Vintage Silver 1957 Porsche Speedster Replica - Custom - Supercup Wheels

STUNNING ONE OF A KIND REPLICA – WORLDWIDE SHIPPING AVAILABLE!

SPEEDSTER SEASON 2014 IS HERE!

Any Speedster replica will get you thumb salutes and draw a crowd. This unique and stunning rendition will have other drivers pulling over to follow you. bikers asking you to ride with them. and pedestrians jumping up and down and waving like cheerleaders from the roadside!

Built and owned by Max Zimmer. author of “Actual Mileage” in Kit Car Builder magazine. this prize-winning custom Porsche Speedster replica isn't just another stock widebody with a trick paint job. an oversized engine. and some bolt-on bling. Its functional dual hoop roll bars – the original for a Speedster replica – are fully integrated with the chassis. Its Porsche RS Supercup wheels are authentic three-piece wheels that are custom sized to fill those wheelwells. Its suspension is reinforced to handle its big footprints. Its custom upholstery uses authentic Porsche Sliverknit carpeting. Its silver paint is classic Porsche. This Speedster was built around a singular vision. one that balances authentic and modified. and captures the tension between classic and outlaw. Nothing is overstated. Everything says Porsche. Other builders have imitated individual ideas. No one has integrated all of these design elements into the artistic and functional identity that places this stunning replica in a class of its own.

Try driving it. From the driver's seat. where you sit low. strapped in with a genuine Deist four-point racing harness. you feel cradled in the racecar-like footprint of its four wide-set tires. The unique ram air system feeds cool forced air to twin Webers. The competition 2109 cc engine is responsive and smooth and revs eagerly out of the box. under load. delivering plenty of kick without overpowering the car and losing the authentic feel of the Speedster experience. The car rides beautifully. always feels surefooted. and loves all kinds of roads. particularly two-lane open country twisties.

Among the authentic touches are the re-faced instruments. dash script. black trim around the passenger compartment. classic Porsche color. door threshold rubber and trim. hood seal. bumpers for the engine lid. I also wanted to keep the car clean. Mechanical modifications were kept out of sight. I've thought about dressing it up with racing stripes and numbers. trick paint treatments. decals. stuff that looks so cool on other cars. but I always remember what one veteran builder told me. “I've done this for almost thirty years. I've worked on thousands of cars. Yours is the only car that's ever felt like it had a soul. Leave it alone!”

This is a relisting. Unexpected and unfortunate major home repair work forced the original buyer to back out. I've reduced the Buy It Now and Reserve prices for this listing to expedite the sale. I should also add that my “zero feedback” rating is due only to the fact that this is my first eBay sale. I understand that it's tough to trust a new guy; but I promise I'm legitimate and the car is for real. Check with the guys at speedsterowners. com. Feel welcome to write or call with questions and come see and drive the car.

Kit Car Builder Featured in the February 2006 issue in a three-page spread written and photographed by Harold Pace before I went to work for the magazine. You'll get a brand new print copy of the issue with the sale. The car has also made frequent appearances in my “Actual Mileage” columns the last seven years.

Background In the late 60s and early 70s. my original Speedster was too far gone to restore. so I welded in a new steel floor and quarter-inch steel up and down the box sections to reinforce it. dropped the suspension. stretched out the wheelwells. widened the rims to take wider tires. built a competition engine. and went racing. I sold it to move East. I always hankered for another one. I wanted to recreate the character of my original Speedster – half authentic and half outlaw – with this car. The big flares are modeled on 911 Turbo (930) flares. They follow the practice of grafting 930 flares onto Speedsters that originated in the 70s when the 930 first came out and guys who were racing Speedsters used them for the extra rubber it let them run. I bought this Speedster late in 1999 as a roller from Vintage Speedsters and built it over the next few years. I've replaced the wheels. brakes. interior. wiring. and eventually (around 1500 miles ago) the original 1914 cc engine.

Usage As its 6. 83 miles reflect. the car hasn't seen much use. particularly in the last five years. It's been to the Carlisle Import and Kit Nationals four or five times. It's been to car shows (people's choice first in class) a few times. It's been to local cruise nights. For a couple of summers I used it to get free admission to blues. rock. and wine festivals here in northwest Jersey. I've loaned it to a friend as a wedding car. I've used it for rallies and cruises. with friends and alone. in the best country Jersey has to offer: farmland. rolling hills. well maintained winding roads. country to get lost in. Santana on the Alpine stereo. It was always home before dark. It has never been raced. It has always been garaged. It has never seen rain or snow. It has been on grass. and on the gravel lot where I photographed it. but to my recollection. it has never been on dirt. It has never hauled more than two people at a time. It has never been driven drunk. It has never been used as a getaway car – except to get away for a couple of hours at the end of a long hard day. You will get a car that will beg you to take it out and make up for lost road time!

