Let's try to help someone out - Quickly!

David:

I have a replica and a 2008 Cayman S. with about 46k on the clock. Trust me, the Cayman at less than $25,000 is a wonderful, reliable, great performing daily driver. Look around, patiently, and you can find a nice Cayman or Boxster that will scratch your Porsche itch.

My 356 replica tends to be less reliable, but it is a hobby car that I drive and am constantly working on because I like to tinker.

You can have one, the other or both, but neither should come from Lawing, and won't.

It isn't so much his finished product isn't a reasonably nice car, as it is that he won't deliver one to you. If you want to be in line behind some 20 or so people, many waiting for years, please go right ahead, but don't come back on the forum complaining that you have been duped.

Nobody here has any stake in lying to you. We don't know you but many of us have been around the hobby for years and hate to see it sullied by this guy. Note that he has never repudiated anything said about him on this forum, and little of it has been favorable. He knows about the SOC and hopefully we have saved some folks from making a mistake by contracting with him.

You can noodle around and investigate all you want, and you certainly don't have to believe the myriad number of people who will try and wave you off, but you've been informed, believe it or don't.

Do not be deceived into thinking that I was dry...I was not!

Thanks everyone I AM listening. I have a long reply I am in the middle of composing but I am swamped with getting my house ready to sell so, car fun is taking a back seat so to speak. However, briefly, I would like to restate something I said earlier. If it were possible to get a 356 body and authentic looking interior AND somewhat more idiot proof modern mechanics and not pay $100,000, that would be my dream. I am probably in the situation where I can have one or maybe two of those things, but not three.

Knowing that  whatever 356 replica I went for could well take a couple years and I want to scratch an itch now. I am looking at older Boxsters and 911s  under $30K as my "for now cars". Has to be a convertible (this is a third car) so Cayman is out. I tried to like the Miata but it just doesn't have a soul for me. I had not really considered the Mini ragtop but not sure why. I might investigate that". The Corvette douse have a soul but not one I like; I wanted to punch that guy in the face in high school (possibly I have some unresolved issues from HS )...

Have you talked to Roy @Cloud 9?

@David K posted:

Knowing that  whatever 356 replica I went for could well take a couple years and I want to scratch an itch now.

Your best option might be to buy a previously owned car that an enthusiast has loved and already gone through. There may be paint chips and small aesthetic defects but you'll be ready to go.  You're more likely to be pleased.

@Jim Gilbert - Madison, Mississippi posted:

Your best option might be to buy a previously owned car that an enthusiast has loved and already gone through. There may be paint chips and small aesthetic defects but you'll be ready to go.  You're more likely to be pleased.

I am close to letting my car fly on BAT with what some of these cars are getting.

I have a couple low mile all original 912s on my radar.

@David K posted:

Knowing that  whatever 356 replica I went for could well take a couple years and I want to scratch an itch now.

@Jim Gilbert - Madison, Mississippi posted:

Your best option might be to buy a previously owned car that an enthusiast has loved and already gone through. There may be paint chips and small aesthetic defects but you'll be ready to go.  You're more likely to be pleased.

This is great advice. I had similar expectations, and was very thankful to find a community like this to point me in the right direction.

I ended up with a pre-owned (12k miles), mostly pre-sorted toy that required limited maintenance, is "mostly" water tight, and a whole lot of fun. I daily drove it, before the pandemic, through 100°F+ temps and rain. Even after a few months without driving last year it handled a 700 mile road trip through the coastal mountains just fine. I'm about to head on another one.

Keep your eye on the classifieds here, Craigslist, BaT. And then bring back any potential purchases here for the experts to weigh in. If you were already willing to wait for one to be built, I bet you'll find a great one to drive before then. Several from this community have sold their cars over the past year. I think you would've been happy with several of them. There will be more.

@David K wow!...it blows my mind that slick SAS steve is still actually having conversations with people about his ghost cars...i would have thought he would be WEARING OUT HORSES trying to stay ahead of the law and folks that want his liver on a stick!....i have had personal 1st hand dealings with this grifter...if you really need to hear my story even after all the fair warning available here in the open...PM me and i'll lay it on ya....

Have you ever had a conversation with someone about the particulars of your work, using the common vernacular of your industry and everyone gets it......... but then you do the same with people outside and they have no idea what you are talking about?

