The official 356 drivers thread

I know we have a few Porsche 356 owners here - maybe very few? It's a long way from an air-cooled four to anything Ferrari, but ... if you have a 356, post it up! Sometimes I feel like the only 356 owner who's younger than his car.

1. Bullfighter - 1956 356A Speedster 1600 Normal
2.
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.....there was no option for former owners....

I have owned 12 back in the day, from a my first, a '57 1600N Coupe, to a B Prod. '57 Carrera Speedster. I was buying and selling street Speedsters for $1500.....(of course, some of them had no floor in the back....;-) The most expensive was the Carrera, a former SCCA production class champion from soCal, complete with a spare 4-cam motor & 8 gearsets; that one cost a mind-boggling $6,000. (lot o bux for a working college student!)

Only one I missed was a notchback; now I think they're very cool (but mostly cut into Cabs by now...)

 

I've seen only one notchback in person, local in San Diego. I bet those who cut them years ago are now having regrets.

 

Bullfighter, you are not alone!

I've owned my 57 Outlaw since the 80's. Currently down and waiting in the queue for its turn for restoration.. never back to stock, but as the Outlaw it has historically been. I'm the 3rd owner, with history provided by the 2nd owner who said he bought it while in the Foreign service and detailed to Italy. According to him. the original owner was a gentleman who worked for the Porsche factory, retired sometime in the 60's, moved to Italy and opened a restoration shop and this was his personal car.

I've been collecting "special" pieces for it for several years and will hopefully get the process started sometime later this year.

Previously owned 64 SC Cabrio.. actually owned that one twice, and a 60 coupe.

 

Nice! Did you get any of the period photos to guide the restoration?

 

Here is my 1965C
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Well its not mine yet - but its my Fathers car. He bought it brand new back in May of 1960 from Ed Huges dealership in the South Hills of Pittsburgh.

1960 356B Roadster red / black - never been restored, but has been repainted. original almost everything.... with 43,000 miles from new.
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awesome! wonder how many (how few?) one owner 356s there are these days....

 

The owner would have had to have bought the car at least 50 years ago.

So, probably not too many.

 

I do not own or have owned a 356. But I have been around, drivin in a 356 a bit.
I have a good friend I have know since middle school. His parents only had two cars for the longest time a 57 speedster GS GT and a 67 911S. I never saw the top on the Speedster and I never saw it run with the 4cam, but I saw it drivin all the time as it was his mom's car, drop off at school, grocery getter, everything. The 67S was his dad's car, replacing the speedster. My friend referred to the Speedster as the "family car" I wondered why because when they went out to dinner they always had to take both cars because of the three children and two adults. The Speedster was referred to as the "Family car" because it took the family to get it started when they had the 4cam engine in it. Someone holding hands over the carbs to choke it while someone else hit the starter button. Then push starting it when the battery went dead trying to crank start it. I never saw any of that but the name stuck.
When we started driving, they brought a VW Rabbit and the speedster was driven less (it was off limits for us any way). I had a Baja bug and toyed with the idea of using that 4 cam engine under the rotting plywood and blue tarp in the backyard of his house for my car, until I priced parts. I eventually bought the 67S of his dad's and the Speedster was sold to someone else.
Here is a picture of a 356 drive I went on, following in the back since I was in a 68S
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What a family treasure.

 

Its a fun car to drive and you can really get it moving... but i have not really driven it for about a year. my dad drives it a bit here and there = it gets run and warmed up every week. starts every time! its not a great car to get stuck in heavy rain!!! My dad and grandfather drove that car from New Castle PA ( north of Pittsburgh ) to Los Angeles CA in 1960 round trip! I think it cost my dad $65 in gas for the trip. and he topped 110 Mph in Texas outside Amarillo and again in NM.... Personally around 90 it gets light so Ive never pressed any further!

 

Fantastic!

I've never had the Speedster over 90. At that speed, I think I could brake to zero in under a couple of miles.

 

I have owned 5 356s. Here is my first one and my current one. 1958 Coupe taken in 1971 at an auto cross in the engineering building parking lot at Colorado State University. I have had the 1962 twin grill roadster for ~25 years. The middle photo is the driveway of my parents home during my college days. The photo was taken round 1974 I suppose. 1958 356A coupe, 1964 356C coupe and 1963 356B coupe. The B was my fathers car and the car I learned to drive in .
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yea from 90MPH to -0 about 1 hour... and 5 miles. ...actually I've only had one close call in the car back in the 80's .. had to slam on the brakes to avoid a dog run out in front of me ... i was going about 50mph and i was really suprised how much stopping power the drum brakes had... they did make a very high pitch metallic shreek but it really stopped quick. my dad said once the brakes got warm it stopped really well. He's always said the only problem on the roadster was it snapped clutch cables, and the top leaked. it was his only car for 3 years. what is so amazing is no rust - from new every september he would paint rustoleum under the whole car to protect it in the winters... and then it was kept in a dry warm garage for the rest of its life.

I've checked the normal rusty areas - battery box, under seats front wheel well - sils solid and fresh like new... I think that is what is so amazing about this car is its patina and authenticity.

 

currently has 356 views
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I have:
1) 1958 A Cab Super #150551, #s matching
2) 1958 Speedster #84683, in restoration

 

Admittedly the drum brakes are better than you would think, maybe because the cars don't weigh anything and pedal effort isn't bad. But going from a modern car to a 356, you have to recalibrate mentally.

You have a special car. Mine has all its original panels (and floors), but the door latch verticals and battery box were in bad shape. Some bits are repro just because you can't get NOS anymore -- my "shine down" license plate light and engine cover grille are repros because the originals were too trashed. So, keep all the OEM stuff in good shape - it's impossible to find.

#82191 back in the day, with Vic Skirmants pit crewing for John Camp (previous owner):
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Yea I get it on the nos parts... The only thing that is going a bit is the chrome it's got some pitting here and there but some day I guess I'll get it re chromed some day

Otherwise it's just keeping it clean and safe

 

Gmunds are the alloy bodied cars made in the sawmill in Gmund, Austria before the move to Germany. This was the last one. I heard a German barn finder found it in Sweden;like to know what year that was and approximately what he paid for it or what American photographer Jeff Zwart paid for it after that.. As old as this car is--the amazing thing is that Zwart races it!

 

Photo from the C&C at Symbolic - lots of interest (in the car ) by a younger crowd.
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Im still here Jon with a 53 Pre A, 57 and 59 Sunroof Coupe . The 53 and 59 Are now nearly ready for paint so might see them back on the road one day soonish. Your speedster looks awesome. Loved the Petrolicious video on it.

Miss my 56 speedster auctioned at Motorclassica last year
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I don't believe Jeff has ever raced his Gmünd.

 

Fantastic! Would love a sunroof coupe, although they're getting pricey over here.

 

A "barn find" out of Bozeman, MT.

Purchased in 2007, then it sat in my garage for a couple of years while decisions were made on what to do to the car. Finally decided to go all out for a concours restoration.

Won't bore the readers with the trials and tribulation during the process, but can tell you, was not a very pleasant experience.

Nearly completed this past summer and have put some miles on it and it is a blast to drive. Only a few items remain to be completed and will be ready for this summer's driving season.

DJ
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