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Dear Sir or Madam, my wife's all-time favorite car is a 1965 Porsche 356 Convertible. In July she will turn 40 and I'm searching for a car to buy her as a surprise. Any help you can offer would be much appreciated. I can be reached at this email address or on my mobile phone 402-250-5020. If you call and she answers for some reason please remember that it's a surprise. Thanks, John...
Answer -
Hi John,
A Sir Here...my name's Dave and I too have loved and lusted after a 356C or SC cabriolet for many years. I've got a '64 coupe...but the cabriolet has just so much more flair...and coolness. For all the cars Porsche made between 1947 and 1965, this car is probably ranked #2 in desirability among those that were street cars. The '55-58 Speedsters have always been #1 but their rarity has been somewhat cloudened by all the kit cars that are on the road today.
Clearly, the C or SC, coupe or cabriolet, is the most refined and fully developed 356 Porsche ever made. And it's the last 356 Porsche ever made $$$. After that Porsche started their long run with the famous line of 911's, never to look back. The Cabiolet C or SC is by far the most expen$$$ive 356 she could have chosen and still kept the price under $100,000. The speedsters have the $100,000+ range all sewed up. So...before you choke on your wife's caviar taste, let's consider what kind of car you are looking for.
By kind of car I'm talking about its condition. The condition dictates the price. The $100,000 car will be the best of the best. It wins every concours event it is entered in in every posh location around the country. It is trailered to each event and back home to its climate controlled garage. Drive it? Never! Your wife will be able to enjoy it for it's shining chrome trim and its gleaming paint and all its trophies...but heaven forbid if you sneeze around her baby...who knows what germs or other foreign objects might land on that paintjob!
The "drivers" will be any car under $25,000. Perfect is not the word to describe these classics. They are worn or partially restored or rusty remembrances of past glories. At the upper end of the range, the better drivers will be found. These cars will be fun for your wife to jump in on Sundays taking long rides into the nearest forested mountains and enjoying the twisty narrow roads in the otherwise peaceful greenery. But she wouldn't want to venture around the block until she made sure all the safety items were renewed and checked and double checked. Cars in this range will usually have undocumented pasts. There's no telling whose wrench was there last...or whether there's ever been a wrench taken to it.
This would be the kind of car that she buys and trailers home and puts up on jackstands and takes apart. All the sparkplugs and ignition pieces would be renewed. The fan belt too. The tires would be double checked and the brake system completely rebuilt. The clutch would be re-adjusted and the carbs would probably be rebuilt. Then re-synchronized. Short trips would be best. Your wife will want to become one with the car. She will want to know the sound of the engine in its "normal" running mode so as to be able to detect any abnormality. Numerous short trips will gain her the seat-of-the-pants feel, the pulse of the car, before she ventures out too far on her own.
All this prep is necessary...obviously for your wife's safety, but really first and foremost for the safety of the car! The tow truck driver from AAA will be clueless how to get the thing moving again if it stops. His best course of action will be to get the car up on the flatbed as quickly as be can. Problem is, the tow hook on the 356's is likely the weakest part of the car, so he may inflict more damage in trying to save the vehicle.
Clearly the screamin' deals are in the $0-25,000 range. These are the car's that have the potential to be $60,000 cars, they're right here waiting. The others are suspect, unless your wife said I really want one of those cute cars so I can get greasy and rebuild the engine and learn how to paint my own car!
The $25,000 to $60,000 range is likely where you'll find the car of your wife's dreams. It'll be the one she can show off to her friends as her new baby. She won't mind parking it next to her friend's Mercedes SL500. The gal with the Cadillac Escalade won't mind your wife parking next to her in that darling little car. She'll ask, "Is that the new Volkswagen convertible?"
These cars will hopefully be ready and willing to be driven home. From any location. The cars in the upper end of the range will be gorgeous...probably because someone took one of those under $25,000 cars and "restored" it. If it was solid in the first place, it's a steal! If it was "rebuilt" I'd be careful.
Here are the top three warning signs:
1. The battery pan, the horizontal sheet metal where the battery sits has rusted through, and it has been replaced...and there's a new tow hook where the old rusty one used to be.
