DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

HI DDK'ers

Some of you may have seen the Sammio 550 spyder moulds and jigs up for sale on ebay recently, well a long story short I've bought them and will take delivery next week. I'm pretty excited about the prospect of building cars and offering good quality kits to those that dream of owning on of the most iconic Porsches ever made. Sammio sold the kit as a budget 550, I would like to improve on that by offering better quality while still keeping prices realistic, I do want to offer options for those wanting to build a budget car themselves and others who want to commission something special.

I believe that the most important aspect of the car is to get the chassis and suspension right so that the car handles well and then I'll look at engine and transmission options as the project develops. The kit as it comes is based on a VW Beetle floor plan which is then shortened, therefore all running gear is beetle with an inverted beetle engine and transmission. I plan to develop the chassis to make something similar to the ladder/space frame of the original 550's.

I'm going to spend 3-6 months developing the car before re launching it - I know all you replica guys have years of experience (much more than me) in building kits and that where I would appreciate your help in all areas of the chassis development and in any other areas you feel it important. The cars will be available in LHD and RHD and eventually with a choice of engine and transmissions.

I'm based in Northern Ireland as some of you may know, but I've already spoken to one Company in the UK that will act as an agent making delivery and collection of chassis, bodywork and parts much easier.

Any thoughts at this early stage would be appreciated.

Good luck ..whilst i know nothing about building a car from scratch hence me buying a turnkey 356 replica .It will have to compete with the likes of Martin &Walker on price and quality .I looked at one that was for sale last year not sure who made the kit , complete car was around £27k it was a concourse car stunning in silver and red interior .
Brian

kitchens wrote:Good luck ..whilst i know nothing about building a car from scratch hence me buying a turnkey 356 replica .It will have to compete with the likes of Martin &Walker on price and quality .I looked at one that was for sale last year not sure who made the kit , complete car was around £27k it was a concourse car stunning in silver and red interior .
Brian

I know that they make great cars but I think there is always room for others to do there own thing, the cost is always an issue!

Congrats on buying the moulds - an absolute bargain! There is a fair bit of competition out there and many hurdles to get them compliant and registered in many countries which might limit your builds. I have never seen a complete Sammio before, so I was wondering how accurate they were shapewise to the original?

I'm sure you'll find a Market. Martin and Walker are the best in the UK. They offer a 4 or 6 cylinder version with Porsche 911 running gear for those with deep pockets. Chesil are doing a aluminium bodied 550 with some Intresting casting of the original brake drums aswell as other bits, only for the turnkey Market not kits. So again for those with deep pockets. Then theres the states and Europe. I'm sure you'll be fine as long as your not depending on the 550 to pay your mortgage.

Wish you luck in your new venture.

type550 wrote:Congrats on buying the moulds - an absolute bargain! There is a fair bit of competition out there and many hurdles to get them compliant and registered in many countries which might limit your builds. I have never seen a complete Sammio before, so I was wondering how accurate they were shapewise to the original?

I know many other 550's on the market, but as I say I think there's room for us all. I already run my own business and wanted another challenge - one that was Porsche realated. I've got good guys around me who will help with the problem solving and get the car on the road. As you say there are many hurdles to overcome - but that the same for any business and its; overcoming them that can make the difference between sucess and failure. Lastly at the price - I couldn't miss the opportunity. Regarding the shape compared to the orginal -we'll have to wait and see, I know it's a 87" wheelbase while others are 86" the original was 83". I believe that the moulds are close in shape to the Beck 550 - or so i've been told.

I'll get a website up and runing soon and also keep the fourm up to speed with all developments.

Robin

mdmax72 wrote:I'm sure you'll find a Market. Martin and Walker are the best in the UK. They offer a 4 or 6 cylinder version with Porsche 911 running gear for those with deep pockets. Chesil are doing a aluminium bodied 550 with some Intresting casting of the original brake drums aswell as other bits, only for the turnkey Market not kits. So again for those with deep pockets. Then theres the states and Europe. I'm sure you'll be fine as long as your not depending on the 550 to pay your mortgage.

