Speedster Replica Suppliers

L&B Cars

L&B Cars made their own Speedster kits in Belgium from a base in Zandhoven from 1990 to 2006 and later from a new base in Malle as they became L & B Cars BVBA from 2006 until the company closed in 2008. The main product was a 1957 Speedster replica which was available as a kit or finished car.

L&B also produced a 'California' car based on the Speedster but with flared arches and minimal trim.

The total number of each type of kit/finished car produced is not known (by me) and I do not know how many kits found their way to the UK, though I think I have identified two owned by Speedster Club members.

'L&B' stands for Lambrechts and Bastiaenssen (Willy Lambrechts and his wife). Willy had a previous association with Bart Aertgeerts who ran a Dutch company 'Kit Stop', and this influenced him to make the 356 Speedster replica kit his main project.

A few cars were imported into the UK under the L&B brand, but Willy later signed a deal with Pilgrim Cars in the UK who first became L&B agents and later made a mould from the L&B masters and started manufacturing the fibreglass bodies in the UK. The inner panels and subframes were glued to the fibreglass body, and then the whole assembly bolted to a shortened VW Beetle Chassis.

The kits used many VW components (as the original cars did) including engines, gearboxes, brakes, wheels, pedals and steering. The wheels and 195/60 tyres are wider than the originals with safety in mind, but the L&B replica was is most other respects very close to the 1957 original.

steel subframe to which the fibreglass body was bonded

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