ERIC’S PORSCHE
Eric Studer was a legendary figure in the early Porsche scene in the UK, and those who remember him with affection will no doubt be delighted to know that his family has ressurected his faithful 356 SC coupé
Eric Studer’s 356C coupé returns to the road in the hands of his two sons…
If you owned a Porsche 356 in the late 1960s and through much of the 1970s you would have been only too aware that it was rapidly approaching the bottom of the value curve, and keeping your baby fettled for the road was becoming increasingly difficult. The few main agents, having moved on to 911s, were wary of taking on a worn out 356, the cost of servicing or, even worse, welding a 356 being well beyond the pocket of the by then generally impecunious owners.
This situation resulted in the emergence of a kind of underground network of ʻmen with the knowledgeʼ spread around the country and turning their skills to ʻup-fixingʼ older Porsches. If you lived to the west of the Greater London area and owned a rust-riddled 356, the late and legendary Ernie Gregory, AFNʼS retired body man, was your first
choice, but with a waiting list that seemed to stretch into infinity and beyond.
Another man who turned his considerable engineering skills to maintaining the breed was the Bourne Enddomiciled Eric Studer – aka ʻStudermanʼ. For over four decades there was rarely a moment when you wouldnʼt find a 356 or two parked alongside Ericʼs unassuming bungalow, or on the communal green fronting it.
Eric became something of a legend amongst the 356 fraternity, with a Studerman comic strip depicting his exploits even featuring in early copies of Porsche Post, the Porsche Club Great Britain magazine. Eric was also an enthusiastic club racer, starting with his first 356, an A Cabriolet – not the ideal track car – but soon followed by a GS GT Carrera Speedster. Quite a step up the 356 ladder
and acquired under the most extraordinary of circumstances – a small ad pinned to a works notice board.
The owner had left the country to study abroad and after several years had contacted his mum to instruct her to sell it. The ad said simply something like, ʻOld Porsche Carrera for sale – £365ʼ. Imagine Ericʼs astonishment when he discovered that it truly was a Carrera, rust free and with a spare four-cam engine thrown in! An audacious offer of £285 was accepted, which perhaps is an indication of how in the 1960s old cars, even rare ones, were simply that: old.
Eric eventually gave up racing and, with his Carrera Speedster now approaching the value of his house, he decided to move it on. Having inflicted many years of torture by the elements on wife Cathy and sons Peter and Martin when travelling, roof down of course, in the Speedster, Eric decided to coast into his later years in a little more comfort, and in 1991 acquired the Ivory White SC coupé featured here.
The car was imported from California by Bob Garretson, the 1981 World Endurance Champion at the wheel of a 935 and a regular trans-atlantic commuter visiting his British Porsche chums. In the ensuing years Eric and Cathy enjoyed using the car on Porsche Club events and for trips abroad, as did Bob Garretson on several occasions. The Studer boys also used the car, participating in the odd Porsche Club track day, and Peter arrived at the church in it on his wedding day.
Quite unexpectedly, in 2005 Cathy died just short of their 50th wedding anniversary and Ericʼs enthusiasm for the Porsche seemed to diminish. The boys suspect that as he and Cathy had experienced such happy times in it that the association was too strong for comfort. Be that as it may what is certain is that Eric retired the coupé to his lockup garage where it remained for the next decade.
Eric passed away in 2015, presenting Peter and Martin with a dilemma: what to do with the Porsche. By the time that PRX 641B was disinterred from its decade-long slumber, it could by no stretch of the imagination have been described, as so many exCalifornia cars are, as rustfree. In fact, quite the contrary. Standing for such a long time gently fermenting in what was a very damp garage, the far from perfect environment had taken its toll.
It was obvious that the brakes would be seized, in itself a fairly minor problem, but it was the voracious appetite of the dreaded ʻtin wormʼ that had caused the most damage. As the saying goes, ʻrust never sleepsʼ and the car ʼs paint was bubbling in all the usual places that old-time Porsche owners will be only too familiar with, leaving the boys with an expensive decision to make – sell as is, or restore?
In the end Peter and Martin decided that restoring and sharing the car would be a fitting memorial to their dadʼs memory and entrusted the project to Mike and Paul Smith of PR Services, based in Billericay, Essex.
