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Please forgive the length of this post, but you should probably know something about me, as I will be pestering the bejeezus out of you all in the months ahead.

After about six months of contemplation, I think I want to get one of these silly cars.

My wife and I are approaching retirement, have two 'utility' cars for our daily commutes, and one garage queen weekend car for jaunts to the wine country - a (non-turbo) MINI Cooper.

We're looking to trade one of the Toyotas for a second fun car when we retire and I think the Speedster is it. We've both loved the look of the 356 for years and my wife nearly divorced me when we traded our old (first generation) Miata for the MINI.

Before the Miata, I drove a BMW 2002 for about 23 years.

I've been following the daily bickering and name-calling here for a few months, have started to learn something about the cars and the, uh, personalities who hang out here.

But, like another newbie who recently posted here, I'm wondering how the Speedster compares, as a driver, to the three other 'driver's cars' I know - the 2002, the Miata, and the MINI.

I'm not expecting brute performance or fantastic handling out of a car that's basically a Bug underneath. I'm also not much of a wrencher, so would probably be going with a basic Vintage Speedster with a slightly upgraded engine - 1776 or 1915cc - and would be keeping it pretty much stock otherwise.

I very nearly made Troy an offer on the Ivory Imposter he sold a few weeks back, as that's the exact trim package and color combination I'm looking for, but we're not quite ready to buy yet.

We're in Northern California, have lived with a roadster for 15 years, so have a pretty good idea of the car's practical limitations. We put the top down on the Miata when we got it, and it pretty much lived under the tonneau for the next 15 years.

What I really like about the Speedster is its raw simplicity. I'm not a big fan of microprocessors, six-way power seats, traction control, or remote-activated, centrally-locking, power-assisted, self-adjusting cup holders. I did most of the routine tune-ups and maintenance on the 2002, including valve adjustments, and like the idea of a car that doesn't have to be plugged into Mission Control for the slightest tweak.

Do I sound crazy enough to be driving one of these cars?

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Please forgive the length of this post, but you should probably know something about me, as I will be pestering the bejeezus out of you all in the months ahead.

After about six months of contemplation, I think I want to get one of these silly cars.

My wife and I are approaching retirement, have two 'utility' cars for our daily commutes, and one garage queen weekend car for jaunts to the wine country - a (non-turbo) MINI Cooper.

We're looking to trade one of the Toyotas for a second fun car when we retire and I think the Speedster is it. We've both loved the look of the 356 for years and my wife nearly divorced me when we traded our old (first generation) Miata for the MINI.

Before the Miata, I drove a BMW 2002 for about 23 years.

I've been following the daily bickering and name-calling here for a few months, have started to learn something about the cars and the, uh, personalities who hang out here.

But, like another newbie who recently posted here, I'm wondering how the Speedster compares, as a driver, to the three other 'driver's cars' I know - the 2002, the Miata, and the MINI.

I'm not expecting brute performance or fantastic handling out of a car that's basically a Bug underneath. I'm also not much of a wrencher, so would probably be going with a basic Vintage Speedster with a slightly upgraded engine - 1776 or 1915cc - and would be keeping it pretty much stock otherwise.

I very nearly made Troy an offer on the Ivory Imposter he sold a few weeks back, as that's the exact trim package and color combination I'm looking for, but we're not quite ready to buy yet.

We're in Northern California, have lived with a roadster for 15 years, so have a pretty good idea of the car's practical limitations. We put the top down on the Miata when we got it, and it pretty much lived under the tonneau for the next 15 years.

What I really like about the Speedster is its raw simplicity. I'm not a big fan of microprocessors, six-way power seats, traction control, or remote-activated, centrally-locking, power-assisted, self-adjusting cup holders. I did most of the routine tune-ups and maintenance on the 2002, including valve adjustments, and like the idea of a car that doesn't have to be plugged into Mission Control for the slightest tweak.

Do I sound crazy enough to be driving one of these cars?

Welcome to the madness! I can't give you a comparison, but I can tell you that the driving fun is second to none. They're not all bugs underneath, btw. Mine is a tube frame. I am not much of a mechanic and had similar concerns, but have learned the basics. With a lot of help from my friend locally, my builder, Carey Hines, and the excellent folks on this site, I have no worries.
Welcome. I was new to the site and to these cars about 2 months ago and totally in love with this hobby. It is now become a major passion and I cant get enough. The people on here will direct you in anyway and are fantastic for that.