Why I'm Selling It We need an infusion of cash to help kids with college and pay some old bills. It hasn't been an easy choice. I love this car for many reasons. For the remarkable people it has brought into my life. For the way it makes a pack of high school girls scream and jump up and down when they see it coming. For the way it takes me half an hour to answer questions and field compliments when I stop for gas. For the thumbs ups and honks it gets on the road. For the way bikers put out an acknowledging hand. For the rush of driving it and the way it takes me back to a younger simpler life. For the way it feels like it has a soul. For all the reasons I've loved Speedsters since I was a kid. You'll love it for the same reasons – and add plenty of your own!

Exterior Color Porsche Crystal Silver Metallic with a smooth as glass clearcoat finish.

Brakes and Wheels include disk brakes at all four corners. For aesthetic reasons it was critical to have wheels and tires that filled the fender flares. This called for custom sized three-piece wheels. I selected Kinesis Porsche RS Supercup wheels – 17 x 9 front and 17 x 10 rear – because they echoed the classic curves of the car. I also wanted to avoid the “dune buggy” look I'd seen on other widebodies with big back rubber. This meant tires whose sidewalls and overall diameters were as equal as possible. The Yokohama AVS Sport tires are 245 / 45 / 17 front and 275 / 40 / 17 rear. The difference in their overall diameters is an invisible two hundredths of an inch. Take a look at the side shots.

Chassis and Suspension are based on a 1968 VW pan that is fitted with a swing axle tranny – another decision I made in favor of capturing the authenticity of the original – but has mounts for an IRS transaxle if you want to switch. To strengthen the chassis for the wide wheels and tires. triangulating struts were welded into the rear suspension. and the front end was stiffened with struts between the frame and front beam. All chassis and roll bar welding was done by an expert builder specializing in Beetle-based racers. The entire belly pan was scraped and brushed down to clean metal and then hand coated with POR-15. The height of both the front and rear suspensions can be adjusted. with an adjustable beam up front and Sway-Away adjustable spring plates in the rear. To reduce understeer. the front suspension was softened by removing the half-width torsion leaves from the beams. The leaves may be replaced and the front end raised depending on your ride preference.

Roll Hoops and Harness Bars make this the first Speedster replica to ever feature dual hoop roll bars with harness bars. Many have imitated this design since then – most with bolt-on hoops. This is the original and they were done right. The roll bars and harness bars are functional mandrel bent stainless steel bars. The hoops are welded at eight points into the chassis: four points into the crossframe behind the seats. two points into the transmission cradle. and two points into the steel uprights on either side behind the doors. The hoops are fitted with stainless steel harness bars and with foam-filled custom head protection pads with gray covers matched to the color of the car. The zippered pads can be removed to show off the brushed stainless steel. The bars do not interfere with the operation and clearance of the convertible top. Deist four-point racing harnesses comfortably hold you while you enjoy the twisties.

Top and Tonneau Covers include two covers – a half tonneau to cover the rear of the cockpit behind the roll bars. and a full tonneau that covers the entire cockpit and is split down the middle to allow the driver to keep the passenger side covered. The full tonneau is cleverly tailored to fit over and around the roll hoops – another feature that has been imitated. Both tonneau covers and the convertible top are high quality Haartz Stayfast. The like-new top has only been used twice – one of which was to photograph the car.

Interior and Trunk Upholstery are both custom. The seats are the only items retained from the interior kit that came with the car. The seat rails were lowered to keep human foreheads safely below the windshield frame. The carpet is imported authentic Porsche Sliverknit – champagne in color – used in 911 Porsches from the 70s on. Door panels and dash are camel naugahyde. A continuous black leather stripe surrounds the cockpit and sets it off from the exterior body of the car – again for authenticity. The Momo Race steering wheel has a Porsche horn button. The trunk is upholstered in oil / gas resistant gray carpeting and includes a hinged door over the well for the Optima Red Top battery.

