Restoration Design Speedster - Detailed pics now added

[KS]

It's beena long time coming, but Restoration Design has finally shown its all-steel Speedster body/chassis at the LA Toy & Lit meet. Wonder how the market will view these...

[neilbardsley]

Hopefully the same way as it views any replica

Sent from my M2004J19C using Tapatalk

[wildtexas]

I’ve not looked into what RD is doing here, but is it any different to a heritage mini or MGB shell?

Replacing the shell of your rotten B seems perfectly acceptable.

Personally I think if it’s well executed, faithful and clearly stated then it’s not an issue.

[Hugo 356]

Unless it is misrepresented, somewhere between a fibreglass replica and a Coupster is my guess

This Coupster made good money last week; £124k. The market in the US seems stronger to me

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1957- ... edster-28/

[911hillclimber]

Looks great to me, and as said no different to an MGB new shell which were/are dipped after welding, and are a selling point.

Maybe these shells are more accurate than the originals?

[camperco]

I had a look around it today at the 356 club swapmeet. Its great and they have orders for eight already. I would love to build one if anyone fancies it!

[KS]

Looks great to me, and as said no different to an MGB new shell which were/are dipped after welding, and are a selling point.

Maybe these shells are more accurate than the originals?

When you say 'no different', I have to disagree. You can buy a rusty MGB for around £1000 (they often pop up on Facebook Marketplace for around that) and, indeed, a reshell using a new Heritage shell would add significantly to its resale value. With a Speedster things are rather different. You MIGHT be able to buy a rusty Speedster for £150K, and it would cost north of £150K to restore. BUT at the end of that process you get a car which is worth at least what you paid, if not far more. A restored Speedster built using the RD shell would be worth less than what you paid for the rusty original.

Now, there's another matter to consider. MGB Heritage shells are accepted by DVLA as a legitimate 'like for like' replacement. In the case of the RD bodyshell, to satisfy DVLA, you'd need to reshell a genuine Speedster which, as suggested above, makes no sense. What you couldn't do is use it to build a Speedster out of a rusty coupé or cabriolet in an effort to sidestep IVA.

In real terms, as far as the UK's authorities are concerned, this will be treated no differently to a Chesil or any other kit car and will, therefore, need to go through IVA with all that this implies.

The only market for this is either in the USA where such trifles are overlooked (except by the cognoscenti, obviously) and people will happily create faux Speedsters from rusty 356 coupés, or by someone somewhere trying to use the identity of a long lost genuine Speedster which miraculously reappears freshly restored, ready to be sold to someone with more money than sense.

It's a fun project to show RD's skills but little more.

I wonder how much longer we'll have to wait before Dansk get round to doing their repro 911 bodyshell, which could well have Porsche's blessing?

[Gary71]

What it does do is show that if your are restoring a speedster then all the panels you may require are available, assuming the panels on this shell have been made with a view of like for like replacement of rotten originals.

The line between panel replacement and grafting a used tunnel and bulkhead into an otherwise new shell is very grey and has certainly been crossed a few times during some 911 restorations.

[Bruce M]

I follow Retropower on you-tube and if I understand correctly, they put some (perhaps most) of the cars through an IVA due to the extensive modifications.

But they are using a basic donor vehicle in every example I’ve seen, even if they replace most of the metal in some examples (the recent Mustang for example).

[neilbardsley]

What it does do is show that if your are restoring a speedster then all the panels you may require are available, assuming the panels on this shell have been made with a view of like for like replacement of rotten originals.

The line between panel replacement and grafting a used tunnel and bulkhead into an otherwise new shell is very grey and has certainly been crossed a few times during some 911 restorations.

Ask Jerry Seinfeld about 550 #2?

Sent from my M2004J19C using Tapatalk

[Gary71]

Is it time to get into the Ship of Theseus thought experiment yet?

Too early on a Monday?

[Hugo 356]

Interestingly a 'trigger's broom' significant, high value race car seems to be more acceptable than a humble road car, at least until 2 turn up to Pebble Beach with the same chassis number. Probably due to the risk of damage from racing & you can't buy the other one (unless it's been cloned!)

[roy mawbey]

Started my working life as an apprentice tool maker ended my working life selling CNC machine tools in 2007. The photo Keith put on shows a very well executed piece of work for the bodywork. Not seen anything of the box sectioned chassis. The amount of work to produce the required tolerances of a 356 box chassis ready to accept a new body and all the supplementary suspension, is really beyond what I would think possible without so many tooling items, so if that is the case, I am really amazed at their capability. Then they must have for the body work, required presses? An English wheel can reproduce a nice looking reproduction, but in any form of production numbers I just don't get it? They will all be different to one another is some way? I am now a retired old bloke, who did try fabricating items. RD must have engineers way beyond my league. So what happens under the front lid with the Chassis number ??? Is it an RD number?
Maybe someone can explain things to this baffled old guy.

Roy

[Bruce M]

They have at least one big industrial press and make their own die tooling. Also use a 5 axis laser cutter to do the edge finishing and internal holes.

[Gary71]

And the 911 pedal box reinforcement still doesn’t fit