shadow993

Has anybody driven one of the kit versions? I love the look and the simplicity.


One was at cars & coffee today and it was beautiful.

Parnelli

I have wanted one of those for YEARS!! Never been in one, though. Looking forward to everybody's input

TractControlOff

A friend from my C&C in NJ has a Beck 550 Spyder and he says it's one of the most fun cars he has driven (he has driven literally hundreds of air cooled 911s).

OverBoosted28

Tell ya what, saw this at RRV, and it looks like a hellavu lotta fun. Way better than the alternative of not having one at all.

OverBoosted28

Just dawned on me. Look how easy that thing would be to wrench on.......

shadow993

That is insane! A 6 cylinder Porsche motor in that light of a car??!?!?! Crazy power to weight.

race911

The execution often falls far, far, far short of the reality. Mainly you need to look at them as you would a bike--safety and lack of usability.

95_993

Very good point Ken. I have often pondered this myself when looking at them. While they appear very fun, I see it as very limited in use and I am sure the safety factor would start to creep in as to when I actually use it, which drives, etc.

shadow993

Did my wife get to you???

TMc993

I posted this a few years back when someone asked a similar question:

I sold a Beck 550 Spyder to buy my 993...Purchased it new from the constructor (not Beck)...It had an SCT-built VW-based engine...1800 cc with dual Webers, headers into a "stinger" pipe, and a Kennedy clutch and lightened flywheel combination...165 HP in a 1250 pound chassis with a VW suspension and brakes made for some "interesting" moments on the road...

Purchasing it new was a mistake. It took me six months and the expertise of Jake Raby to sort it all out. This is one situation where you would be better off letting someone else build/buy a 550 and put a few thousand miles on it sorting is all out before you take it off their hands...

The 550 is a very small car (The top of the driver's door hit me mid-thigh) and its shape, combined with the classic silver color made it very difficult for other drivers to see...A skateboard or motorcycle analogy is dead on for these cars....

...I wouldn't be too **** about a Porsche drivetrain...After all, it is a replica. You can take a VW case and add aftermarket crank, cam, pistons, cylinder, carbs, etc. that will provide an astonishing power/weight ratio, sound as good a a Porsche 4-banger and has rock-solid reliability without the Porsche prices. You will have to learn/relearn a few "old school" skills like balancing carbs, adjusting timing, etc. but it's a lot of fun (Or at least was for me)

The car was fun to own, but truly a fair weather toy...I grew tired of it pretty quickly, but did manage to get my money out of it.

shadow993

Thank you for the input. I will admire from afar then.

Cupcar

I looked at this and found it to be very well engineered in my opinion. I think it is the product of a couple of guys I talked to at the last Rennsport, if so they know what they are doing and understand chassis design. If they did what they said they wanted to do, the frame was designed using finite element analysis and the steering rack and suspension mounts were computer simulated for bump steer, anti-dive and squat, camber curve etc. The craftsmanship and execution is first class, this is no Beck 550.

Bill Verburg

A buddy of mine has one, Suburu drivetrain, he uses it when his Ferrari is in the shop(often). It's kind of neat.

OverBoosted28

Absolutely!!!!!! That was a piece of art as far as I was concerned. Didn't look like they skimped on anything.

x98boardwell

I have since sold but it had a 6 in it. Drove like hell. 73' 911S (spec'd motor) with twin plug heads as well. Roughly 205hp and it weighed 1,400lbs.

It was so much fun!


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