Confessions of a Speedsterholic ...
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All three of the RL Speedsters are similar, yet strikingly unique
...like a different artist's canvas reflecting each owner. John brings up a great case in point that really sets JPP's apart -- a feature rarely seen in 993s:
^^ Shows the lengths 9M goes to personalize each car to their customer's tastes, too.
Fitting nod toward the color-keyed interiors of 964s, etc:
...like a different artist's canvas reflecting each owner. John brings up a great case in point that really sets JPP's apart -- a feature rarely seen in 993s:
^^ Shows the lengths 9M goes to personalize each car to their customer's tastes, too.
Fitting nod toward the color-keyed interiors of 964s, etc:
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From: Park City, UT
Unbelievable work - that car looks factory fresh! I'm blown away by the commitment from the 993 board to "go custom" and create such gorgeous speedsters... You guys truly rock.
Looking forward to meeting you guys at Rennsport IV in October. I am hoping to drive the 964 Speedster to the event. Can't wait to see these 993 Speedsters in person!
-Blake
Looking forward to meeting you guys at Rennsport IV in October. I am hoping to drive the 964 Speedster to the event. Can't wait to see these 993 Speedsters in person!
-Blake
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Jonathan-- ^^ Why can't we all get along?
Blake-- Looking forward to meeting you & your 964 Speedster showcar, plus Jon Paul & SpeedArena!!!, & many other RLers.
...& my favorite Speedster color: Arena Red Metallic. Went public to JPP in Dec '09, & planted my first seed about converting his (future) AR BH WB cab to a Speedster in the "993 C2S Cab" thread:
Next mention of luv for AR + planting another seed for its Speedster conversion was July '10 in JPP's "Quintuplet arrives home" thread.
[Read much more about my interest in purchasing SpeedArena all the way back to 2003, on that thread ^^]
Jon Paul-- Now I know why the seller didn't answer when I sent them a message, pursuing "for sale" details recently. (True story.)
Well done on your part; reminds more of how quickly I moved to purchase Speedy, when I first learned of her availability.
ECSTATIC for you!!! IMHO, Arena Red Metallic can showcase WB 993 curves better than any other color. I once had a WB A.R. 993, & felt lucky to have stumbled upon what I've since considered my favorite color.
I'm not exaggerating at all to say the exact car newly in your garage has been my desire for a long time.
She first came to my attention on the website of a previous Reno, NV, dealer ~'03. I remember seeing her online & drooling, but not knowing if she was from the factory, or merely an inspired conversion. Neither I nor the dealer knew the significance of her past at the time. This was before the legitimacy of the BH conversions was public here on RL. The seller further confused issues by incorrectly listing her as "AWD," & I passed.
When I did learn on RL of the rarity of these five BH specialty releases, my intent became to acquire her as a Speedster conversion. (Forgive me for what may be sacrilegious to some, but most of you grasp my Speedster sickness by now
)
Fortunately, I soon discovered the sale of my 993, wasted no time in her acquisition, & have been very happy since ... as you now are! I'm thrilled to see such a rare exotic in the safe-keeping of a true Porsche-o-phile & 993 enthusiast. She is lucky to have you as her keeper.
I have related links & files I've maintained on her for years. Thanks to you for already being so open about your purchase price here on this thread, following mentions of values are in-line with that spirit.
2009 discussion from the "993 C2S Cab" thread by Clubrcr (Jim):
Wow, how much did this STUNNING Arena WB Cab (BH Porsche, 1 of 5) sell for ... Anyone here buy it?
JP-- According to the Jäger Files
, FWIW:
- When Sport Haus (Reno, NV) advertised it for sale in 2003 with 14k miles, they asked $59,950 USD (VIN WP0CA2991WS340830). <--- You can see they listed is as AWD
It's my impression it sold between $45-55k, & that they knew it was non-standard, but not Porsche-dealer produced.
- When Reno's Sierra Classics & Imports advertised it for sale in 2008 with 25,500 miles, they first asked $48k USD. A friend later contacted them, & it's my impression they had since learned what they had, which may have increased sale above asking price. I don't think it went to a RLer, but IIRC, RLer lthatch (Leonard) pursued it.
photo's from 2008. I have up to 38 more photos I could share if interested.
Blake-- Looking forward to meeting you & your 964 Speedster showcar, plus Jon Paul & SpeedArena!!!, & many other RLers.