Paul and his dad Mike had known Eric and his boys from the very early days of the PCGB and Paul was helping Martin sort through the mountain of 356 parts that still filled Ericʼs home workshop. After a long session the two retreated to the local pub for refreshment when Martin happened to say, ʻYou might as well have a look at the Porsche, too.ʼ
Paulʼs startled response was ʻWhat Porsche!ʼ It had been out of circulation for so long that Paul and, it transpires, most of Ericʼs friends, had totally erased it from their memory or
“GENTLY FERMENTING IN A VERY DAMP GARAGE…”
assumed that it had long been sold.
Paul recollects the frightful smell of damp when they opened the garage doors and dragged the coupé into the light, but it was not until it was back at PRS that the full extent of the decay became apparent. Martin and Peter were called in to survey the damage.
The boys had a limited budget for the resto, which PRS agreed to work to, so from the outset it was never intended to be a ʻdown to the last nut and boltʼ job. On being asked if he was surprised by the extent of the rot, and bearing in mind that it was a perfectly usable car when he last saw and drove it, Peter replied, ʻYes, I guess “surprise” would be one way of putting it!ʼ It was obvious that surprise was perhaps an understatement.
Peter continued, ʻAs the full picture of the level of rust was exposed then I think we both felt very shocked and feared that the repair would be well outside the budget that we had agreed with Paul, but he was fantastic, reassuring us that fundamentally the car was straight and sound, with really good panel gaps, matching numbers, and fully worth the investment of getting the job done properly.ʼ
Fortunately the engine was free and rotated easily. Once started it ran well and it was assumed that Eric would have rebuilt it when he used the car regularly – given that Eric without fail pulled the engine of his racer after every race and replaced the bearings (135 times!), it is impossible to imagine that he would not have rebuilt it as a matter of course. With this in mind it was decided not to disturb the engine and also to let the tinware retain its patina – otherwise known as surface rust…
Odd though it may seem to the current, ʻeverything must
“REALLY GOOD PANEL GAPS… …MATCHING NUMBERS…”
be the way the factory built it but even better ʼ school of Porsche ownership, Eric was ʻold schoolʼ and although he constantly sought mechanical perfection, aesthetics were very much a secondary consideration and everyone concerned with the car ʼs refurbishment feels that he would not have disapproved.
Working to a budget, but also bearing in mind that the intention was to preserve as much of Ericʼs time with it as possible, it was decided to strip the paint by hand rather than media blast the shell, which would have required disturbing the interior. Once in bare metal it was apparent that there had once been some slight damage to a front wing but nothing too serious. From the paint code, and traces found during the stripping, the car was originally Bali Blue. The change of colour must have taken place in California as Bob Garretson has confirmed that when he bought the car it was already white. Again, as this was an homage to Eric, it was decided to keep the car white rather than return it to its original colour.
The sills, door bottoms and inner lower wheel wells were totally shot but strangely, and luckily, the floorpan was in good condition, requiring only a few small patches along the outer edges.
The underdash fuel cock was caked in treacle-like seepage suggesting that the interior of the tank might also be harbouring ʻgooʼ. Flushing the tank with a high pressure hose didnʼt seem to help much as it continued to vomit dislodged particles of crud and rust, leaving no choice but a dissection. Let what was revealed be a lesson to all that leave their cars standing for extended periods: modern petrol doesnʼt like it.
In fact, the interior of the tank would make a good ad in the spirit of those stomach-churning, blocked artery, antismoking horror ads. Once cleaned the boys at PRS reconstructed the tank as new.
Peter and Martin are keen to emphasise that without the enthusiasm of Paul and PRS they might not have seen the job through. ʻRealistically we couldnʼt have contemplated the job without the efforts and support of Paul and PRS, his encouragement to see the job through was what provided light at the end of the tunnel. We chose very wisely!
ʻI think that the ʻcreditʼ that Dad had earned over his many years of helping others out with all things 356 was used up to get the car back on the road. Paul took pride in being part of the process of restoring Studermanʼs car back to its original glory, and we canʼt thank him and Mike enough.ʼ As you might imagine it was a highly emotional day for Peter and Martin when they went to see the finished car.
Eric was notorious for his ever-present pipe (he once accidentally misplaced one in my own car and I had to endure months of musty tobacco smell before it finally dislodged itself from under the passenger seat!) and the day was made even more poignant when the team at PRS pointed out the discovery made in the glove box: a packet of their dadʼs favourite tobacco, and pipe ash in the ashtray! For as long as Peter and Martin own PRX 641B you can be sure that it will always retain a little ʻessenceʼ of Eric… CP
“PRX 641B WILL ALWAYS RETAIN A LITTLE ESSENCE OF ERIC…”