Ultimate Retro Speedster Thread

[SCWDP911]

OK, so Speedsters have been around since the days of 356's. But a 911 Speedster, well now... that is a different animal. Porsche did a nice job in reintroducing the model for awhile. But - before that, there were those who went beyond the mark, and beyond the marque, and built some inspiring works of art.

The first car I will post of pic of is one a lot of us have seen before... Stan Townes 911 speedster creation, based on a 67 targa that had met an early demise. Well, come to find out, for me anyway, that others caught that same inspiration and I would dare say, even to new levels. In finding these pictures tonight, I have found some new inspiration on what I would like to do with my 83 cabriolet. I had been tossing several things back and forth, but I believe the decision has been made: Retro Speedster!

Please help me build a thread with nothing but Speedster pics, primarily, early or retro speedster pics...

I will start out with a few I have found tonight:

[SCWDP911]

I posted a comment about this next car on another thread... I do not know if the person who built this car is still out there, and maybe even amongst us here, but all I can say is WOW! This car is truly an inspiring sight.

[SCWDP911]

some more... the blue rear bumper was built by John Walker.

[SCWDP911]

bigger pics of my favorite so far...

[914/6]

goforit

[SCWDP911]

A fellow Pelican's work in progress... (his thread is here: Cutting up my early 911 - project speedster cont.)

[SCWDP911]

Some more, including Pelican's "boba" awesome speedster project... bob, is it done yet?

[SCWDP911]

a front shot of John walker's...



another car...

[SCWDP911]

some more shots of John Walker's creation...

[SCWDP911]

some more...

[SCWDP911]

well, not as retro, but had to be included... a factory 83sc speedster prototype

[jwetering]

I dreamed of building a speedster for a long time, but going through the process you are going through now I realized that it would be bloody hard to get the look just *right*. Of the series of cars posted above (excellent thread by the way) half look right to me, and half don't.

IMHO The 911 speedster either works visually or not because of what happens aft of the b-pillar, and the height and rake of the windshield. It's really hard to get these right.

I would also suggest that M491 fenders help the overall proportions a lot.

Do NOT take my comments as in any way discouraging you from this project though...get started and get posting! The more I see the closer I get to doing it (one day).

Keep it light though - that's the real point I think anyway.

[gsmith660]

Go for Shane I have always loved the look of speedsters and considered that for this project, parts are hard to find but I think if you are persistant you will find them and remember post lots of pictures.

[SCWDP911]

Well first off, thanks to the others who have already posted threads and pics on this topic. All I have been doing so far is trying to compile the pics into one thread. Be great to add additional ones as well. I will also add links to past threads as I go along as well.

My first hurdle will be the decision of whether or not to molest my otherwise pretty much stock 83 cab. I cannot help but think that someday an SC cab will have some collectibility. There were only about 2500 made for crying out loud. Admittedly though, mine has 160k miles, so not sure if it will ever really be collectible despite what the market would do.

Next hurdle/decision will probably be teh toughest (at least in my mind at the moment): how to handle the windshield and frame. There are some options out there, but not many. The options as I see them so far are as follows:

1. use a factory late model speedster frame and glass
2. use a factory late model speedster frame and aftermarket glass
3. use a frame and glass offf a different car altogether, like some of the early custom speedter 911's
4. make a one-off frame/glass of some sort

On the 73 RSR Speedster above (the black one), are those your basic RSR flares, or are they custom at all. Just curious as they look so perfect with everything else on that car.

[jwetering]

Originally Posted by Shane Van Wey

Next hurdle/decision will probably be teh toughest (at least in my mind at the moment): how to handle the windshield and frame. There are some options out there, but not many. The options as I see them so far are as follows:

1. use a factory late model speedster frame and glass
2. use a factory late model speedster frame and aftermarket glass
3. use a frame and glass offf a different car altogether, like some of the early custom speedter 911's
4. make a one-off frame/glass of some sort

Another route to consider..use the stock window frame raked back and with the with the rain gutters shaved off. Three ways I thought about were:

1) stock height, but raked back, probably not going to look right so scratch that.
2) chop a section out of the middle of the vertical section of the frame, and have a custom windshield made up. I think that's what the red car posted here has done

3) chop the top of the windshield frame off and grind a stock windshield or make a plexi one.

The benefit of using the stock frame is that it's already attached to the car which saves a fair bit of fab work. Should lower costs too, but that may or may not be a driver for you.

[john walker's workshop]

i have a '94 speedster factory clamshell hinge assembly and two sets of factory visors left over from the project. i think the '94 clamshell looks better than the '89.

[mjshira]

THese are all cool cars, matters of individual taste and that is makes them unique. I think it is awesome when people build a vision of what they think is 'Porsche'.

[SCWDP911]

Originally Posted by jwetering

Another route to consider..use the stock window frame raked back and with the with the rain gutters shaved off. Three ways I thought about were:

1) stock height, but raked back, probably not going to look right so scratch that.
2) chop a section out of the middle of the vertical section of the frame, and have a custom windshield made up. I think that's what the red car posted here has done

3) chop the top of the windshield frame off and grind a stock windshield or make a plexi one.

The benefit of using the stock frame is that it's already attached to the car which saves a fair bit of fab work. Should lower costs too, but that may or may not be a driver for you.

Those are good ideas. I was thinking about the raked windshield with the chopped frame. One other consideration for me is that I do not want to be afraid to drive the car when I am done with it... so I will need some way of being water resistant. Proof would be preferred of course. Whatever I do with the windshield, I need to be able to use a top with it, and a top that I can use while on the road. I am thinking going really retro and maybe using zip in windows for the sides. There was someone on the board here that was fitting a 356 hardtop to a 911 speedster project. Anyone have any more info on that?

Also, we have 7 children... budget is always a factor!

[SCWDP911]

can someone do me a favor and photoshop this photo slightly. I want to see it the same but in the following revisions if possible:

1. body black, scripts GT3-ish orange
2. same as above but with orange wheels
3. body greyish-green, scripts black

Many thanks...

[SCWDP911]

oooh, just scored a minor coup... wife was walking by as I was lookign at that picture above and actually stopped and said "WOW! What is that?!" She has always really like the outlaw style 356 ragtops. Gets it from her Dad.