TheSamba.com :: View topic - What makes a Porsche Speedster Replica worth so much more?

Thu Sep 18, 2014 5:21 pm

What makes a Porsche Speedster Replica worth so much more than a dune buggy? :?

Thu Sep 18, 2014 6:04 pm

I have wondered the same thing, there seems to be a little more work involved with the bodies from some I have seen but not THAT much more.

Thu Sep 18, 2014 6:06 pm

Rathbone wrote: What makes a Porsche Speedster Replica worth so much more than a dune buggy? :?
The name.

Thu Sep 18, 2014 6:13 pm

The Kits cost more for one.

Thu Sep 18, 2014 6:14 pm

Nice original Speedsters range in price between $60,000-$200,000. This puts them far out of reach for the "average" consumer. So being able to purchase a replica at less than half the cost(or more), makes them seem like a bargain. Champagne tastes on a beer budget, so to speak...

Thu Sep 18, 2014 6:19 pm

63ratster wrote: Nice original Speedsters range in price between $60,000-$200,000.
Trust me, you won't find a rust bucket for under $100k.

This one sold for $150,000.

Maybe you can get this for $60k.

This one sold for $1,050,000

Thu Sep 18, 2014 7:20 pm

The last example is also a 4-cam Carerra engined car with Rudge knockoff wheels...

bnc

Thu Sep 18, 2014 8:07 pm

In January this year, I made a run from Charleston WV to Charleston SC to pick up a Intermeccanica built Speedster. Pearl White and loaded with options. It had fully auto transaxle, (type three), 2180 cc engine, AC, Heat, Power Windows, Power steering, Cruise Control, Power Locks, Tilt wheel, heated seats, 4 wheel power assist disc brakes. Super sweet car.

These are monocoque in design, no pan based build. After the body is taken from the mold, they are put into a oven and baked to ensure full shrinkage. Then the body is worked until perfect, painted and hand rubbed. All hand sewed leather interior. Quick little ride too!

I have built one or two buggy's and seen a few more. No buggy I have seen even compares.

Would I own one? No. But I really appreciate the craftsmanship and quality that went into it. Worth the price? Yes. People buy enough of them to keep a company in business.

Thu Sep 18, 2014 11:04 pm

The simple answer is because they were not sold into the market aiming at the bottom like the Manx was. The entire idea on the Manx was to allow a kit to be purchased cheaply and slapped together quickly to get out and enjoy it.

The greatest selling point is the greatest problem from a building, reselling and marketing point of view. A lot of shops I know always have issues with Manx owners and their ideals that there stuff should always be cheap. Most charge the same hourly rate regardless of what they are working on.

Most of the are VW pan based and from what I have seen the cost many charge is not that different to Manx's anyway.

http://www.jps-motorsports.com/turnkey.html

Has a list of prices, I think they are very reasonable.

Fri Sep 19, 2014 5:02 am

I think this variation in price seems specific to the USA.

Here in the UK there are at least two companies making the bodies and a completed second hand Porsche replica starts from around £15,000. Originals you vary rarely come across but are maybe £45K +. they are not too popular compared to Cobra replicas and Caterham 7 type cars. The coupe (hardtop) kit is also quite rare.

The RSK replica is even cheaper (around £10K) but is a more basic car. I built one of these on a shortened VW pan.

A good Manx buggy with nice chrome and a big engine can easily reach the £15K figure.

Fri Sep 19, 2014 5:20 am

Rath, I suspect one part is simple; the people who associate/identify/aspire to PORSCHE ..are of (at least their self image) a different strata than buggy people. ...like Nashville and Connecticut, both have very successful people ..some different ideas.

I still don't understand the logic of buying a Zercon. Work a little harder if a Diamond really means that much to you.

Jim

Fri Sep 19, 2014 4:05 pm

Having built both in a production situation, I can attest to the amount of work and materials used is greater in the 356 vs. the manx. There is a more involved steel frame bonded into the 356 and you have to assemble doors and decklids with inner and outer shells. You have to gap and fit the doors and decklids as well. I belive there is about 100 lbs more material in the 356 vs. the manx as well.

Fri Sep 19, 2014 5:25 pm

Quote: you have to assemble doors and decklids with inner and outer shells. You have to gap and fit the doors and decklids as well.

Agreed. I have built both. There is nothing harder than doors/hoods/trunks. To get them right takes lots of patience.

Fri Sep 19, 2014 7:15 pm

The same special Speedster/Porsche pricing holds true for even the simplest of fiberglass repro parts. Fiberglass has no special value beyond the part that is going on the car. No real need for a piece of fiberglass destined for s Porsche to be any more expensive than a similar weight and shape piece of fiberglass destined for a Ford. but the difference exists.

Simple chicanery. The costs are the same for a fiberglass dune buggy bucket seat as a Speedster replica hood. The purchase price is FAR different.

Weirder still when the SAME fiberglass bucket seat shell sells for more when sold as something for s Speedster replica rather than something destined for a dune buggy.

Fri Sep 19, 2014 7:20 pm

The complexity of the Speedster cars, multiple fiberglass parts and lots of hardware with special alignment of doors and lids, well it never lent itself to an extremely low cost and easily reproduced tub and so far has never been over-produced like the buggy has been over the years.

Right now, the low end for a completed Speedster replicar is around $15-20k and the high end is $50 to as much as 100k. (I wish I was joking) There is a fairly affluent group of individuals that pay these prices for completed cars, but will then ask of forums where can they purchase windshield visors, or act surprised if the car leaks a little in a strong rain?? The owners today are typically not fabricators, or buggy people in my mind.

And the export market is substantial, so its not just the domestic US or North America thing.

Today, most cars are specified and custom built turn key cars, possibly turn key less engine but not many are home built anymore.

If you were to kit build a Speedster, it might start out a lot like building a buggy (at least in the pan based versions) and then you keep cutting, drilling, assembling, adjusting and spending more time and money than you ever imagined with a buggy before you'd be done. But it would be worth it.

They make for a great drivers, much more comfortable than a buggy and that has broader appeal than a buggy.

Sat Sep 20, 2014 6:49 pm

joescoolcustoms wrote:

These are monocoque in design, no pan based build. After the body is taken from the mold, they are put into a oven and baked to ensure full shrinkage. Then the body is worked until perfect, painted and hand rubbed. All hand sewed leather interior.

Sounds great - maybe even worth the price bump. I don't even think the real ones are that nice. But this is not what I typically see. For the majority of them, it's tough to explain how they are more than dune buggies with doors.

Sun Sep 21, 2014 8:19 am

And in 1978 my dad almost bought a real one for 10,000 ...crazy...

Sun Sep 21, 2014 9:56 pm

wouldn't it be like anything ? it's worth what you can get for it based on supply and demand.

more people want speedsters then dune buggys.

Sat Sep 27, 2014 3:41 pm

The Porsche name certainly does alot, but even the poorest old speedster molds are far more complex than most Buggy molds. The main body mold frequentlyconsists of several pieces and some require bonding to a subframe. Inner and outer hood and engine cover, inner and outer doors, firewall. then you have to consider the hardware to complete the kits. the windshield and frame aren't anywhere near what you get calling dino for a fairly standard buggy windscreen. Most of the trim for a replica comes from the same suppliers as for a real Speedster.

I compare a speedster to the cost and complexity of a typical 32-34 ford body. In essence, you are building a replica of a very desireable classic car, vs, well, a play toy.

Here's a realtively new one with ties to Thunder ranch.

http://www.rockwestracing.com/tag/rw-speedster-body/