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Hello Everyone,

I wanted to check and report on one of the final IM builds.  My 75 year old mother-in-law decided last year to commission an IM (!) and has been anxiously awaiting it's completion.  Due to all the changes at the company it is running a few months behind but she still hopes to take delivery of it this summer.  And she now knows that she will have one of the final internal combustion engine cars built.

Due to serendipity, last year I was buying a part for my car on Craigslist and wound up chatting with the seller when I picked it up (it was just a glovebox flashlight).  It turned out the seller was an electrician and further in to the conversation he revealed he was the electrician on staff at Intermeccanica, building wiring harnesses and various other things.  This lead to an invitation to visit the new location in New Westminister, as I had always been interested and been a fan.

After my visit I had an old brochure given to me as a souvenir and it was on my dining room table when my mother-in-law was visiting.  She asked what it was, I told her about IM and she flipped through the brochure and thought it was interesting.  A few weeks later she was off to Ireland for a trip with my wife.  Unexpectedly, during a call to check in from Ireland, she got on the line and asked me to send her 356 photos of various colour combinations.  I was quite surprised and asked why and she said "Well, I'm thinking about having one of those built and I want to see how it looks in different colours."

When she returned I took her and her husband to IM and Robert gave them a tour and explained the process and they left with more information and lots to think about.  After another trip they met with Henry and went over a lot of possible details like carpet and trim colours, special options etc.  Much to my amazement they decided to go ahead with a build and got very much in to the details, learning about all the options and tailoring the car to their vision.

You can see some of the early photos here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/...ms/72157673567373647 (there are more photos than this in the overall album but for some reason you can't see them here...  I'll see if I can get IM to make them public).

The car is now back from paint and looks amazing in a deep dark Porsche/Audi blue like this earlier IM (she is also going with the blue top like this one):

 

Nice Butt

The car will have a darker tan interior, chrome over riders, a Derrington wheel and a few other touches like Intermeccanica script on the tail as well as a custom "2 5 0 0" badge where the 1 6 0 0 would have been.

Power will be from an FI Subaru 2500 engine.  As she doesn't drive a stick, she has opted for an automatic.  The plan is for the car to get a Subaru auto but apparently Henry has been waiting on an adapter for the rear engine install of the transmission and it hasn't materialized.  A company in Australia is supposed to make it but Henry intends to deliver the car with a VW auto and swap it if the adapter does become available in the future.  It's a bit disappointing but it's more important that she have the car to enjoy now than wait on the part for an unknown amount of time.

If anyone has any final suggestions about things to be aware of or add, please let me know.   I also have a question I want to ask and will make a separate post in this thread about it.

-Jeff

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Images (1)
  • 25316731303_0e3a69ee36_k: Porsche Dark Blue for Westhaver
Last edited by 356Jeff
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I want to do something special for my MIL for the car.  She considers the car art as well as a car and wants it to be a family heirloom and I wanted something on the car to commemorate it's uniqueness.  There is quite a bit unique about it, being a custom commission, 2019 being the 60th anniversary of both Intermeccanica and the Porsche Convertible D model year and being one of the last few internal combustion engine cars.  I believe it is perhaps third from the last based on serial number.

I had the idea of having a custom chassis plate made for the car and thought it would be cool to do it in the style of the plates used on the 356.  Something like the attached images.

 So silver text with black background and silver edge.  What material should this be made of so that it won't rust?  I was wondering if a trophy shop could do it or I should try one of those web service bureaus that does laser etching?

For location I was thinking either on the inner fender in the trunk or perhaps near the door hinge like the original Drauz bades?  Other ideas or thoughts?  I'm kind of leaning towards the door but bade will need to be quite small...

For text I was thinking (like the two piece bade and trying to emulate the fonts):

 

MADE IN
VANCOUVER CANADA

COMMISSIONED BY:
HER NAME &
HIS NAME

HAND ASSEMBLED BY:
NAMES OF EMPLOYEES

Thoughts?  Any other subtle and period style ways to customize and personalize the car?

