Porsche in an Odd Environment
 

So, here I am in darkest Iowa, and I go to a car show called "Old American Iron and Corvette Parade", and what do I find but this on the show ground:

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u.../spyder001.jpg

Of course it's not a "real" 550, but a very very nice Beck repro, but still ...
According to the owner it had a "2165" engine, I assume a bored-out Type 4 VW.

I like that a ton!

Thanks for the picture.

Nothing like what, 1200lbs with 150+hp! Nice!

Nice find, thanks for the pic! I am surprised at how attainable a replica is price wise. I would have thought they would have been higher.

Thread jack:
Ronzi, I'm also in Denver, but grew up in IA. Care to have a beer sometime? Moving to Ft. Collins on Wednesday, but will be in Denver weekly.

There is a local group of them. I even go to some of their events because I want one - but have no room in the garage. Would not want to get hit by an SUV in one.

One of our Boxster owners also has a Beck. In fact, I met Check Beck's son last year. A local Porsche owner has an electric Beck in his shop - but I have never seen it run.

How much do those reproductions run for?

Seems to me the Becks were circa-$25,000 w/o engine & trans.
This is not a "kit" but a finished car (w/o engine & trans).

The owner of the car in the picture said it is registered in the state of Iowa as a "1955 Porsche 550", after some arguing with the DMV folks, and some intercession by the Beck factory people. He also said Beck was the only Spyder replica mfr to be authorized by Porsche to call their Spyder replicas a "Porsche". I have heard this before. I didn't believe it then, and I don't believe it now.
In any event, I see where the Beck web site now carries the name "Chamonix".

I have see older replicas registered as 1950s Porsches. The DMV guy sees Porsche badges on it and registers it as a Porsche.

That has all changed in California. Now kit cars are registered as special construction. There is a lottery and I think only 2,500 can be registered a year. Some people first register them in another state and then bring them to California.

Or, something like that. My Boxster/Beck friend says it is a real pain.

I have always loved the lines of a 550. I considered a Beck Spyder briefly before buying the Boxter. Crash safety, resale and DMV hassles were the deal breakers for me. I think it was the right choice in my case.

Found my pictures from a spider meat I went to 5 years ago.

#1.

#2........

That's the kind of registration I would expect for a reproduction 550, but certainly not "1955 Porsche 550".
I cannot imagine that Porsche would authorize ANYONE to use the name Porsche on ANY car not built by them. For pete's sake you can't even put "Porsche" on a t-shirt with them climbing all over you with cease-and-desist letters. Even the Ruf 911s and the Dauer 962s are not officially Porsches.

true, Ruf cars get Ruf VIN numbers. Porsche sends Ruf a certain amount of cars a year. A Porsche with Ruf vin numbers is worth a whole lot more too.

I got the full explanation of what sets apart a Ruf from someone who just bought Ruf parts and threw them on the car. You can actually call Ruf and ask them prior to buying one if it is real. They have all the cars they've ever built on record. Wayne at Ruf Dallas said they have calls monthly asking if a particular car is a Ruf, 9 times out of 10 it's not.