...& my favorite Speedster color: Arena Red Metallic. Went public to JPP in Dec '09, & planted my first seed about converting his (future) AR BH WB cab to a Speedster in the "993 C2S Cab" thread:
[Read much more about my interest in purchasing SpeedArena all the way back to 2003, on that thread ^^]
Jon Paul-- Now I know why the seller didn't answer when I sent them a message, pursuing "for sale" details recently. (True story.)
Well done on your part; reminds more of how quickly I moved to purchase Speedy, when I first learned of her availability.
ECSTATIC for you!!! IMHO, Arena Red Metallic can showcase WB 993 curves better than any other color. I once had a WB A.R. 993, & felt lucky to have stumbled upon what I've since considered my favorite color.
I'm not exaggerating at all to say the exact car newly in your garage has been my desire for a long time.
She first came to my attention on the website of a previous Reno, NV, dealer ~'03. I remember seeing her online & drooling, but not knowing if she was from the factory, or merely an inspired conversion. Neither I nor the dealer knew the significance of her past at the time. This was before the legitimacy of the BH conversions was public here on RL. The seller further confused issues by incorrectly listing her as "AWD," & I passed.
When I did learn on RL of the rarity of these five BH specialty releases, my intent became to acquire her as a Speedster conversion. (Forgive me for what may be sacrilegious to some, but most of you grasp my Speedster sickness by now
)Fortunately, I soon discovered the sale of my 993, wasted no time in her acquisition, & have been very happy since ... as you now are! I'm thrilled to see such a rare exotic in the safe-keeping of a true Porsche-o-phile & 993 enthusiast. She is lucky to have you as her keeper.
I have related links & files I've maintained on her for years. Thanks to you for already being so open about your purchase price here on this thread, following mentions of values are in-line with that spirit.
2009 discussion from the "993 C2S Cab" thread by Clubrcr (Jim):
Wow, how much did this STUNNING Arena WB Cab (BH Porsche, 1 of 5) sell for ... Anyone here buy it?
JP-- According to the Jäger Files
, FWIW:- When Sport Haus (Reno, NV) advertised it for sale in 2003 with 14k miles, they asked $59,950 USD (VIN WP0CA2991WS340830). <--- You can see they listed is as AWD
It's my impression it sold between $45-55k, & that they knew it was non-standard, but not Porsche-dealer produced.
- When Reno's Sierra Classics & Imports advertised it for sale in 2008 with 25,500 miles, they first asked $48k USD. A friend later contacted them, & it's my impression they had since learned what they had, which may have increased sale above asking price. I don't think it went to a RLer, but IIRC, RLer lthatch (Leonard) pursued it.
photo's from 2008. I have up to 38 more photos I could share if interested.
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Jason-- Fixed it for ya ^^
I took my next shot to plant another Speedster seed with JPP in Aug 2010. From the "opinions on this unusual colour" thread:
When I look at this car, I see a Speedster ...
I took my next shot to plant another Speedster seed with JPP in Aug 2010. From the "opinions on this unusual colour" thread:
When I look at this car, I see a Speedster ...
Nope, not me A WB Arena Red Metallic cab, though ... hmmmmmm 
Let's discuss in person next week, shall we?
A WB Arena Red Metallic cab, though ... hmmmmmm Let's discuss in person next week, shall we?
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I call dibs! ...again
Jon Paul's one of the rare owners that seems to make cars better with time.
For him & especially the sake of SpeedArena's next owner
, I couldn't wait for him to finish this masterpiece.
In the proud RL tradition of calling "dibs" on a RLer's 993 -- giving the compliment that says you'd luv to own their car, should the owner ever choose to sell -- I'm surprised no one's moved in yet!
With that in mind, time to re-print the Pope's wonderful words from his "Quintuplet" thread, in response to my previous attempts to buy SpeedArena before Jon Paul bought her & named her Hildegärd
Hi Jäger, in 25 years, I'll be 81 and you'll be close to my current age so we'll do a deal then and I'll guarantee the car will be in as-new condition for you to enjoy and steward for the next 25 years
JP-- I'm flattered by your above promise. I've printed your post, & put it under my pillow See you in 25 years, if not many fun times in the interim.
You strike me as the type of meticulous enthusiast who makes his Porsches get better with age
Enjoy, with the best of health!
