My 993TT has an older brother now

So Im taking it old school this time around, even older than my 993TT. After a failed start to a restoration project that involved finding a car, agreeing on a price and then having the restorer push back the start date 2 months and then change his mind on the price and try to increase by almost a 1/3 of the original price. I finally decided enough was enough and went to a reputable well known shop to find my perfect car.

Now they had a lot of perfect cars including a bunch of 4 cam cars and even a 904 that was for sale. But i was there for one car..... a 56 356a Speedster restored in the original white on red. The dealerships sales manager picked me up in another 57 speedster that I was also contemplating but due to its non original color combo (although amazing combo of stone grey/red) I opted to make the deal for the white one.

Pics from the dealer....and ill have pics once its up here in my hands!




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Amazing how something so simple can be so beautiful to look at.

Great color combination.

 

Stunner. Congrats!

 

gorgeous

 

Congrats and welcome to the white Speedster club. Coolest car ever made! But I'm biased.

I like the '56 cars because you can get the pre-overrider bumpers and the beehives.

What chassis #?
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That is super hot. Congratulations.

 

Thanks everyone, itll probably another week till it gets up here.

Hey Jon

Thanks, its chassis 82298. Matching engine, trans and deck lids.

H

 

Most excellent!!

 

Nice find. Mine's a month earlier, 82191.

 

nice! Only 1 more week and itll be up here. I flew down to costa mesa and drove two cars. One was stone grey/red and looked amazing. However at the end of the day it wasn't original paint scheme, but original motor and such. Also White/Red has always been the combo i wanted.

 

amazing looking car,

 

Very envious. One of the odd aspects of the current Porsche car marketplace is how 356 valuations have quit climbing while later cars have gone nuts. I have three aircooled turbos at the moment, would love to swap one for a speedster if I could find one like yours!

 

356s and early 911s shot up from 2010-2014 and made the later stuff look like relative bargains. We used to be able to find 356 coupes for $25K-$30K: really nice ones are pushing six figures now. Open cars have always been higher, and 356 cabriolets are now where Speedsters were in 2005-2007.

Also, and this is just my theory, but 356s tend to be held for the long term. Newer cars tend to change hands more often so we may see more speculation in the post-1975 market.

(But compare 1950s/1960s Porsches to similar era Ferraris and the German cars are still a raging bargain.)

 

Agreed, I think the speedsters will just keep climbing for the time being. The two at canepa are being listed at just under 700K. They aren't even 4 cam cars, which are in that 600-800 range already. Give it another 5-10 years and "run of the mill" speedsters will be topping 1m for good original examples.

 

They're not Carreras, but they are phenomenal cars with 20 and 41 miles on perfect restorations. That's probably the top of the pushrod Speedster market.

I'm guessing they'll continue to rise slowly over time.

I passed on a '72 911S at the time I bought my Speedster in 2009, though, and in hindsight should have done both...

 

Even then I've been offered fresh restoration cars with all original everything in the 425K range. They are a bit high, but will get it because they are canepa.

 

not to stray waaaay OT, but to beat the drum on a continuous refrain of mine: All this makes early classics valuations look like crazy bargains. A Duesenberg SJ roadster profiled in this month's SCM sold for $1.4M

 

No doubt. But the price rises for pre-1974 Porsches were/are due in part to their being sports cars, and very reliable and driveable even today. I drive my 356 at least once, usually twice a week, and have picked up dry cleaning and done small grocery runs in it. It's 60 years old but because Porsche is still integral to automotive/motor sports culture, kids from 10 years old know exactly what it is.

A Duesenberg is an historic car and relatively inexpensive considering its manufacture and importance, but I've never seen one used for anything other than parking on the concours lawn. It's something you admire and read about in books. It's $1.4M for a museum piece. Which reminds me again of my favorite print ad (reposted here):
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Congratulations! I'm a huge fan of the early "Bee-Hive" 356A's! I also have a matching numbers/colors '56 Speedster. Chassis 82236. I've had it since '99. I looked specifically for a bee-hive. They are really special. They were even hard to find back then. I love the no over-rider look with bee-hives. A bit of trivia for you, the early bee-hive A's have Carrera bodies. They are unique in that they are pre-equipped with all the Carrera brackets, dry sump oil tank holes, removable engine pan and wiring loom. Both my Speedster and my '56 A Coupe have these unique details. Many restorers have removed these thinking someone has modified the car!!! Bee-Hive A's are "the ones" to have. All the visual charisma of the pre-A's but with the better A chassis. I also prefer the A Speedster 3 gauge dashboard to the pre-A two gauge. Really the "first" pushrod Carreras!

Freeman
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Hey Thomas. Great cars you have there. I for one am envious. BTW... Thank you for your fabulous design work on the many cars that still catch my eye.

 

Michael,

Thank you The '71T soft rear window Targa (one of the very last) and the real deal "Lufthansa" 914-6GT belong to a friend of mine. It's funny, a few years ago, these three Porsches would be tagged ugly ducklings than no one wanted and many criticized their looks. Today it's a different story!

Freeman

 

Beautiful speedster 4camgt!! Post more pics!

 

I'll second that. I have a TT parked next to the Speedster. Both get compliments.

 

Well my car was loaded on the transport truck making its way up the coast to PDX. Im excited to get it, hopefully we get some decent sunny days.

 

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Looks like it had coupe seats when delivered -- which is probably a rare option, but no way I'd want those in a Speedster. Looks and feels much better the way yours is set up. I think McQueen had those in his '58 originally (based on a racing photo in Matt Stone's book) but swapped them out later.

I remember my first ride in mine when it was (finally) delivered. There is no substitute.