Sleek roadsters add pep to Maui travels

Some people view them with nostalgia — as time machines that recall the carefree days of their youth. For others the attraction is purely physical: They’re sleek, beautiful and elegant.

Either way, Larry Lutz and his wife, Christine Vestfals, owners of Maui Roadsters, say their four 1957 Porsche 356 Speedster reproductions up the fun and thrill of sightseeing, and they love to share stories about them.

For example, there was the man who reserved one of their classy convertibles as a surprise for his parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. The elderly Iowa couple drove to Kapalua for a vow renewal ceremony on the beach and then explored Maui’s upcountry.

“They had a blast!” Lutz said. “At the end of the day, they said they couldn’t remember the last time they felt so young.”

Then there was the woman who rented a Speedster for an outing with her terminally ill father, who was a vintage-car enthusiast. They spent a day cruising wherever their whims took them.

“She knew the Speedster ride would be one of the last memories she would create with her dad,” Lutz said. “In that sense it was a gift of love as much for her as it was for him.”

The first time he and Christine drove a Speedster was in April 2014 at the urging of Maui Roadsters’ previous owner. They decided to check out the car’s performance on the spectacular but challenging road to Hana, with its 620 curves and 59 one-lane bridges.

“We had driven that 52-mile road many times before, but it’s a different experience in a Speedster,” Lutz said. “You hear the constant thrum of the engine, and you’re completely engaged as you upshift and downshift to control the entry and exit speeds of all those turns. It’s intuitive driving with your tush just inches from the ground. We weren’t just driving and looking at the scenery; it felt alive and we were part of it.”

At one rest stop a little boy stopped eating his lunch, pointed at them and shouted, “Racing car!”

“He couldn’t take his eyes off the Speedster, and they got as big as saucers when we let him sit in it so his parents could take photos,” Lutz said. “It’s pretty powerful when a 3-year-old recognizes an exceptional automobile.”

Celebrities who own Speedsters include comedian Jerry Seinfeld, TV and music producer Simon Cowell and Adam Levine, lead singer of the pop-rock band Maroon 5 and a judge/coach on the popular TV talent show “The Voice.”

Drive one of Maui Roadsters’ Speedsters and you’ll feel like you’re on Hollywood’s A-list. Onlookers will cheer, clap, smile, wave, toot their car horn and give you enthusiastic shakas and thumbs-up.

Maui Roadsters is a natural fit for Lutz. An avid “car guy” ever since he was a child, he’s certified as a technician by the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence and has worked in the automotive industry for more than 25 years. After he and Christine married on Maui in 2003, they settled in the San Francisco Bay Area where he worked as the service and parts director for a GM dealership.

Over the next seven years, they returned to Maui often, finding it harder and harder to leave each time. In May 2011 they decided to move there, and nine months later launched a tropical ice pop venture called Shaka Pops Maui (shakapopsmaui.com), which was based on a business plan that Lutz had written as his final project for his M.B.A. from Dominican University of California in San Rafael.

That kept the couple busy for two years. Then in March 2014, Maui Roadsters moved into a bay at the same Kihei location where Shaka Pops had its production facility.

Lutz and Christine befriended the company’s owner at the time, and when he put it up for sale, they were first in line to buy it. They sealed the deal in June 2014.

Maui Roadsters’ reproductions were molded from casts of real 1957 Porsche 356 Speedsters, with features such as air-cooled engines, wood-grained steering wheels and authentic Porsche pieces including emblems, headlights and hood handles. They’re difficult to distinguish from the originals. Even better, their bodies are made of fiberglass instead of metal, so they won’t rust.

Vanity plates and distinctive colors make identifications easy: Lani (“Heavenly”) is ivory with a tan interior and whitewall tires, Mano (“Shark”) is arctic blue with a red interior, Hoku (“Star”) is silver with a burgundy interior and Pele (named after the Hawaiian volcano goddess) is red with a tan interior.

When Lutz and Christine have free time, they like to take a Speedster on their favorite drive: upcountry to Ulupalakua with its lush rolling hills, winding roads and air scented with eucalyptus. They also enjoy going to Makena to admire gorgeous coastal views that encompass Molokini, Kahoolawe and West Maui.

Wherever customers choose to go, the Speedsters promise a remarkable wind-in-your hair, sun-on-your-face ride.

“They’re not just cool rental cars,” Lutz said. “They lift your spirits, transport you to a bygone era and inspire wonderful, lasting memories.”

Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi is a Honolulu-based freelance writer whose travel features for the Star-Advertiser have won several Society of American Travel Writers awards.