2. Every other horizontal piece of sheet metal has also rusted through, and all those pieces have been replaced. Especially vulnerable are the complete floorpans (I've seen many cars with the area for the driver's feet being absent and ground is all you see). The next most vulnerable are the "longitudinals". Imagine the boxed areas running from wheelwell to wheelwell where your leg first enters the car. As your butt slides into the seat, it first crosses the longitudinal area where there's a rubber mat on the sill. That rubber can hide many gremlins.
3. Rust everywhere else. Bodyshops have learned many ways to paint over rust and rust patches. Any evidence of bubbles in the paint, seemingly pushing through from the bottom outward is evidence of rust. RUN FAST!
I haven't even gotten to the engine or any mechanical problems and I''ve scared you away. Sorry.
On the other hand, if you find a car in California or Arizona and it truly is "rust-free", BUY IT. Given enough time, you may own the very last one!
I know a shop owner who can drive a 356 and tell that the third gear synchro is beginning to fail; but will last a bit longer... and who knows that the accelerator pumps in the carburetors are old. This he knows because he's driven a zillion cars, driving them when they come in for a diagnosis and driving them when they leave to make sure everything was fixed. For you, in searching for the right car, that guy's butt, his seat of the pants feel for how cars should be, is invaluable.
You'd be wise to find your own guy like that. Pay him for his consulting time! Short of that, test drive fifty cars yourself. After you've inspected and driven fifty examples of the cars in your price range you'll have a very good eye and a very good butt. Somewhere in the range of the 60th car you'll get that perfect feeling in the pit of your stomach that will confirm your eyeballs. Eureka! I've found it. My wife will be so proud of me! That gal in the Escalade won't have a clue what she's looking at. Pay the man!
As you may have guessed this is my favorite topic. I love to asssist people buying their first 356. I usually don' get requests to buy the best of the best, the cabriolet, but I just know you are going to have a blast. I know I would. After you see several write back to me and we'll discuss the realtive merits of buying a C or an SC.
And anytime...I mean it...please write back and ask any question at all about any particular car you see or are about to see. Tell me what's good about it and what makes you nervous. Bounce your expanding butt-expertise off me. If you know what I mean.
John, have a great journey.
Dave
In no way did I want to deter you from your quest. These cars can be the best and most reliable just FOR those heavenly mountain roads. And your wife will think you are a GOD. Probably already does. Buying the right car will pay dividends forever. Maybe she'll let you come with her. You can have picnics!
4/4/05
Dave, thanks so much for your input. It helped a ton. What about the idea of hiring someone to help me find the car to purchase? Would you be interested or know someone who might be? Please advise, John...
AnswerHi John,
Thanks for the positive feedback. I've never been hired for such a great job, but it sounds intriguing. I'd say it makes a lot of sense. Especially considering that each 'candidate' Porsche would have a high degree of uniqueness that would require quite a bit of analysis to gauge its relative value.
By comparison, I recently took a trip with my daughter, as she wanted to buy a certain Lexus and asked me to accompany her. I found it fascinating that of all the cars I've shopped for and owned over the years, each one was unique. There were typically no valid "comparables" to know for sure what the value was and whether I was getting a good buy. The Lexus search, on the other hand, turned out to be just the opposite. By and large every Lexus was just like all the others; and besides color, the only difference was mileage and price. It certainly 'seemed' easier to assess the value.
About the only drawback I can imagine in locating a great car for your wife is the possibility of running out of time...I'm quite certain I could find a car for myself before July...but I'd feel the need for great, great care finding the very right one for your wife.
Am I correct that your 402 telephone area code is in Nebraska? I'm in the San Francisco bay area, California. I'd be very interested in talking with you. Call at your convenience. Sounds like it would be a fun project.
Dave
925 736-1775
direct email address: godavesec@yahoo.com
PS. Rather than trying to figure a way to establish a fair way to "charge" for my services, I'm thinking that what would be best for me would be to receive reimbursement for expenses only, if there were any. I don't think it would be fair for you to pay me for crawling in, under and around classic old Porsches. For the chance at that, my treat.