-Jeff

PS - What car cover do people recommend for an IM?

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Images (3)
  • French Porsche Lubricant Plate
  • Drauz Door Plate
  • 1754_90170111105
Last edited by 356Jeff

I am very pleased to report that the finished car is finally ready for pickup today.  It did make a brief visit out of the factory for my mother-in-law's 75th birthday but a number of items weren't quite finished and some initial teething problems required attention.  It should be all set now and it's absolutely gorgeous in person and they're thrilled.

I do want to get some script made for the tail in the exactly style of the "1600 Super" badge from the originals, except it will say "2500 Super".  Does anyone have an art file or details on the dimensions or font for that script?  I need to get it in to CAD so I can get it machined or cut.

Since the photos a vintage luggage rack and coco mats have been added as they hadn't arrived before these were taken.  Oh and the gear shift is now ivory to match the other knobs. 

She needs a cover, any suggestions on car cover options? 

Here are some photos of the car:

20190920_184219 [Large)20190920_184558 [Large)20190920_184611 [Large)20190920_184621 [Large)20190920_184630 [Large)20190920_184639 [Large)20190920_184650 [Large)20190920_184714 [Large)20190920_184728 [Large)20190920_184740 [Large)20190920_184807 [Large)

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Images (11)
  • 20190920_184219 (Large)
  • 20190920_184558 (Large)
  • 20190920_184611 (Large)
  • 20190920_184621 (Large)
  • 20190920_184630 (Large)
  • 20190920_184639 (Large)
  • 20190920_184650 (Large)
  • 20190920_184714 (Large)
  • 20190920_184728 (Large)
  • 20190920_184740 (Large)
  • 20190920_184807 (Large)
David Stroud IM Roadster D posted:

Large congrats, Jeff. I have a California Car Cover and the number 12358 is stamped on it. Perfect fit. 

You may know this but your convertible roof will stow down much lower than what you show in these pics. 

Thanks for the cover details, I'll get that ordered for them.

They were actually wondering about the top.  It didn't seem right but it wasn't obvious if there was a trick to getting it lower.  Anything special or is it likely we just need to push harder because its new and tight material?

-Jeff

IaM-Ray posted:

How about showing us the engine bay and the Frunk nice car

Car was ready for delivery today, but they can't get by to pick it up until Friday (they are local).  Once they have it back in their garage I'll get some engine and frunk shots.  There were some initial issues with the frunk not locking/staying shut and then getting stuck shut so that was on the list to correct between these photos and now.  I think it's just a latch adjustment, but they ended up locked out of the frunk/gas area which was another reason they didn't drive it much before they took it back.

356Jeff posted:
David Stroud IM Roadster D posted:

Large congrats, Jeff. I have a California Car Cover and the number 12358 is stamped on it. Perfect fit. 

You may know this but your convertible roof will stow down much lower than what you show in these pics. 

Thanks for the cover details, I'll get that ordered for them.

They were actually wondering about the top.  It didn't seem right but it wasn't obvious if there was a trick to getting it lower.  Anything special or is it likely we just need to push harder because its new and tight material?

-Jeff

You may need to just work the top mechanism a bit more,  it could be tight.  

Make sure the center of the front windshield edge does not rub against the back when you have it closed or you will prematurely wear the top canvas on the edge.  I had that on my old IM. 

Here's a couple of pics of mine right now, Jeff. Note the angle of the lower bar. You may want to get an assistant to work the opposite side while you work your side down a bit. Make sure there's nothing obstructing underneath anything too. Did you unzip the window and fold it down out of the way ? My car is an older one made back in '92 but I don't think that matters as the folding mechanism looks about the same. My car came with some basic instructions on the lowering method. 

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Images (3)
  • IMG_0481
  • IMG_0482
  • IMG_0484
Last edited by David Stroud IM Roadster D
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