Theron Laumeister of San Jose, CA, opted to purchase a turnkey car from Vintage Speedsters with several options, including a 1,915cc engine that delivers about 85 hp. Follow KIT CAR inside the Vintage Speedsters facility to find out why these 356A Speedster replicas are so sought after.
Big numbers are always impressive. Vintage Speedsters manufactured and delivered 230 speedsters in '06. By October '06, they achieved another milestone-2,000 cars manufactured and sold. They're presently shipping five cars a week. The company built its first Speedster in '88. In a decade's time, they've become a frontrunner, if not the leader in the reproduction of 356A Porsche Speedsters.
We've seen Vintage Speedsters at various shows across the country. The 356A replicas appear to have an excellent fit and finish. While covering the Speedster, Spyder, and German Cars event in Paso Robles, California, in '07, we had the opportunity to ride in Eddie Janis' jet black Vintage Speedster. Eddie's a superlative driver, so we got a feel for how exceptionally these roadsters handle. We were mighty impressed, so much so that we decided to visit Vintage Speedsters in Hawaiian Gardens, California, to obtain a firsthand perspective on these sexy machines.
The foundation of all Vintage Speedsters starts with stock VW Beetle pans, which will be shortened 10.5 inches before being fully reconditioned and assembled with new suspension components.
When KIT CAR arrived at the Vintage Speedsters facility, company founder and owner Kirk Duncan quickly introduced himself before hurrying off to help a couple of customers evaluate the cars. We met Kirk's wife in the office and gleaned notes on a bulletin board filled with customer satisfaction letters and photos. A few minutes later, Kirk gave us a tour and said we had carte blanche of the shop in terms of taking photos and asking questions. He went back to work and let us go behind the scenes without an escort-what fun!
Vintage Speedsters offers two ways to buy its 356A replicas. Most customers choose the turnkey approach. For $21,000, you can buy a fully finished Vintage Speedster with a 1,600cc VW air-cooled powerplant. The turnkey car comes with a full one-year warranty. If you want to build the roadster yourself, you can select the Deluxe Kit for $9,400.
Should you be a do-it-yourself sort of kit car enthusiast, you can order the Deluxe Kit. Vintage Speedsters cautions Deluxe Kit customers that the kit takes significant time (months) to assemble and will require the owner to supply an entire VW donor automobile. Expert fabrication, welding, electrical, assembly, body, and air-cooled engine experience are needed. This is not a step-by-step assembly and will require unplanned fabrication unique to each build. This configuration is best left to very experienced builders.
Whether you'd rather drive away from Vintage Speedsters in a 356A, or you want to build it yourself, they can make your Porsche Speedster ownership dreams a beautiful reality. Visit the Vintage Speedsters Web site or contact them for more information. We're sure they'll be happy to hear from you.
Deluxe Kit, $9,400
* Partially assembled Vintage Speedster in either flared or classic-style body
* Preassembled and fitted windshields installed outside and inside door for hood and decklid
* Prefabricated seats and door panels
* Cut and trimmed carpet for easy installation
* Preinstalled and color-coded wiring
* Predrilled and cut holes, including headlights, taillights, decos, etc.
Frame
* Steel subframe preriveted and handglassed into body
Body
* Handlaid, reinforced, high-quality fiberglass body, ready for paint
* Pre-hung and custom-fitted doors, decklid, and hood lights
* Headlights, parking, tail and license plate light
Bumpers
* Front and rear bumpers include moldings
Glass
* Safety glass windshield, frame, posts, and rubber seals
Trim
* Side moldings, horn grilles, rear deck grille, authentic emblems, hood handle, door handles and mechanism, hood release cables and mechanism, dash grab handle, rearview mirror, door mirror
Top
* Canvas top, bows, and hardware; front bow; side curtains; tonneau cover
Wheels
* Set of chrome wheels and caps (moons or crest)
Interior
* Seats, carpet, and upholstery package in choice of several colors
Turnkey, $21,000
* Fully assembled, ready-to-drive Vintage Speedster in either flared or classic-style body. One-year warranty included
* Standard 1,600cc engine (approximately 70 hp) with 4.12:1 transmission
* Choice of body color
* Choice of interior color
Options
* 1,915cc engine upgrade (approximately 85 hp)-$900
* Dual standard carbs-$350
* Flared body style (with 17" wheels and tires)-$1,000
* Stereo (AM/FM/CD)-$350
* Front disc brakes-$400
* Full tonneau-$350
* Leather interior-$1,000
* Air conditioning-$2,200
* Fog/driving lights-$250
* External oil cooler & fan-$375
* Sump oil filter-$150
* External oil filter-$175
* Dunlop tires-$150
* CoCo mats-$150
* Louvered decklid-$350
* Battery shutoff-$50
* Kill switch-$65
* 12V plug/cell phone port-$60
* Headlight grilles-$175
* Courtesy light-$75
* Rear reflectors-$100
* Luggage rack-$20
* Trunk carpet kit-$225
* Bumper guards (front/rear)-$250
* Metallic paint (two-stage)-$400
* 3.88:1 transmission-$425
Vintage Speedsters' handlaid fiberglass bodies are created in a shop in Mexico. They're shipped to the Vintage Speedsters headquarters in Hawaiian Gardens, CA, where the sports cars are assembled. For optimal rigidity, a 2x4-inch, 11-gauge subframe is hand-glassed into the body. | 
To remove any imperfections in the fiberglass, the Speedster bodies are block-sanded twice. | 
Here a Vintage Speedsters technician performs the necessary surgery of the stock VW Beetle pan. The pan's wheelbase is shortened 10.5 inches from stock. |
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In the chassis construction area, a Vintage Speedsters technician installs the emergency brake cable. |
The vast majority of Vintage Speedsters' orders are for turnkey cars. Within the engine-building clean room, a Vintage Speedsters engine maestro builds yet another engine. | 
After the pans' initial metal surgery, new powdercoated pan sections are welded in. The pans are fully reconditioned before being painted with Rust-Oleum. | 
The reconditioned pans receive brand-new front and rear suspension components. The chassis in the foreground is ready to receive an engine/trans, wheels and tires, and its body. |
A stockpile of mufflers can be found at the other end of the engine-building room. | 
Vintage Speedsters produces and sells both the classic 356A Speedster bodies in addition to the wide body style. Kirk Duncan-the company's owner-told us that the wide body configuration is overtaking orders for the classic body style. | 
After the cars come back from the offsite paint shop, the paint jobs are buffed out to produce a mirror finish. |
There is also an abundance of Mangels wheels awaiting chassis in production. | 
The interior shop is one of the last stops in a Vintage Speedster's creation. The carpet goes down after the door panels and dashpad are in place, but before the seats are trimmed and installed. |  |