible! 

Glad to hear you're enjoying your car! How long have you had it? Can you share some details about it?

I wish I had heated seats the high today in Ohio is only 53 and its 32 right now!

Great first drive video.   I do love your top and the inside liner.  Incredible work done by Greg’s  crew.  

i hope you don’t mind me sharing a picture of the inside of your top.  It looks awesome.   I also love Greg is using the early steering column in his builds.  It’s a nice and saddle detail.

did you also go with the umbrella e-brake option? 

Congratulations, beautiful car!!! 

cheers,

Luis

NIcely finished for sure.... now if you only had roll up windows with those cars  Just kidding... Not. 

ALB posted:

Glad to hear you're enjoying your car! How long have you had it? Can you share some details about it?

Thanks @ALB!

I’ve been driving the car for about 6 and a half months now. I’ve put on around 2,500 miles and am LOVING it! One of the best decisions I’ve ever made was getting one from @Vintage Motorcars Inc. 

I wrote a post a while back about my process selecting VMC and the whole build from start to finish. https://www.speedsterowners.co...ia-8-week-delivery-d

Here are the specs of the car:

• Colors
  • Body: Light Silver 
  • Interior: Dark Red
  • Carpets: Grey
• Top Options
  • Removable Hard Top in Light Silver
  • Black top
  • Black full tonnuea cover
• Interior Options
  • 3 spoke Ivory Banjo steering wheel
  • Ivory Knobs
  • Crow 2” lap belts
  • retro radio (speakers under dash and not visible)
  • 12v power port under dash
  • Toggle kill switch under dash
• Wheel Options
  • 165/15 Coker white wall tires
  • Vintage 190 Aluminum wheels, Polished. 15x5.5 silver with moon caps
  • 5 Lug front and rear disc brakes
• Light Options
  • Tear Drop Lights - Red
  • Fog Lights - Yellow
  • Headlight Grills 
• Body Options 
  • Bumper guards
  • Hand-Laid Fiberglass body
  • Mirrors mounted on the doors
  • Steel sub-frame
  • Shorten recondition VW chassis
  • Two Stage Paint 
• Trunk Options 
  • trunk carpet kit
  • Spare tire and wheel kit
• Other Options 
  • Under dash hand brake
  • Front sway bar
  • Battery cut of switch under hood
  • 1914cc VW type 1 engine, 110 HP. Electronic Ignition. new as41 case, CB performance heads, crank, and cam , CB magna spark distributor, Kadron Carbs /with heater boxes for heat system
  • 3:88 freeway flyer transmission

Arden posted:

I wish I had heated seats the high today in Ohio is only 53 and its 32 right now!

I also have the air heater option - definitely glad I chose to have that as well. It adds a bit of noise while driving but pumps hot air really well and quickly!

Your car is awesome and Greg does a great job at everything he does and his tops are exceptionally nice.  Here are a few pictures of the Mean Green Machine that the new owner had him put a top on.  Turned out beautiful. 

Lfepardo posted:

Great first drive video.   I do love your top and the inside liner.  Incredible work done by Greg’s  crew.  

i hope you don’t mind me sharing a picture of the inside of your top.  It looks awesome.   I also love Greg is using the early steering column in his builds.  It’s a nice and saddle detail.

did you also go with the umbrella e-brake option? 

Congratulations, beautiful car!!! 

cheers,

Luis

Thanks @Lfepardo! 

I did go for the under dash umbrella e brake. You can see it in this attached picture. It works really well and feels great/solid when it’s pulled out. Had to have it match my 356 and am so glad I got it. It’s a nice little touch. 

IaM-Ray posted:

NIcely finished for sure.... now if you only had roll up windows with those cars  Just kidding... Not. 

Good point! Definitely wish roll up windows came original - taking windows off and on is a bit of a drag. But then again, feels more period at the same time!

Troy Sloan posted:

Your car is awesome and Greg does a great job at everything he does and his tops are exceptionally nice.  Here are a few pictures of the Mean Green Machine that the new owner had him put a top on.  Turned out beautiful. 

Thanks Troy! Two tone car - really cool! Wish I had the guts to do that!

Two tone tops are pretty cool... but it does take some guts!!

Very common on Speedsters though.

http://derwhites356literature....movableHardtops.html

Who makes those hardtops? Much better vision.

Fibersteel.com makes them.   They are a recreation of original a GLasspar aftermarket tops made in the 50’s for speedsters.

unfortunately they don’t fit reproduction cars... with serious top modification they could be made to fit....   Price is also $$$$$.

Fibersteel also used to make tops/windows for the Tops used by VS./VM. Back in 2013... not sure today.

jprpdr posted:

Who makes those hardtops? Much better vision.

Greg Leah at @VSpyder made the hardtop on the first car in this post and he made the hard top for Troy's car. You would have to get your car to Greg if he were to make you one as each one is custom made because of the differences in each of the cars. But Greg would have to tell you if he could make one for your car.

Sorry for any confusion.  To clarify-

a) Glasspar tops ( the two tone tops on the original Speedster pictures I posted- with the small rear triangular panel window) are made by Fibersteel.

b) the hardtops on VS and VM cars. (like Troys, Speedster, and my top)... are now made/ finished by Greg at VM.

@Speedster - congratulations on a super clean ride! 

EDIT: I just finished watching your video. Thank you for taking the time to share. What an awesome day that must have been going on your first ride. 

Speedster posted:

Arden posted:

I wish I had heated seats the high today in Ohio is only 53 and its 32 right now!

I also have the air heater option - definitely glad I chose to have that as well. It adds a bit of noise while driving but pumps hot air really well and quickly!

Is the "air  heater option" the heater boxes on the engine?