Duckstu

I'm trying to track down a car my dad had before I was born.

It was one of 6 made,.. and years later would have been called a Carrera.

It was a 1953 coupe, painted in Robin's Egg Grey (or at least that's the color they used when it needed a re-paint)

I'm pretty sure it still had the split windshield like the 1952's had,.. and had twin grills that would only become officially available on the Carreras that came out some 3 years later.

The engine (which he had rebuilt after it was in an accident) had a Hirth crank, overhead cams driven by shafts, liquid-sodium valves, and chrome plated cylinders with many thousands of tiny peens done by hand to hold oil for the rings (because chrome doesn't hold oil).

There is only one picture of the car that I know of in an old family photo album.

The car was originally sold to J. Bell Moran of Grosse Pointe Michigan and raced. My dad bought the car from Moran and drove it until the floor-boards rusted out. The wipers stopped working one night when my mom was out getting a potty for my older sister and the car was double ended,... then rebuilt.

My father passed last year,.. but I fondly remember him telling the story of the engine. The shop master mechanic at Wood Motors (On Gratiot Ave in Michigan)had to phone the particular Porsche master that built the car to dig up his records and tell them what was in it, and the specs so they could order parts (Each of the 6 engines and cars were built by one single Porsche master,.. and each was unique,.. having the engine built the way that particular master wanted). A new crank had to be shipped in from Hirth. All the German mechanics and Porsche masters gathered at Wood Motors in Michigan to watch the crank get un-crated.

It was a large wooden crate, which once un-packed revealed a nicely made wooden chest with nice hardware. Inside that was a hardwood chest (Mahogany?) with brass hardware. Opening that revealed the crank sitting in crushed velvet. All the mechanics oooo'd and ahh'd. Speaking to my uncle,.. he remembers the rebuilding of the car to cost a small fortune. The crank alone was $1,500. This was in perhaps 1957,.. when you could buy a new Chevy Bel-Air for just about that. (almost $12,700 in today's money),

Thanks to the chrome lined cylinders,.. the cylinders were all perfectly round and in spec. Not the slightest bit of oval-ing or piston slap (unlike his BMW R69s.)

(All this is my recollection of my dad's recollection)

Anyway, the car was rebuilt and later sold. I've never seen one like it or even a picture or a description of such a car. Are any of the 6 still around?



Other fun stories;

As far as me dad knew,.. it may have been the first Porsche in Michigan. A few years later one of his brothers and two of his friends had Porsches. One day they were sitting around and realized none of them still had a valid license.

One time my dad got a ticket for wearing a seat belt. His car had been fitted with an aircraft type belt,.. and the cop gave him a ticket for having them.
\

EDIT,... The identity of the car has been discovered. it was almost certainly a slightly unique 1500 Super with special seats, and aircraft belts installed by the first owner for racing..


Sorry for the miss-information. The part about it having overhead sams must have been an invention of my own mind. Now that I think about it I remember him talking about the Hirth crank, sodium filled valves, chrome cylinders etc,.. but no mention of the overhead cams.

doublecabmel

Not that you want to hear this.... But that car is worth some serious $ now

fskof

What a great story. Please post this on Porsche 356 registry

http://forum.porsche356registry.org/...f4dc10700b56b5

They will find the info you are looking for. Good luck and keep us updated on what you find.

Byron M

Interesting Story. Contact Steve Heinrichs he is an authority on the subject of 4-cam cars and is just about ready to release a detailed historical book on this very subject. He's quite active on this 4-cam forum and can be reached here: http://www.abcgt.com/forum/5-4-Cam-Forum.html
Hope this helps.
-Byron

Duckstu

Thank you.

I actually tried that before I tried here, but that site wouldn't let me register.
.

Duckstu

Will do.

I'll register there and see if I can find him. Is he the admin (gwdlv)?

I don;t see any contact info, just forums and such. If that's him,.. I can send him a PM once I register.

Thanks very much.
Stuart

Duckstu

Yeah,.. shame huh?

I hear all the stories from him and my uncles and wonder what various stuff would be worth today.

Such as how he carried a Beretta for years in a shoulder holster, but finally got tired of lugging it around and the pain it caused his shoulder. So he traded it even-up for a small Smith & Wesson bodyguard .38 The Beretta was serial number 0006. In my head I scream "Nooooooooo".

Perhaps we'll have the same stories one day.
.

Duckstu

One of the other Porsches the group of friends had was my uncle's first Porsche. It was a green 1952 coupe with green cloth interior. It had 100k on the ODO when he bought it, despite it never having been registered for the road.

It was a 1,500 cc my uncle remembers (not "The hot one" like my dad's). It had first been bought by Studebaker to use in their design department (and probably driven on their track a lot).

Then it was sold to Chrysler, who tested it extensively and took it completely apart, including the engine.

They must have sold it to one of their execs, because my uncle bought it from a Chrysler exec by the name of K. T Keller. My uncle registered and plated it for the first time.
.

Steam Driver

Wow, what a neat story, and somewhat of a mystery to boot! Weird about getting a ticket for wearing a seat belt; how things change, Hun?

Duckstu

Mystery solved. 1953 1500 Super.

Duckstu

There are 2 pictures of the car. Both from June 1956.

Check out those tires.



My dad and older sister. He's 26, She's one and a half.

Snowboarder54

Nice, I love these type of stories as I cut my teeth on 356's I owned four of them before I turned 18 years old! But that was many years ago!

Duckstu

I take it you're Australian?

Snowboarder54

Damn ipad!

tcsracing1

your dad is easily one of the coolest people ever to have owned that car!

I hope you track it down as it shouldnt be too hard given the die hard 356 community out there...

I have tracked down a couple of my father's vintage vettes... but your car would be like finding the holy grail!