What could enhance a beautiful summer weekend in Northern Indiana?  How about a guided tour of Special Edition, Inc. - assemblers of the Beck Speedster and Spyder located in Bremen, IN.  I had no idea that these guys have been building high quality Porsche replicas for the past 26 years right in my backyard!  Thanks to a nice writeup in our local newspaper last Sunday, I was finally enlightened.  So this past Saturday, I was joined by our Pelican brother "Doug&Julie" (and his brother Gregg) for a visit to Special Edition! 

It's a bit of a complicated story, but basically Kevin Hines worked with Chuck Beck for many years building Spyder replicas out of Brazil.  Eventually Kevin formed his own company (with his son Carey) in Bremen, IN assembling both '55 Spyder and '57 Speedster replicas.  They continue to import the chassis' (tubular steel frame with hand crafted fiberglass body panels) from Brazil and assemble the finished product in Indiana.  You can read more about the background and technology at the Special Edition website. 

Kevin conducted our tour personally and we got to meet his son Carey as well.  They were both very generous with their time and answered every question we could throw at them.  Both guys are Class Acts which clearly shines through in their product and their facilities. 

Doug will be adding his commentary to this thread, but I can tell you that it was like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for me .  Rather that trying to explain it, I think that a few pictures would be more descriptive....

I just heard that last weekend from some car friends in the know.  I also heard Chuck Beck is overseeing the operation and so far is not all that happy with the work so he is practically doing it himself. 

He may end up taking it away from them and do it on his own.  The man is 70+ so he can't keep it up too long.  When I spoke with him personally a few months ago he said he was having a really hard time finding the right shop to do the work. 

He is a bit of a perfectionist but since he is doing Porsche replicas that is a good thing

The 904 is one of my all time favorite cars.  That is one replica I would consider. 

__________________
Jerry'86 coupe gone but not forgotten

Unlike women, a race car is an inanimate object.  Therefore it must, eventually, respond to reason. 

Originally posted by jester911 I just heard that last weekend from some car friends in the know.  I also heard Chuck Beck is overseeing the operation and so far is not all that happy with the work so he is practically doing it himself. 

He may end up taking it away from them and do it on his own.  The man is 70+ so he can't keep it up too long.  When I spoke with him personally a few months ago he said he was having a really hard time finding the right shop to do the work. 

He is a bit of a perfectionist but since he is doing Porsche replicas that is a good thing

The 904 is one of my all time favorite cars.  That is one replica I would consider. 

That's interesting to hear. 

Their shop is about 30 mins.  from my hometown in north central pa, (elk county) and prior to seeing the name and address on Chuck Beck's website, I'd never heard of them.  I've driven by there since, and it looks like one heck of a place - huge building, beautiful showroom, everything top notch.  Someone spent a lot of money putting the place together. 

That being said, they were closed, so I didn't see any of their work.  They do seem to be very well funded, though. 

Having trouble uploading photos from home tonight... I'll take them to work and try from there. 

Overall I have to echo sentiments that these are some quality people and their work shows the same.  Kevin seemed like somebody who would fit in just about anywhere and didn't come across at all like a salesman...very genuine...very relaxed...very knowledgable.  Some of his stories were very entertaining! 

Matt asked a lot of questions I would have about safety and daily driveability...I think the bottom line is these are best left as "weekend toys".  Although, evidently there's a guy in Miami that has owned his car two years and has put 50k miles on it! ( The safety concerns are about being hit, not about mechanicals or anything related to quality, by the way...so they could be driven daily, but the question is would you want to?) 

i consider my 550 as an every fair day driver, there is a young lady in one of our southern states that uses hers as a real everyday driver,rain or else. 
i am upgrading to h4 lamps so i will feel a bit safer at night.  i love my spyder and am rolling on the miles.  that said, i still use my '79sc for almost everything else when i can't take the spyder. 

That is very interesting!  I have read other Spyder owners comment that operating their Sypders in traffic makes them nervous due to the diminutive size of the 550.  Do you feel that way?  Any safety concerns at all? 

Beyond that, though......what is the fun factor of the 550 vs. your SC? 

cubby,
you sit very low in the spyder, the first time i pulled next to a motorcycle i noticed that my head was about the same height as the bikes headlamp.  and my head does not light up.  so yes, there are visibility issues.  i find myself doing more arm waving in the little car, just to be sure that i am seen.  that said, there have been a few close calls from the less attentive of drivers. 
when i picked the car up in south carolina a couple of years ago i recall the first time i had it on the interstate, really didn't like it on the big slab with the trucks and other cars whizzing along at eighty five mph. 
then i got caught in a torrential downpour that allowed me to find out how claustrophobic you can get with the side curtains screwed on and the very low top.  looking out the side, you can only see as high as the door handles of your next lane neighbors vehicle.  i haven't had the top on it since then.  been caught in a few storms since.  you can always dry off later. 

as far as the spyder vs 911, i should say that since installing a built-up 3.3ltr 10.3 to 1cr , weber carbed, back-dated'73 spec, s cammed, carrillo rodded, blah, blah, etc.[  i must have forgotten something] engine , the fun factor has increased incrementally. 
now that you can steer the 911 with the gas pedal it is almost as much fun as the spyder. 
i do like the windows and targa top on those rainy days, radio and heater are also a bonus on the 911. 
david

p.s.  thirty odd years ago i used to drive a cab in new york city, back then i did not feel intimidated by nyc traffic, one of those young lunatics.  that might account for a small portion of my "spydie sense" in traffic today. 

My shot of the Speedster on the lift. 
Notice the orders hanging along the wall?  These guys had an article in the Wall Street Journal a couple of weeks ago.  That week they took 27 orders just from that exposure! 

This is not an actuall 356, but a fiberglass replica Kevin made some 20 years ago!  Very impressive...

Right hand drive models:

And just to keep a little bit of 911 content, here are Matt and Gregg's drivers.