Instruments and Gauges All three gauges were re-faced and recalibrated by Palo Alto Speedometer to improve their sharpness. authenticity. and accuracy. and to replace the Brazilian abbreviation “COMB” on the gas gauge with the American (and authentic Porsche) word “TANK. ” A small fourth gauge mounted in the center of the dash shows cylinder head temperatures. It can be toggle-switched between the two heads to show temperatures on both sides.

The Engine is a new bored and stroked 2109 cc engine with around 1500 miles on it. Built under the direction of – and competition parts provided by – CB Performance. I chose this size for two reasons: first. it's the best marriage of performance and reliability. and second. unlike larger engines. it doesn't overpower the car to where you lose the feel of driving an authentic Speedster. Construction includes AS41 Dual Relief Full Flow Supercase. CB Street Eliminator Heads (CNC ported and polished) with Copperhead gaskets. Mahle flat top forged pistons. forged Superrace counterweighted crankshaft. forged chromoly 5. 500 Long Reach D. I. race rods. K8 Eagle racing cam. billet straight cut adjustable cam gears. Rhino 1. 4:1 forged rocker arms. radiused lightweight racing lifters. custom length chromoly tapered pushrods. dual Dellorto oval port matched large throat manifolds mounted with dual Weber 44 IDFs. Jaycee Racing pushrod tubes with racing seals. lightweight flywheel. and Kennedy Stage II clutch. A-1 Sidewinder 1 5/8” exhaust system with stainless Magnaflow muffler. Estimated 160 horsepower and 150 torque. If you'd like to see the full engine specs. let me know.

A unique Ram Air System provides the Weber 44 IDFs with cool as well as forced air instead of the hot air in the engine bay. Porsche 912 air cleaners with snorkels are fitted to the Webers. Each snorkel goes forward through the firewall and slips into a three-inch hose that runs forward under the channel on either side of the car to an air box mounted behind the horn grill on each side. The horn grills serve as air intakes.

Note: The heating system was sacrificed for the Sidewinder exhaust and ram air system. No big loss. The heaters in these cars – like the two original Porsches I owned – are famously pathetic anyway. My way of staying warm on a dry cold winter day with the top down is a pair of insulated ski pants over my levis. On super cold days I crunch up one of those heat packs and put it between my legs. If you're warm there. I've learned. you're warm everywhere. Of course. if you're from south of the Mason Dixon line. the Southwest. California. or the Mediterranean. this conversation is moot!

The Oil Cooling System starts with a full flow engine case equipped with a two-quart Wide Glide oil sump for additional cooling oil and uses a Maxi oil pump to pump oil through the entire cooling system. A Maxi Cool six pass oil cooler is mounted in the space between the nose and battery well under the front of the car. An air scoop mounted under the front bumper directs air flow to the cooler. Oil capacity is around seven quarts. A remote oil filter is mounted in the left rear wheelwell with an H-gate to recirculate oil until it reaches 180° before releasing it to the cooler. Oil lines (and fuel lines) are teflon stainless steel braided line with hydraulic grade stainless steel connectors.

Battery and Cables An Optima Red Top with side posts to allow the battery to clear the hinged door over the battery well. It is held in place with a billet aluminum Optima battery bracket from Speedway Motors. Heavy duty O-gauge audio cables are used as battery cables.

Sound System An Alpine head unit with swivel face plate fits under the dash. An Alpine six-disk changer is mounted in the trunk above the gas tank. Two six-inch Infinity speakers are mounted under the dash and two more in the rear wall. Tweeters are mounted on the door posts.

Miscellaneous A 911 third brake light behind the cockpit that sits high and in the line of sight of those following drivers too enamored of the car to notice that it's stopping. Authentic Porsche door sill rubber. hood seal. engine lid bumpers. dash script. and other minor touches.

Title and Registration The clear New Jersey title identifies the car as a 1957 Porsche Speedster. It is currently not registered or insured. But it is titled as a Porsche Speedster.

Condition Excellent. Always garaged. Rarely driven. Mechanicals are almost new. Minor rock chips in the nose and in the leading edges of the rear fender flares. Photo can be provided on request. A slight buzz in one rear speaker at high volume is a mounting issue that can easily be fixed. Plug-mounted sensors need to be re-installed on cylinders 1 and 3 in order for the head temperature gauge to work.

CARLISLE NATIONALS / SPEEDSTERPALOOZA / YEAR ROUND WEST COAST MEETS

CATCH THE MADNESS!

Also published at eBay.com

Want to buy this car?