Am I mad?

[bigsi]

My wonderful 996 cab is sad, since the purchase of my motorcycle and office relocation she rarely gets used, time perhaps to move her on to a new home...

Now to the question?

I am seriously considering the purchase of a Chesil Speedster, I can't afford an original and love the look! Looking around they aren't that pricey and some cash into the bank is always nice!

Does anyone here have experience of owning a Chesil, and in particular whether any tweaking is possible to get at least a little ooomph from the vw engines?

I am also thinking that extra cash in the bank is not that great and an early 911 coupe as well might be fun for when it is raining(911T or E), tax exempt etc...any advice on where to go to buy one, I am in the Heathrow area.

thanks in advance
cheers

[nervous]

bigsi said:

My wonderful 996 cab is sad, since the purchase of my motorcycle and office relocation she rarely gets used, time perhaps to move her on to a new home...

Now to the question?

I am seriously considering the purchase of a Chesil Speedster, I can't afford an original and love the look! Looking around they aren't that pricey and some cash into the bank is always nice!

Does anyone here have experience of owning a Chesil, and in particular whether any tweaking is possible to get at least a little ooomph from the vw engines?

I am also thinking that extra cash in the bank is not that great and an early 911 coupe as well might be fun for when it is raining(911T or E), tax exempt etc...any advice on where to go to buy one, I am in the Heathrow area.

thanks in advance
cheers

the vw transporter engine can be shoehorned in easy enough, and with a few tweaks can be very pokey. ive been in one that would happily do 135. and 0-60 in very few seconds.

i love em.

ive nearly bought one like a hundred times.

ace.

[Don]

...in a coma or back in time?

Might be back in time if you want a Speedster!

[bigsi]

Thanks nervous, though not sure about you Don.....
Anybody else got an opinion....

[Don]

bigsi said:

not sure about you Don.....

Sorry. Life On Mars (TV show) joke.

I love the shape of the 356 speedster myself. Rumour is that the Chesil lookalikes are considerably "better" than the original car. I hope an owner will be along to shed more light...

[johnfm]

My only opinion is to start advertising now - it may take a while to sell a Zanibar cab!! Nice looking car, but very, very particular colour.

Good luck with the Chesil - I've heard they're fab and when I'm grown up and can afford one, I think I'll be going down that route for drop top driving.

[nervous]

bigsi said:

Thanks nervous, though not sure about you Don.....
Anybody else got an opinion....

ps theyre a very modern drive, ive driven about 8 or 9 and im always surprised at how live and able they are, not at all like the beetle theyre based on.

[bigsi]

Thanks john, you are right of course, Zanzibar on a cab is very rare. However as the magasines keep saying white and orange are back in! And not everyone wants silver..or black...or blue...

Probably will start to advertise (on PH) tomorrow...somewhere in the early to mid £30's. Full spec, 33k miles, kept wonderful by GT1 in chertsey etc. A dealer indicated that sort of price to buy from me a month or so ago, so can't be far wrong! or am I? any of you wonderful dealers out there interested in it, or any PH'ers?

[paultje]

No not mad at all......they look really cool, and probably drive as well as the originals, (if not better!)
The 911uk.com forum had some similar discussions on their forums a while back...might be worth having a look.

[Fittster]

Out of interest how do the chesil cars compare against those made by studio g?

Studio G appear to have lots of fun toys, I love the look of the G350 and some of the office furniture is very tempting.

[nervous]

Fittster said:

Out of interest how do the chesil cars compare against those made by studio g?

Studio G appear to have lots of fun toys, I love the look of the G350 and some of the office furniture is very tempting.

according to their site, their built by chesil.

[Fittster]

nervous said:

Fittster said:

Out of interest how do the chesil cars compare against those made by studio g?

Studio G appear to have lots of fun toys, I love the look of the G350 and some of the office furniture is very tempting.

according to their site, their built by chesil.

[nervous]

Fittster said:

nervous said:

Fittster said:

Out of interest how do the chesil cars compare against those made by studio g?

Studio G appear to have lots of fun toys, I love the look of the G350 and some of the office furniture is very tempting.

according to their site, their built by chesil.

nice box. who makes that?

[Mattlan]

Was over at specialist cars of Malton last week, boss explained that he was making a point of buying "different" colours, 2 Zanzibar red cars in!

[qureshia]

I recently bought a chesil speedster for my wife who has wanted one for ages.

1st impressions are that it drives rather well, great wind in the hair/ air cooled noise and lovely feel. Every journey is accompanied by predestines waving and fellow motorist honking their horns.

My wife’s car was bought for less than half what you see the top ones being advertised at (£25k to £30k) it is not immaculate however runs well and looks the part.

Her car has a 1800 cc “chesil” supplied engine with a std 4 speed box – The gearbox is a bit of a let down as the top ratio is quite short and therefore at motorway speeds you are revving at between 3500 and 4000 revs ( which is near the top for a std air cooled engine)

The roof is ok – I have driven it in the rain and no more that a few spots of water came in. Her car is also fitted with comfort seats (not buckets) which means they adjust for height, slide and tilt, it also has rear seats with seat belts, little room in the boot when the spare wheel is in place.

The great thing is there are so many parts for sale at ridiculously cheap prices – see the magazine Volks world or the web site bigboystoys-uk.com

For example

A brand new 1600c engine (zero miles from mexico) - £1000
Spax shocks - £66
Rear drum brake - £19
Recondition 5 speed box (very tempting) - £549

A far as performance the world is your oyster, because the chesil is basically a rebodied beetle.

Take a look on this site for some of the possibilities

http://www.johnmaherracing.co.uk/performancesummar...

A number of sub 5 second 0-60 cars



See pics of my wife’s car at the link below (too wet outside at the moment to take some external shots – will add later)

http://s176.photobucket.com/albums/w182/attiqqures...

I suggest you try and get a long drive in one before you buy – they are not every day cars (poor heating) Great to go touring the south of France in – not so good driving round the M25 on a wet Monday rush hour.

cheers

Edited by qureshia on Monday 28th May 11:52