--Jäger, Hilde's lucky future steward
For him & especially the sake of SpeedArena's next owner
, I couldn't wait for him to finish this masterpiece.In the proud RL tradition of calling "dibs" on a RLer's 993 -- giving the compliment that says you'd luv to own their car, should the owner ever choose to sell -- I'm surprised no one's moved in yet!
With that in mind, time to re-print the Pope's wonderful words from his "Quintuplet" thread, in response to my previous attempts to buy SpeedArena before Jon Paul bought her & named her Hildegärd
Hi Jäger, in 25 years, I'll be 81 and you'll be close to my current age so we'll do a deal then and I'll guarantee the car will be in as-new condition for you to enjoy and steward for the next 25 years
JP-- I'm flattered by your above promise. I've printed your post, & put it under my pillow
See you in 25 years, if not many fun times in the interim.You strike me as the type of meticulous enthusiast who makes his Porsches get better with age
Enjoy, with the best of health!--Jäger, Hilde's lucky future steward
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Actually, the dash top is a 9M blank that they make themselves and I bought the doorpanel cores from Appbiz and sent them with the car, but 9M trimmed them and Marc and I designed the custom door pocket after the 'comfort' RS panel. The center console, door caps and knee kick were just re-trimmed in matching black leather and a new shift boot was fitted. The Carbon/Aluminum shifter and ebrake came on the car from the factory as did the Aluminum look gauges but I sent them all down to North Hollywood Speedo to have the inner rings polished and the 'Speedster S' script added to the Tach. The doorsills came from that guy on eBay .. that several RLr's have used here .. REALLY nice guy and VERY reasonable. He worked with me to do the custom Speedster S script in the size and spacing that I wanted and since he did all that artwork, I ordered two sets and gave one set to Graham for being so generous with his time and knowledge ... It's been an AWESOME journey people-wise :-) Almost better than getting the actual car ... ok, I said almost ..
I really like how you tied the AR color together using paint on the guage surrond piece, just like on the earlier speedsters. Very cool and matches the AR on the back of the 993RS comfort seats.
Tell us more about the seat belts, can they be order in any color? I see the door pull straps are also AR colormatched. Wow, talk about attention to detail.
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From: In front of you and to the left ...
Unbelievable work - that car looks factory fresh! I'm blown away by the commitment from the 993 board to "go custom" and create such gorgeous speedsters... You guys truly rock.
Looking forward to meeting you guys at Rennsport IV in October. I am hoping to drive the 964 Speedster to the event. Can't wait to see these 993 Speedsters in person!
-Blake
Looking forward to meeting you guys at Rennsport IV in October. I am hoping to drive the 964 Speedster to the event. Can't wait to see these 993 Speedsters in person!
-Blake
Jonathan! That's the nicest compliment you've ever given me!
Hey, you know these are the seats that Ray Joseph had for sale that you looked at originally, right? (I didn't pay retail .. but close enough to make it hurt ..) It made sense to me because when I subtract what I sold the Cab's hardbacks for, they became affordable and the only work I had to do was paint the backs ... Come to think of it, I should send a picture to Ray and show him what I did with them .. 
Thank you.
Ok so the dash top is made by 9M and then covered in leather? Is that a special dash top just for speedsters?
I really like how you tied the AR color together using paint on the guage surrond piece, just like on the earlier speedsters. Very cool and matches the AR on the back of the 993RS comfort seats.
Tell us more about the seat belts, can they be order in any color? I see the door pull straps are also AR colormatched. Wow, talk about attention to detail.
I really like how you tied the AR color together using paint on the guage surrond piece, just like on the earlier speedsters. Very cool and matches the AR on the back of the 993RS comfort seats.
Tell us more about the seat belts, can they be order in any color? I see the door pull straps are also AR colormatched. Wow, talk about attention to detail.
The seats are amazing .. wasn't sure about the colors working, etc.., but it all really works well because of the silver/titanium/aluminum accents in the interior against the Rubicon leather centers of the stock RS/GT covers:
The belts were re-webbed and the door pulls made by a company in the U.K. that 9m contracts with .. They, like 'Gotbelts' in the U.S., have a wide selection of custom colors to choose from and they match the doorpulls to Porsche factory spec with center seams and german eyelets .. can't tell them from OEM ... except the colors
I'm pretty sure any good upholstery shop can order custom seat belt webbing from their suppliers but you need an industrial sewing machine to attach them to the reels so they meet safety standards ...