I used to own two miatas, one was a garage queen as when I bought it back in 2000, it was 10 years old and only had 21000 miles on it. Loved that car, but will tell you there is absolutely no comparison. Even your smile on you face while driving will be bigger in the speedster. It is simple, it is somewhat noisy - depending on engine and exhaust, and they are absolutely a blast to drive. You will feel like the car is worth a million when people are gawking over it. It is fun to bring that part of owning one of these to the table. You just dont see a ton of them around and people are intrigued by these toys. I am in heaven and ready to buy number 2 already...
How many folks have given you a "thumbs up" as you drove to the store in your Miata? Have many people have taken pictures of your Miata as it was parked on the street? Many cars followed you into a gas station so they could ask you about the Miata? The Speedster Owner's group will no doubt win the Largest Attendance award at the giant Carlisle car event this spring for the 5th (?) time. I don't remember even seeing a Miata there---much less a club.

You are right that some of these cars are toys but Howard's IM, powered by a 6 cylinder Porsche 911 engine could hardly be called a toy. Check out Marty G's Subaru powered IM that's almost completed---It will eat Miata's for breakfast!

Many of these cars are truly well-engineered sports cars that could compete on a track and last spring one of our group, which will remain nameless raced a 250 HP Porsche 911 up I-81 on the way to Carlisle and actually walked away from it.

At a car show last summer I personally saw more than a dozed people ogling a Speedster at a car show that was parked between an E-Type Jag and a Ferrari 308. The Speedster won "people's Choice" trophy while the Jag and Ferarri were hardly noticed. (I'm NOT making this up!) More than a few members here have done coast to coast trips in their Speedsters and although that Jag and the Ferrari are local cars I haven't seen them around town since that show. I'd rather have a driver than a garage queen any day.

I hope that you will continue your research and keep posting here. Quite a few folks in your stage of deciding have attended the Carlisle event to see and drive the cars. Sign up as an attendee and expect to get right seat time to the drives and dinners. Look under "events" on the forum here.

Good luck, maybe you'll be joining what we refer to as "The Madness".
Hey, Mitch.
There are several of us around you.
I'm up in Grass Valley, Dave Mitchell is in Sactramento, Dale Bates in Vacaville and Ernie is in some God-forsaken rural spot close by. That's a JPS, a Vintage and two Intermeccanicas within a short drive.
I can't speak for the others but you're welcome to come up and take my car for a spin.
I'm not going to compare the drive to any of your other rides. It's kind of an apples/oranges thing. It works for some, not all. A lot of the owners here picked up used replicas with extremely low miles on them, usually a sign that it just didn't fit for the previous owner.
Hopefully it'll fit you.
OK, let me give you a few driving impressions, since I've driven all of the cars on your "driver's List":

the 2002 is nicely balanced and should have had just a touch more power than the Miata and I bet it handled almost the same except for feeling a bit heavier. When pushed it should have tended to understeer controllably with the right foot. The Miata should have felt a bit more "nimble" because it's, what?, 300+ pounds lighter?, and has no top so it doesn't sway as much in the tighter curves (all I've driven is a spec Miata, 2g on the track, nothing on the road). Both of them should have accelerated about the same, the 2002 having just a bit more HP but more weight but the 2002 was heavier in the turns. The MINI is the most balanced of the three and is closest to a SAS roadster in handling feel (IMO) and the non-turbo version should have compared in performance to your Miata.

OK, having said all that, a well-set-up IRS (NOT swing-arm) Speedster, running 3/8" to 3/4" anti-sway bars front and rear, Bilstein shocks and running a 2,110 or larger engine would eat your Miata for breakfast without breaking a sweat on both acceleration and, especially, in the curves. Very little on the road might be able to out-handle it if you're running at least 6" wide rims and decent tires. Cornering will be very flat and controllable until pushed to the limit and then how much warning it gives before the ass-end comes around to meet the front depends on the tires, as the car will flatly understeer until the ass lets go (although that's totally controllable with the gas pedal). Remember that rear engined cars feel almost totally different in hard cornering and it takes a little getting used to, then it's pure FUN!

A swing-arm wouldn't keep up, simply because of the ancient geometry of the rear suspension and the tendency for the inside rear wheel to tuck under on hard cornering. Not terribly bad, just something you have to get used to and then feel for the limits. Swing-arms still handle pretty well, just not nearly as well as an IRS.

