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Back in the day that these old Porsches that we call bathtubs were new, I had made enough trips to the VW dealer to know that I wanted a 356. The VW Porsche distribution agreement that was in place at the time had both cars being sold in the same showroom side by side. I was in Orlando and I don't ever remember more that one Porsche on display at any one time. Of course the showroom could only hold four cars total so I guess it was fair to say that it was not much larger than today's three car garage. These were VW's after all. I also recall that the cars were always locked and there were never any brochures available. Do you suppose that I had been "curb qualified " as a non buyer? I suppose that as a high school student buying fuses for a three year old VW (that sold new for $1600) I didn't look the part of a Porsche owner. I don't ever recall seeing a 356 actually being driven around town but they showed up in the paddock at the Sebring races each year where we used to peek into the windows. It was comforting to see that the photos we saw in Sports Car Illustrated and Road and Track were accurate and that exotic cars existed someplace besides in magazines. A few years after the track opened at Daytona we made the trip over on Rt 92 to watch the sports car races. The road to the beach was a narrow two lane ribbon (as they all were back then) with sand on both sides that was straight as an arrow and flat as a pancake. With plenty of visibility it was possible to actually pass cars with a 36 hp VW full of people. It took some practice and a few scary moments but it could be done. What you had to do was take a run at the car ahead long before you could pull out into the other lane to pass. Sorta like drafting NASCAR style. Once you reached the car ahead, if your timing was right, you just pulled out, never lifted and got around the guy. If you guessed wrong it was time to hit the brakes hard and pull back in line. Once you were out there the fun really started. Had you guessed right about the time between approaching cars, was the guy you were passing going to step on the gas and hang you out to dry, were your passengers going to ever stop screaming? The fun just never stopped. With all the multilane highways out there today new drivers just don't have the fun that we used to have. As we were threading our way through the traffic, a Speedster went by chasing a Ferrari making us all look like we were parked on the side of the road. We could only keep them in sight for a minute or so but there and then I knew that I some day I would own a 356. After moving to Maryland to start college I spent way too much time reading the Washington Post car ads looking for a 356 that I could afford. Since the cars were over $4000 new, even the used ones were out of reach. I didn't keep me from looking and I even started a file to keep track of the prices. That's a habit that I still do to this day. I start gathering information well before I'm ever going to buy something so that when a good deal comes along I can recognize it. Let me mention that a file in those days was a manila folder with a pile of little scraps of newspaper of all sizes. There were no Want Advertisers, no Auto Traders and no internet to help in the search. I even went and looked at a few even though I didn't have a clue what I was looking for. One Sunday the Post listed a '58 356 A sunroof coupe in white with a red interior that I could picture myself driving. The ad was only three lines of description but the most important part of the ad said "must sell - going overseas". Even back that was my kind of seller. I called, set a time and jumped in my VW and charged into DC. The owner was in the Army, an officer of some sort and was taking an overseas assignment and the car was not going along. He had a month to sell it and felt that would be plenty of time. I was offered a ride down Rock Creek Parkway and boy what a ride. It was my first ride in a Porsche and I was really impressed, he was driving 50 mph but it seemed like 100 mph. The sound out back from the four pipe Abarth exhaust made my VW sound like a bike with cards in the spokes. There were some oil filters, fan belts, and issues of Panorama included in the sale. I was going to have to find a way to buy that car. The soldier wanted $2300 for the car and while it was a fair price for a six year old car it was way over my budget. I told him how impressed I was with how well cared for the car was and would call him back in a few days. I left my name and number for him to call if it got sold. After counting all my pennies, IOU's, friends with a few bucks to lend and the market value of an orange VW I came up with $1800. Far short of a deal. I called back to offer all that I had but it was not enough. He was going to have to find another buyer with more money and I was sure that he could. Weeks went by and I had put the little white coupe out of my mind when the soldier called on a Thursday night. He was shipping out on Saturday and if the $1800 offer still stood, the car was mine, but for that price I didn't get his collection of Panos. I scrambled around and got the money together including $900 from my mother to be paid back when the VW was sold. The deal was that I had to let the Porsche sit until the VW was gone. That was the toughest part of the transaction, going off to school every day and seeing that white Porsche in the driveway looking like a puppy watching the school bus pull away. But the pumpkin found a new owner in the form of a graduate student at school and this long journey had begun. And what a journey it has been. KTF |
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