Beck Spyder

[W911inGarage]

Hello,

My wife saw me looking at one of the Beck Spyders on the internet and thought it was a cool car. Anyone own one? How are they to drive, can't afford the original, so may be a reproduction?

Thanks

[RickM]

Hi W911,

Welcome to the board. There's lots of discussion on the Beck 550. It's looked at in a positive light here...for the most part. Here's a sample from the search on "BecK": 550 Spider

[masraum]

I spoke to a guy who brought two to a concours. They are very small, so on the road with other cars you could end up feeling like an ant on a busy sidewalk. The gentleman that I spoke to drove one of his from here in Houston to his daughter's house in Louisianna (about 3-4 hour drive on the interstate). He said the drive wasn't bad except for the big trucks making him a little nervous. He said rough patches weren't very comfortable, but otherwise the drive was fine.

He said the top is almost cosmetic, if you are driving with the top up you have to partially take it down to get into or out of the car, and the top and side curtains don't really do much other than cut down on the wind.

My impression is that they would be a really fun weekend car for country drives. I'd love to have one, someday....

[Joe Bob]

The Beck IS a reproducton of the Porsche 550. Intermeccanica also does one, they are out of Canada.

[901/05]

Beck is the most respected 550 spyder reproduction company. However, there are a few out there. www.vintagespyders.com is a good one also.

Shawn.

[BURN-BROS]

The Beck 550 looks good and built o.k. But driving longer than 45 min can get to you(engine and wind noise mostly). They are easy to drive and most parts are vw so maintenace is fine. Chuck sold his company to some guys in Texas so he is not affiliated with the spyder any more. There are used ones out there from time to time. Just get a quote for a new one and compare with the used. You will definetly have fun with that car! Good luck

[LeeH]

Looks like there will be three of them at the Barrett Jackson auciton:
http://www.barrett-jackson.com/events/scottsdale/vehicles/makelist.asp?auctionid=48&makeid=1963

[nostatic]

evidently they swap ends just like a 911...or such was the indication on the New Year's run.

[BURN-BROS]

Originally posted by nostatic
evidently they swap ends just like a 911...or such was the indication on the New Year's run.

Can you elaborate, I lost ya.

[Alan Cottrill]

he's referring to "trailing throttle oversteer"

when entering a turn near the tires limit of adheison, letting off the throttle will cause weight to shift to the front wheels causing the rear wheels to loose traction, thus the rear end swaps ends with the front.

ask me how I know

[BURN-BROS]

Got it! Thanks, I havn't driven one hard enough to experience it.

[masraum]

Actually I think they faithfully reproduced the suspension geometry, so I think they can be even hairier than a later model 911, but hey, that's half of the fun, right?? I think I read an article to that effect at some point.

[naparsei]

If you're tall, you won't fit. I'm 6'4", and when I visited back in LA, they said they could install a fixed seat and cut into the firewall. It seemed too much like a hopped up VW, so I passed. In case you think I don't "get it" (which is possible, I suppose), I have owned and loved a 356, which was completely different in terms of road feel and fit/finish.

[BURN-BROS]

The suspension is type 1 stuff(on the beck) which may be pretty close to original(guessing).
Beck did a Lister repro that drove much better than the 550 and you could drive for hours and not feel like you worked at it.

[exc911ence]

Originally posted by mikez
The Beck IS a reproducton of the Porsche 550. Intermeccanica also does one, they are out of Canada.

Actually, Intermeccanica only makes 356 replicas (and Kubelwagens), not 550s. Too bad since their 356 clones are absolutely gorgeous! Also, you can specify any engine you want... this one had a RS-spec 2.7 in it!

[Randy Webb]

Before driving one on the road, I'd take a good long look at that photo of James Dean's 550 after his accident...

[CHILI]

I had an old roomate that had a beck spyder kit, but he never finished it. It just sat in our garage on a trailer. It killed me! He eventually sold it for a little more than he paid for it. Too bad.

Randy (Chuck's son) hangs out at Willowsprings raceway a lot. He's almost always there for POC races. He still works on the spyders and is a great guy to talk to. I'm sure if you're ever in the mood to check out some Porsche Owner's Club racing, he'd be there and willing to talk to you about the cars. He might even have their current 904 reproduction there!

[kpmurray]

I own one and have had a blast - true the top and side curtains are only a rumor to the weather in the midwest. Mine has a 155 hp motor and the car is only about 1200#. Takes off like a scalded cat but is hard on the engine mounts.

I have beaten a friend's 944S and my own 911SC up to about 60 or so, but 2110 type 1's kind of run out of juice. You definately don't want to get faster than 90 unless you are wearing a parachute - the front end unloads pretty abruptly.

As to the comment about 356 superior handling relative to V-dub components, I also have a 54 pre A with the drum brakes, skinny tires and no sway bars. It's fun to drive for a death trap, but no match for wither of the other two cars.

[real550A]

I think I read somewhere that the Beck operation has moved to South America, Brazil I think. Many changes and improvements have been made during the evolution of the original Beck spinoffs.

[BURN-BROS]

Manufacturing was moved a number of years ago. Final assembley was done in the states. Now the Texans own the final assembly part of the company, some Brazilian owns the manufacturing.