As you increase displacement above 2,110cc's, either air cooled or water cooled, the wider your grin gets and the more assured you'll feel in any cornering predicament, especially if you can run wider wheels and tires for a more solid footprint but THAT will require a flared body for the tire clearance. Otherwise, with a classic body you're stuck with 5.5"-6" wheels and 185 tires.

The bottom line: These cars not only look terrific, but, properly set up and balanced they can outperform a LOT of modern cars, too!

Gordon
The Speedstah Guy from South Carolina

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Sacto: Run away as fast as you can or you'll never get rid of the fever. 356itis is harder to quit than smoking or hot fudge sundaes. The people here are one foot away from being committed to the local asylum. If you have any thought for your family, wallet or bank account you'll erase this site from your computer. This website and the people that populate it are worse than any computer virus ever devised.It first infects your reason, making you think you have to own a Speedster. Next, if your spouse's resistance fails you will buy a money pit that will drain you like no gold digger could. First it's new floor mats, then maybe new upholstery, of course new wipers, led lights, a third stop light. Just when you think you're done spending, you look for plexiglass side windows, a better wax, micro cloth rags, a bra and car cover. Next you'll be looking for cruises to attend, Pismo, Knottsberry, Car and Coffee runs. There is no cure for this disease, only controlling it by buying a Speedster and taking baby steps to the aforementioned. Once you contribute to this site you have become completely infected and I'm afraid that it is terminal. In any case I welcome you to the madness, however, one bit of warning; don't ever ask who makes the best 356 replica, doing so will incite the members to riot and mayhem.

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Carl and Dan:

John Estes is in Westerley, RI, and in the Summer, I'm up near Worcester, MA. As I recall, there are about 14-16 replica Speedster owners in southern NE/Cape Cod, and a few original Speedster guys, too (Bob DiCorpo in Fall River, MA has an original). Lenny C. has a Spyder over in Bristol, CT, too.

Try planning on attending the Carlisle event in May. We just may have a Speedster Caravan going down from New England again.

gn
Mitch, I think you're in the right place. The only Miata I've seen along on one of these cruise days people have mentioned belongs to Alan Merklin's wife. Odd that after 30 Speedster projects ... he hasn't built one for her yet. Mrs. Merklin has never had a problem keeping up with us on our runs, but she's been looked at as the odd person out for her choice of wheels.

Not to sleight Mrs. Merklin, whom we all love very much, but she's missing out. If we cut a hole in the rear trunk of the Miata and dropped it on a VW chassis ... and glued some Beetle headlight buckets to the fenders ... maybe she'd be okay. We'd have to send her off on a vacation for a while to get it done without her protesting the job, but we could maybe do it in a week.

On the other end of the spectrum, my father-in-law is a professional driving instructor. He teaches 'Frozen Teutonomy 301' in some God-forsaken part of northern Finland (near Ernie's house, I think), and at Birmingham and Road Atlanta.

His personal race car is an ages-old BMW 2002, which he's lightened, strengthened and just won't let go of. He's described it as balanced, but it makes a hell of a lot of noise in corners (and he's been driving it long enough that he's getting the most of it on every lap). Having watched how hard he has to work to keep that car under control, I wonder if the street 2002s are even remotely valid as a base of comparison.

Probably not.

Most Spyders seem like they're as well thought out as they can be, right out of the box. People add things to them, just like Speedster people do, and they only get better. The Spyders I like best are the unapologetic, loud, tire-squealing ones that sound like they're being attacked by zombies with chainsaws -- pretty much the antithesis of most Speedsters. If you haven't looked into them, don't do what I done, as they say, and check one of those out before you look at a Speedster.

Finally, Speedsters. There is nothing else to say about the shape, the timeless interior or the view out the windshield that you haven't already figured out. The powerplants, the gearboxes, brakes, stability control options and the choice of how Gucci you want it to look are all great options to have in a car. Imagine if you could get all of those options nowadays in a modern car, hang the engine out back, park a great set of fenders on the front and STILL be under $30K.

Can't be done. Speedsters are where it's at. If you do decide to get one ... make sure you lose the bumpers, chrome bits, roof, carpet, door handles and storage space (unless you're an old man, in which case you can leave all the aforementioned bits, and go out and buy a dapper pork-pie hat and a tweed coat).

Welcome aboard!
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