I picked up my first 356 yesterday
06-09-2008, 02:26 PM
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I picked up my first 356 yesterday
There's a local classified paper (print only - no online ads) that serves the Shenandoah valley. It's full of ads for power tools, dirt bikes, guns, pickups, etc. The paper basically serves the redneck community and my town is at the far northeast of its distribution area.
Last week I saw a 1960 356B 1600 Super advertised. The ad was pretty straightforward and the price was very reasonable, so I called and left a message on Wednesday. I didn't hear back from the seller, so I thought the car was gone. Saturday night I was at my uncle's house for a party and my cell phone rang. It was the seller. We talked about the car and he explained that he bought the car four years ago, drove it for a few months and parked it with the intention of restoring it. Like many of those stories, it ended with him having neither the time nor resources to restore the vehicle. I was surprised to see it in the particular paper and he explained that he didn't want to deal with long distance callers and people trying to kick the tires without seeing the car. I asked him to email me some photographs and he replied, "Sorry, I don't have one of those new phones with a camera in it." He then offered to mail me some pictures, but I'd have to wait for them to be developed and mailed. I knew then that this was a diamond in the rough. I told him that I'd see him the following morning.
This morning I woke up a friend and we drove about an hour south to the man's house. The car was in a detached garage with a cover over it. The first thing I noticed was that there was no way to get the car into the garage as the floor was about six inches above the ground. He told me that he rented a storage unit to keep the car in while he waited for his pre-fab garage to be delivered. When it came, he had a flatbed tow truck pick the car up and put it into his garage.
I was expecting a rustbucket under the cover. When he removed it, I saw a glossy Signal Red 356. I asked him when the last time he washed it was and he replied, "I've never washed it. It never got dirty." He had literally bought the car, drove it around his small town and parked it.
I inspected the car with a magnet and flashlight. I saw some rust in the floors and the longitudinals, but the suspension points were solid, the battery box was pretty solid and the steel under the rear seats was perfect. The paint was mediocre and it looked like someone puttied a couple of areas then sprayed it to sell it.
The engine was nicely detailed, but not original to the car. According to the seller, it's from a 'C' model and dated as a 1964. The car did not have a battery, as the owner had removed it years ago to prevent it from corroding the battery box, so we couldn't start it. Using an adjustable wrench, we turned the crank and it did so freely.
After looking at the car, we went into the man's house where he had laid out all of his documentation, including the title, undated and unsigned bill of sale, Porsche Certificate of Authenticity and several catalogs of restoration parts. We struck a deal and I called AAA to tow the car to my body shop.
The AAA driver was extremely careful with the car, taking 45 minutes to hook up chains in a manner satisfactory to him. He then winched the car onto truck and we were off to my body shop. I called the shop owner on his cellular phone and he agreed to meet us there to take in the car and assure that it didn't sit outside all night where it might fall victim to nefarious scavengers.
Nevertheless, here are some images from yesterday's adventure:
Last week I saw a 1960 356B 1600 Super advertised. The ad was pretty straightforward and the price was very reasonable, so I called and left a message on Wednesday. I didn't hear back from the seller, so I thought the car was gone. Saturday night I was at my uncle's house for a party and my cell phone rang. It was the seller. We talked about the car and he explained that he bought the car four years ago, drove it for a few months and parked it with the intention of restoring it. Like many of those stories, it ended with him having neither the time nor resources to restore the vehicle. I was surprised to see it in the particular paper and he explained that he didn't want to deal with long distance callers and people trying to kick the tires without seeing the car. I asked him to email me some photographs and he replied, "Sorry, I don't have one of those new phones with a camera in it." He then offered to mail me some pictures, but I'd have to wait for them to be developed and mailed. I knew then that this was a diamond in the rough. I told him that I'd see him the following morning.
This morning I woke up a friend and we drove about an hour south to the man's house. The car was in a detached garage with a cover over it. The first thing I noticed was that there was no way to get the car into the garage as the floor was about six inches above the ground. He told me that he rented a storage unit to keep the car in while he waited for his pre-fab garage to be delivered. When it came, he had a flatbed tow truck pick the car up and put it into his garage.
I was expecting a rustbucket under the cover. When he removed it, I saw a glossy Signal Red 356. I asked him when the last time he washed it was and he replied, "I've never washed it. It never got dirty." He had literally bought the car, drove it around his small town and parked it.
I inspected the car with a magnet and flashlight. I saw some rust in the floors and the longitudinals, but the suspension points were solid, the battery box was pretty solid and the steel under the rear seats was perfect. The paint was mediocre and it looked like someone puttied a couple of areas then sprayed it to sell it.
The engine was nicely detailed, but not original to the car. According to the seller, it's from a 'C' model and dated as a 1964. The car did not have a battery, as the owner had removed it years ago to prevent it from corroding the battery box, so we couldn't start it. Using an adjustable wrench, we turned the crank and it did so freely.
After looking at the car, we went into the man's house where he had laid out all of his documentation, including the title, undated and unsigned bill of sale, Porsche Certificate of Authenticity and several catalogs of restoration parts. We struck a deal and I called AAA to tow the car to my body shop.
The AAA driver was extremely careful with the car, taking 45 minutes to hook up chains in a manner satisfactory to him. He then winched the car onto truck and we were off to my body shop. I called the shop owner on his cellular phone and he agreed to meet us there to take in the car and assure that it didn't sit outside all night where it might fall victim to nefarious scavengers.
Nevertheless, here are some images from yesterday's adventure:
06-09-2008, 03:36 PM
#2
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Congrats!!!
Let the fun begin!!!!!! You will enjoy it. Just remember it's an old car and things go wrong with old cars more often than with new cars until you get all the bugs out. Once those suckers are gone, Hang on and enjoy the drive!!!!
Is the hood open or does it have the famous "Gasoline Station Attendant of the 60's tweek" going on?
Let the fun begin!!!!!! You will enjoy it. Just remember it's an old car and things go wrong with old cars more often than with new cars until you get all the bugs out. Once those suckers are gone, Hang on and enjoy the drive!!!!
Is the hood open or does it have the famous "Gasoline Station Attendant of the 60's tweek" going on?
06-09-2008, 03:49 PM
#3
Miserable Old Bastard
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Congrats! The car looks very nice from the pictures but digital pictures can lie about paint quality. What's your VIN? Mine is 113088. Good luck and enjoy!
06-09-2008, 03:54 PM
#4
Burning Brakes
Nice find and congratulations...
The fun is about to begin... don't you just luv old cars!
Paul,
The fun is about to begin... don't you just luv old cars!
Paul,
06-09-2008, 04:19 PM
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Thanks, folks. I'm not yet sure if I'm going to keep it. If you look in the second to last photo, you'll see a 993 Turbo that's being worked on. I've been waiting for that car to get out of the shop for eight months. The thought of not driving the 356 for a year is agonizing.
My VIN is 109829. From what I understand, the production run began with 108918, so this is a relatively early B. Correct?
My VIN is 109829. From what I understand, the production run began with 108918, so this is a relatively early B. Correct?
06-09-2008, 09:34 PM
#6
Miserable Old Bastard
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06-11-2008, 05:23 PM
#9
*******philiac
Congratulations! Don't turn on the windshield wipers until you take the arms off! Or, raise them off the glass then hit the switch and you'll know which one needs to be rotated 180.
Cheers,
--Chris Markham
Felton, CA #106728 59 Coupe
[Charter Member, infrequent visitor]
Cheers,
--Chris Markham
Felton, CA #106728 59 Coupe
[Charter Member, infrequent visitor]