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The ugly 356 is on the road. I didn’t get some great pictures, I’ll send more

next week. In the garage with the ugly 356 is a Cab I did about 7 or 8 years ago.

It was the best 356 I ever worked on. When I took the paint off, there were

no dents or bondo. It had 45 K on it with an all original interior. It’s like driviing

a brand new old Porsche. All the original welds were visible with nothing but

file marks on them. My friend owns them both, so one day I’ll go over and send

some better shots.

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Like everything I do, I have no idea of dates and times.

When I do these cars, I squeeze them in as I’m trying

to make money fixing dents and crashes. Sometimes

I try to write things down, but that usually doesn’t help.

I think I had about 2 months on the ugly 356. And 1 month

on the Cab. I hope I don’t bore you with this story, but

it is kind of interesting. About 8 years ago, Tony, who

now owns both of the cars, gave my name to his friend 

who owned the Cab. It was left outside with a cheap cover

on it, and it ruined the paint. He wanted me to paint it.

I took the car, stripped it, and found the best body I have 

ever seen. All original everything with 43,000 miles on it.

I called Tony and asked him to come up and check it out.

After I painted it, it went to an auction in our area. The 

guy who owned it was getting old, and realized he could

get some good money for the car. Tony had a 1955 

Speedster in the auction too. The Speedster had some 

serious history, and sold for a lot. The white Cab came

up, and I told Tony to bid on it. He got it for $125,000.

So the car went in a big circle from his friend, to me, and 

then to Tony. I have never driven any old Porsche that 

feels like that Cab. The bottom of the car looks like it

is brand new. Totally solid. Just the opposite of mine!

Tony is a cool guy and a great friend. He has had some

fantastic cars. One more quick story. He had a early 60’s

Ferrari. I can’t remember the model. Someone put a 

water pump in it, and did something seriously wrong.

Tony pulls into my shop with white smoke coming out

of his pipes. Blown head gasket. He brings the car back

to the mechanic to have it fixed, and they couldn’t get

the  head bolts out. If you can imagine, they had to drill

out all the head bolts on a 12 cyl Ferrari. He sold the car

as is, and left the new owner to deal with the insanity.

It turns out it cost over $70,000 to fix the motor.

Anyway, blah, blah blah. Tony has driven in the Milia Millia

a couple of times, and I can tell you stories all day about

his cars. Anyway, I’m going down to his house next week,

and I’ll pull the cars out, and send some good pictures.69726B00-B344-4466-9852-BFA74DB65B34

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Awesome pics and bike.  Can’t quite see the engine or the tank because of the tank  cover....but looks like a mid 50s R50 or R50/2...  I have a ‘56... considering buying a ‘59.  Neighbor is a retired UW professor... he has been thining out his herd of vintage Austin’s and BMW bikes as he has been getting the property ready for sale these past few years... bought My BMW from him a few years back.   This second one is his wife’s... she is also a now a retired UW professor, and now ready to let go of one of her commuting bikes ;-)

... both where mechanical engineering professors... how cool that they loved, maintained and commuted for decades in vintage mechanical based vehicles!  Their kids, also both mechanical and aero engineers, work for F1 development teams...too bad they don’t want to keep in the family these great old samples of engineering perfection. (IMHO).

Last edited by Lfepardo

You’re right, it’s a R50. I’m not sure of the year, but I’ll

try to find out. It’s funny how engineers like those

old Porsches and BMW’s. My father was an electrical 

engineer, and that’s how I got the bug. When he got

out of school, he went from a 1940 Chevy with 4 bald

tires, to a 59 Roadster. In 64 he bought a C coupe.

Next was a 912, which didn’t do it for him. My friend

who has the R50, also has a R69S. He also owns the 

light blue A coupe in the pictures. 

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