356 speedster replica

Zaph0d

I am thinking of buying a porsche 356 speedster replica from a company in the UK called chesil. They start from about £20K STG.

I had a go in one in the UK and I really enjoyed it.

What are your thoughts? Will buying a replica reduce my maintenance costs? Will it be more reliable than a real 356?

I am not concerned about performance, I just want a fun, nice looking car for the summer weekends.

unkel

Looks great, but £20k is a hell of a lot of money for a kit car based on a refurbished beetle

Would you not consider a 911?

Dades

Agree with unkel,

You could get a fantastic early 911 targa top for that money.
And it would be a better investment too.

Seems a lot for a new kit car.

hawkmoon269

Yeah, I'd agree with Unkel and the Atheist. 356 speedster is a lovely car but that amount of money for a replica is OTT. You could have a decent 968 or 968 convertible for that money - and they are beautiful, rare cars.

Zaph0d

I am hoping this car would be more reliable than a true classic, so it would be in the shop less. I hate the waste of time and money involved in making all those trips to the mechanic and then having the car off the road more often than not. Am I misguided?

I wouldn't want the tax and insurance costs of a 968 and I don't like the shape. The 911 has a fantastic form but everyone has them these days. They are so very common, darling.

I also love the style of the Karmann Ghia (another beetle in drag).

Dades

Admit it, Zaph0d, you just want to be like "Dillon" in Beverly Hill 90210...

For 20k STG I think you could get a genuine classic that wouldn't require much shop-time.

There's a lot of 911's but not too many early chromed targa versions, in Dublin anyways.
And at least there'd be an enthusiasts club you could join!

Merrion

The maintenance costs on a 911 shouldn't be too bad : they're pretty much unbreakable. Certainly it will be less than the VRT on a £20k new car.

However the 356 is a very beautiful car and if you have that kind of money you will get a lot of fun from it.

Dades

Merrion wrote:

Certainly it will be less than the VRT on a £20k new car.

An excellent point - if the car is being imported to Ireland...

Beware! :eek:

Zaph0d

I thought there was no VRT on classic imports.

I don't know Dillon from '90210', but I'll admit anything if it makes you happy.

Merrion

There is no VRT on any car > 30 years old, just a €50 registration fee; but a kit car is considered a new car...

Zaph0d

Although it's a replica, it has enough old parts in it (chassis and engine) to make it officially a classic car.

hawkmoon269

Zaph0d wrote:

I wouldn't want the tax and insurance costs of a 968 and I don't like the shape. The 911 has a fantastic form but everyone has them these days. They are so very common, darling.

I also love the style of the Karmann Ghia (another beetle in drag).

Point taken as regards shape of 968 - most people don't like it but I've always liked the car, though I'm probably in a minority on that. As regards tax and insurance - I don't know if insurance would actually be that bad on a (non-convertible) 968 if you have full NCB, it is not a turbo as far as I know. I was quoted €2,200 for a 944 a while back and I don't have full NCB. Not necessarily that expensive.

Of course, at the end of the day it's a matter of personal preference as you imply. Karmann Ghia might be an option if it's just for Sunday driving - rarer than a 911 anyway.

unkel

@Zaph0d - you have a very nice budget and you want a reliable car that isn't off the road all the time. I read in between the lines that you won't be doing any maintenance yourself?

In that case you won't regret contacting Paul Kanters (PaulK_CCI). He will give you invaluable advice and could very well sort you out with a nice motor

Zaph0d

Thanks for the tip, unkel, I'll contact Paul.

Dades

Zaph0d wrote:

Although it's a replica, it has enough old parts in it (chassis and engine) to make it officially a classic car.

That's interesting if it's true. Are you just assuming that, or have they told you that the car will maintain the first reg date of an old chassis? The website you included above claims the engine is newly built.

G'luck!

lomb

The Atheist wrote:

That's interesting if it's true. Are you just assuming that, or have they told you that the car will maintain the first reg date of an old chassis? The website you included above claims the engine is newly built.

G'luck!

it remains a clasic as the chassis is retained with its reg details thats all u need tbh

ds20prefecture

lomb wrote:

it remains a clasic as the chassis is retained with its reg details thats all u need tbh

This is my understanding too from when my brother wanted to buy a Lotus Elan from Spyder engineering. What's clever is they "repair" the chassis with new galvanised members, while keeping the existing number.

Dades

ds20prefecture wrote:

This is my understanding too from when my brother wanted to buy a Lotus Elan from Spyder engineering. What's clever is they "repair" the chassis with new galvanised members, while keeping the existing number.

Same axe - just a new head and a new handle.

MercMad

I looked into this extensively last year. I think the Stg£20k is way OTT. I think Pilgrim do one much cheaper, and if you buy an old scrapper Beetle you will get an old Irish reg too !

I recall a figure of €14k but can remember if that was for a self build !

Lovely car though!