THE FINAL SAY
This issue’s closing comment.
Before a myth: I wax the lyrical claim from about some how good quarters my that 356 is, a 356 let’s is debunk too small to be used as a practical Porsche. Wrong. I’ve owned my 1964 SC for twenty-five years, and in that time, it’s been used to carry me, my cameras, my camera support equipment (generators, tripods, lighting gear etc.) and whatever else I need to do my job. Whether I’m taking photos of cars at home in the United Kingdom or visiting specialists in mainland Europe, I’ve never had a reason to doubt the ability of my 356 to get me and my possessions to and from wherever I need to be.
The roof rack helps, of course. My tent fits snug on there, but it’s not as though I struggle for space inside the car, even when it’s carrying loads of camera kit. I’m more than six-foot tall, but my head doesn’t awkwardly bash the car’s roof, and with the seat pushed back, I’ve got plenty of legroom.
My 356 is a quick car, too. Granted, it’s not fast by today’s supercar standards, but it doesn’t half shift! The 1.6-litre flat-four engine is brilliant, although it’s fair to say the uprated Koni dampers, wide Fuchs sixteen-inchers and staggered profile rubber helps to maintain speed in corners. The active subwoofer under the passenger seat? Less so. I COULD SEE THE POTENTIAL FOR A SPEEDSTER AS A COMPETENT PHOTOGRAPHER’S ASSISTANT I first considered buying a 356 after seeing a Speedster advertised in the American edition of Exchange & Mart when I was working on a Max Power magazine photo shoot in California almost three decades ago. Excited by what I was looking at in print, I went to view the car in the metal. Truth be told, I didn’t like the shape of it, even though I could see the potential for a Speedster to perform as a competent photographer’s assistant (the removable windscreen and open-top would have been useful for tracking shots). I did like the look of the immaculate red 356 coupe in the same dealer showroom, though, which is why I bought the first red SC I test drove after arriving back in Britain.
That probably wasn’t the best idea. A subsequent professional inspection of my new Porsche highlighted poor compression and shoddy brakes. I commissioned a full engine rebuild and a refresh of all other mechanical components. All told, the work cost me almost as much as I paid for the car.
Looking back at the way classic Porsche prices have shot up in recent years, that was undoubtedly money well spent, but I’ve never treated my 356 with kid gloves. I bought it before the boom in interest surrounding Porsche’s air-cooled output, which means I had no qualms about moving away from factory specification at a time when an old 356 wasn’t worth all that much money. Consequently, the car is lowered, de-badged, it’s fitted with a stupidly loud centre-exit exhaust system and aftermarket audio equipment (you can take the boy out of Max Power...). The car’s bodywork shows signs of regular use, including a creased bonnet where the panel suddenly lifted while I was driving along at 70mph. Oops.
I use the car in all weather. What’s more, I kept it outside on my driveway for nineteen years. Despite sustained exposure to the elements, this brilliant two-door from Stuttgart has yet to miss a beat with me in the driving seat racking up more than 30k miles following the necessary remedial work carried out many moons ago. Of course, I own other cars (newer, bigger, faster cars), but none of them put a smile on my face quite like this little red 356. It’s a quick and, dare I say it, practical Porsche!