Lying underneath my Speedster in the driveway, and I hear a car back up and stop. Another admirer, I think. (LOL)
"Nice car!" I hear. I slide out to say thanks. Turns out I'm talking to a fellow named Brian Lum, who is the Scottsdale/Phoenix 356 doctor. (He makes house calls to service clients who can afford him.) Of course, he can soon tell that he's been drawn in by a replica, but has nice things to say about Beck's product.
Anyway, he's on his way to see a '63 coupe with an ailing fuel cock a few blocks away. We chat a bit longer, and he departs.
Since I'm on my way out for a drive before dark, I decide to swing by the coupe's home and give it a gander. Very nice fellow. He remembers riding with his folks from SoCal to Sacramento to purchase the car in 1971, and his dad gave him the car a few years ago. Same family for 45 years... Very cool.
THEN, as we're chatting, what pulls up and parks across the street, but a perfect, blue, original 1955 Speedster with a beautiful Plasticon hardtop! Gorgeous! It was just out being exercised by the guy who maintains the stable of 30 or so classics owned by one of the Campbell's Soup family. He knew that the Porsche doctor was making a house call, and came by to jaw with him a little...
What an afternoon! All three guys had nothing but compliments for my car (they appreciate it for what it is), and I'm looking forward to crossing their paths again...
As I was getting back into my car, I suggested to the Speedster's driver that he was probably tooling around in a $350,000 automobile. He said, "Lucky you! The owner is letting it go for $340,000!"
It was a delightful half hour, to say the least…