The suggestion of used 356 is probably David's best bet. What he would probably want to find is a used Vintage (CA, not AZ) or Beck with a Subaru motor but there are other used options with Subies you could entertain. Who knows what the price would be but I am happy to report that I bought my Spyder for less than people said I would. You just have to look around. Frankly, I would avoid BAT because who wants a bidding war? I want a guy that hasn't been able to sell his replica 356 to buy that kidney. Desperation is a wonderful aroma.

Like David, I am not mechanically inclined but finding people to work on the Type 1s in not that difficult. I would assume it would be more complicated with the Subie for certain things but I don't own one, so I don't know.

Please don't listen to the "this isn't the hobby for you" nonsense. If you have some money to pay a mechanic, you will be fine with a used whatever if that is what you want. I also own a Cayman and will give a second recommendation for one but I have had to fix the Cayman at a mechanic slightly less than the Spyder so you are still going to pay someone........ and either way, the mechanic is going to see a Porsche-AHHHH badge and think you are loaded.

For all my SOC friends, it appeared from his first post that he was listening and then he posted again that he was listening. I think the warnings are heard and don't need to be repeated

Desperation is a wonderful aroma.

I always thought it a bit Despicable but years ago someone posted best time to buy was:  3 D's - Death, Divorce or Disease ---- other would be I guess December.

I was going to post this PSA last night but talked myself out of it:

In future, I think we should limit “advice” to PMs. I’m 100% for warning interested parties before they make a huge mistake, but I think we need to be mindful that we live in a litigious society, and IMO, some of the comments in this thread and others could easily convince a bad actor to find a lawyer willing to make a stink.

Ive seen it happen over less on other forums. And it’s usually the forum owners they come after.

@WOLFGANG posted:

Desperation is a wonderful aroma.

I always thought it a bit Despicable but years ago someone posted best time to buy was:  3 D's - Death, Divorce or Disease ---- other would be I guess December.

I’m trying to think of a “D” word for when someone finally realizes that 1/4 finished kit taking up 1/2 the garage just ain’t gonna happen.

Im still gobsmacked that my buddy found a finished, running, driving, licensed CMC Californian for $16K.

I was being a bit cheeky about the "needing to sell the car to buy a kidney" bit but these types of cars are both what a seller is willing to accept and what a buyer is willing to pay. It is like that for all specialty/classic cars.

Having said that, I do stand by the BAT comment. Why would you want to fight over a car with your money when you can find a private seller. Frankly, if I can pay $16K for something others are paying $30K for, I'd happily keep my money. If you are willing, you can find deals. You just need to be mindful of what you are looking at.

@dlearl476 I think that last “D” is “despair”.

I ended up there for the same reasons and then wrote checks to get myself out of the swamp of despair.  

It worked.

@dlearl476 posted:

I was going to post this PSA last night but talked myself out of it:

In future, I think we should limit “advice” to PMs. I’m 100% for warning interested parties before they make a huge mistake, but I think we need to be mindful that we live in a litigious society, and IMO, some of the comments in this thread and others could easily convince a bad actor to find a lawyer willing to make a stink.

Ive seen it happen over less on other forums. And it’s usually the forum owners they come after.

Your protection in a litigious society is the truth. And we have that on our side in spades.

@Robert M posted:

Your protection in a litigious society is the truth. And we have that on our side in spades.

The truth being on your side doesn't mean squat when someone with enough money to hire an attorney gets butt hurt. Remember, we have a legal system, not a justice system.  Typically the side with the deepest pockets wins.

Ask the guy who owned Smugmug who spent millions fighting a dubious copyright infringement suit.

Sorry, dlearl476, but you are incorrect regarding defamation, which you allude to above.  The key element of the tort of defamation, either libel, which is written, or slander, which is spoken, is a false statement.  Truth is called the perfect defense to defamation.  In addition, a defamation case is extremely costly to mount, and no experienced litigator would take such a case on a contingency basis, since damages would be limited, due to the necessity of proving actual harm.  That's why the only defamation cases that go forward are celebrities or otherwise famous individuals, who can bankroll the costs and can prove that harm to their reputation cost them millions in lost income, etc.

Light is a powerful disinfectant.

I have another "D" for you: derelict. You know, like guys who have Speedster projects for 30 plus years. Eventually they'll be for sale...

@DannyP posted:

I have another "D" for you: derelict. You know, like guys who have Speedster projects for 30 plus years. Eventually they'll be for sale...

Someone on another forum posted a CL ad to a group of just about every bad VW-based kit car. Bradley GT, Sebring, Avenger. About 5 of them, none past the body on pan stage.