Also, just wanted to tie into 9m's updated website .. they've created a new "Speedster" link in their 'Stop Press' section that talks about the two cars ...
http://www.ninemeister.com/
Last edited by JPP; Jul 15, 2011 at 09:36 PM.
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JPP, now I feel like part of your project. I have sat in those seats! When they were loose at Ray's shop. He had them upstairs. The only thing is that I had on jeans and apparently one of the rivets scratched up the driver side really bad, through the leather. He said he was going to have that patched - did he? How did it come out?
No seriously, those seats are perfect. And they look great in your car finished. Makes me wish that I had bought them when I had the chance. Your car project is so awesome. Makes me think of doing something similar with my blue car. Not the Speedster part, but the strip and repaint and redo at some point. Very sweet man...this is one of the best threads on Rennlist. I dont want to know the money you had to spend. (Ok...I kind of want to know)
No seriously, those seats are perfect. And they look great in your car finished. Makes me wish that I had bought them when I had the chance. Your car project is so awesome. Makes me think of doing something similar with my blue car. Not the Speedster part, but the strip and repaint and redo at some point. Very sweet man...this is one of the best threads on Rennlist. I dont want to know the money you had to spend. (Ok...I kind of want to know
)
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Posts: 5,490
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From: In front of you and to the left ...
JPP, now I feel like part of your project. I have sat in those seats! When they were loose at Ray's shop. He had them upstairs. The only thing is that I had on jeans and apparently one of the rivets scratched up the driver side really bad, through the leather. He said he was going to have that patched - did he? How did it come out?
No seriously, those seats are perfect. And they look great in your car finished. Makes me wish that I had bought them when I had the chance. Your car project is so awesome. Makes me think of doing something similar with my blue car. Not the Speedster part, but the strip and repaint and redo at some point. Very sweet man...this is one of the best threads on Rennlist. I dont want to know the money you had to spend. (Ok...I kind of want to know)
No seriously, those seats are perfect. And they look great in your car finished. Makes me wish that I had bought them when I had the chance. Your car project is so awesome. Makes me think of doing something similar with my blue car. Not the Speedster part, but the strip and repaint and redo at some point. Very sweet man...this is one of the best threads on Rennlist. I dont want to know the money you had to spend. (Ok...I kind of want to know
)
Anyway, thanks for the kind words, I know your taste/level of quality perception so it means a lot to me. Having said that ..... your coupe is so factory perfect and clean ... in my humble opinion .. it's always a big RISK to undo what the factory has done and ever expect to get it back to anywhere near Zuffenhausen quality ... Unless you're going to do something RADICAL like a complete RS conversion .. I wouldn't touch it.Money? Think 'Turbo S' ... a REALLY NICE ONE!
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From: In front of you and to the left ...
Ha. Sure ... I was just emailing someone about this ....
Last night we drove the car up along the Russian River to a back run that I used to drive my 356 Speedsters on when I needed to 'blow off a little steam' if you will ... The road is brilliant with many various twisty corners that are really almost always perfectly drafted .. several that dip down at the apex and then lift up as you accelerate out of them. The car just stuck like glue ... I could immediately feel the new longitudinal stiffeners doing their job, keeping the entire chassis from flexing and aligned with the task at hand. Really amazing .. and my suspension is NOT sophisticated .. just factory R.O.W. M030 Sport with Monroe shocks with 15K miles on them ... this car, set up the way it is would leave my '95 Coupe in the dust with PSS10's on it .. Like this little guy chasing a laser light pen in a large, carpeted room ...
Last night we drove the car up along the Russian River to a back run that I used to drive my 356 Speedsters on when I needed to 'blow off a little steam' if you will ...
The road is brilliant with many various twisty corners that are really almost always perfectly drafted .. several that dip down at the apex and then lift up as you accelerate out of them. The car just stuck like glue ... I could immediately feel the new longitudinal stiffeners doing their job, keeping the entire chassis from flexing and aligned with the task at hand. Really amazing .. and my suspension is NOT sophisticated .. just factory R.O.W. M030 Sport with Monroe shocks with 15K miles on them ... this car, set up the way it is would leave my '95 Coupe in the dust with PSS10's on it .. Like this little guy chasing a laser light pen in a large, carpeted room ...