Wish you luck in your new venture.

Hi as I said in another reply I run my own business - mortgage being paid! - so wanted to do something else. I know the M&W cars are very good and that there are many others trying to recreate an "original" 550's i suppose it's the same other around the world are building 904's 962's you name it their building them and at premium prices - totally outside the budget of us mere mortals. I still think that price is a key factor and want to be able to offer a budget VW chasis verison (as it is a the mo) then a ladder frame rolling chassis closer to the orignal spec - bodywork to fit both. I do see opportunities to offer 4 and 6 cylinder engine confuigurations but i think the key to the cars success will be the value for money i.e. a quality chassis and bodywork with good attention to detail and fit.

I need to go into a dark corner and think for a while..............

Thx for your support.

Robin

Robin,
Just make sure you take a baseball and glove as Steve McQueen did in the Great Escape

Hi Guy's
Sounds interesting and I wish you luck with this project, Robin!
As Rich said Chesil are building an aluminium 550 that is, as they say an exact copy! its amazing to see but it is going to be mega bucks over £80k!!
I think you will do well with a lower cost car but don't use a VW chassis it's got to have a lader type IMO and be of a shorter wheel base too but again IMO.
I'll look forward to seeing your progress and again good luck

ims101 wrote:Hi Guy's
Sounds interesting and I wish you luck with this project, Robin!
As Rich said Chesil are building an aluminium 550 that is, as they say an exact copy! its amazing to see but it is going to be mega bucks over £80k!!
I think you will do well with a lower cost car but don't use a VW chassis it's got to have a lader type IMO and be of a shorter wheel base too but again IMO.
I'll look forward to seeing your progress and again good luck

£80k for a replica is silly money - you could buy a couple of early porsches that would have bullet-proof depreciation and buckets of fun and where a £80k replica is never going to go up in value and it's still just a replica. I don't see any market for this unless? I could be wrong??

I'm with you on the ladder chassis - i'll give this more thought when i get my hands on it. The wheelbase issue does need consideration - most pundits realise that the originals 2100mm wheelbase was too short - and that the extra 100-150mm makes for a better driving car. I'm confident that the body moulds could be adapted to make the change to the original wheelbase - just need to get back in to that dark corner again!!

There is also the option to adapt to a 550A - which had a much better ladder chassis - and a slightly different look?

Thx again for the great support on this forum - makes me pleased that i've made the right decision to go with this business opportunity.

Robin

If you were going down the 550A route, you would have to make completely new bucks as both the chassis design and the body are a totally different shape, so sourcing period correct parts is also going to be a problem. The look of the 550A was not as popular as the RS550, so you might find it hard to find a market for them.

Good luck with your new venture!

Whichever model you chose please get the wheelbase correct. There was a long wheelbase 550 kit at classic le mans and it was fair to say it wasn't well liked I'm sure it probably more stable, but that's not the point of these cars.

Good luck

£80k for a replica is silly money - you could buy a couple of early porsches that would have bullet-proof depreciation and buckets of fun and where a £80k replica is never going to go up in value and it's still just a replica. I don't see any market for this unless? I could be wrong??

There are a number of £80k+ replicas that do sell - GT40s, Cobras, C Types, Shelby Daytonas. I bet you could spend that much on a 904 or 917...

They don't sell in massive numbers, but there is a market if they are very, very good.

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I'd say the gap in the market on the 550 is for a quick one with a revvy little motor and very proper handling. There are already very nice quality ones with established names, so competing with those will be tough, but if you could make one that would stay with a Caterham it would be quite something.

Could make a nice basis for a litle hillclimb car ........ If I ever do another project this would be right up there for consideration , especially if I could buy the bits I wanted ie just a body and chassis rather than having to have a complete kit .....?