I thought you guys might like this '56 GT...especially Al click for big
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That's pretty close to perfect.
Agreed. Super-nice.
The motor's not original, or the oil filler has been replaced with a type 2, 3 or 912 filler assembly.
The engine lid isn't right either, according to Dr. B. Johnson who wrote The 356 Porsche, A Restorer's Guide To Authenticity, the GT engine lid louvers started in '58 with five, '59's received 6 louvers (like this one has). They would've been aluminum lids as well, on GT's, how cool is that?
I'm starting to think it's not a GT at all as it has side and rocker moldings that (most) GT's didn't have. The owner may have liked the GT bumper trim and installed it for a faux GT effect.
I guess it shows us that there's license to change our cars to whatever we want them to be, a Big Tent to be sure!
It's a beautiful car and I'd drive it.
I'll trade authenticity for the look of this car.....all day long. (Don't tell that to anybody in the PCA.)
That is gorgeous, Will. I'm confused, though- it's sort of dressed as a 4 cam car yet it has side trim and a pushrod engine (I've heard of guys replacing the 4 cam with a pushrod engine to save the 4 cam and make it more of a driver). Love the big center fill gas tank, louvered engine lid and mirrors. Any more info about it? It does need to be lowered just a little bit in front.
Don't get me wrong, Will, I love it. I'm just trying to figure out the inconsistencies.
PS- I see you've already caught most of it...
Interesting stuff about the louvered lids- they didn't appear 'till '58?
Al, I'm pretty sure it's just like our cars, wishful thinking with random results.
A potpourri of ideas that suit the builder perfectly while not quite authentic or acceptable to all viewers.
Who cares? They're our cars after all.
Mine's starting to remind me of the Johnny Cash song: One Piece At A Time
Will Hesch posted:Al, I'm pretty sure it's just like our cars, wishful thinking with random results.
A potpourri of ideas that suit the builder perfectly while not quite authentic or acceptable to all viewers.
Who cares? They're our cars after all.
Mine's starting to remind me of the Johnny Cash song: One Piece At A Time
Great explanation, Will.
Re: "incorrect" parts: watch me not care in the slightest.
It's like when some guy has a rust free, short wheelbase 911, and he's got 6 kinds of angst because the Cardex says it came from the fatherland in some putrid color.
Cool trumps originality, every single time.
I see the owner has wisely upgraded the fuses/relays in this car or was that fuse block in the frunk standard?
Robert, sharp eyes, and...not standard!
That one is a stunner. Another detail question: Tach red sweep starts at 4500 rpm. Is that right for a 56 (or any) GT?
Panhandle Bob posted:
Will Hesch posted:Al, I'm pretty sure it's just like our cars, wishful thinking with random results.
A potpourri of ideas that suit the builder perfectly while not quite authentic or acceptable to all viewers.
Who cares? They're our cars after all.
Mine's starting to remind me of the Johnny Cash song: One Piece At A Time
Great explanation, Will.
I do wholeheartedly agree with you Will. A car (especially something like a Speedster, whether steel or plastic) has the ability to reflect who you are. The idea of outfitting them according to our tastes is what the whole car hobby is all about, and letting yourself be confined to what the factory cardex says the car came with, while it does provide a historical record, misses the point in a rather big way. I'm just surprised that a Porsche owner with such a car went against the grain, and glad (at the same time) that they are still out there. I know they are out there, it's just easy to forget.
I believe our little slice of automotive culture is as great as it is because we're not confined to preserving history (my IM was delivered as a coach and didn't come with an engine, transaxle suspension or even a pan) and there's no one to tell us we can't do whatever the h&ll we want! I briefly considered building a real Speedster and looked into a couple, but between the amount of rust remediation work (this was at a time when Speedsters weren't worth nearly what they are now, there were no replacement panels and the custom sheetmetal work alone would have been worth siginificantly more than a car was worth) and the flak I got when mentioning how I wanted to build it (the term "Outlaw" hadn't been coined yet, and 5 speeds, discs and big power just weren't done), it didn't really make any sense, and with my VW background (I'd played with Beetles for a number of years), when this IM body came up for sale locally it just seemed right.
Yeah, a real Speedster would have funded my retirement (believe me, that thought is not lost on me!
), but as the thing rose in value it would have become what I'm so against (a garage queen with irreplaceable parts that you can't actually take out and drive on a regular basis) so I'm glad I'm here.
edsnova posted:That one is a stunner. Another detail question: Tach red sweep starts at 4500 rpm. Is that right for a 56 (or any) GT?
I don't think so, Ed; it's my understanding that the 4 cam didn't start really coming on 'till 5,000rpm. My guess is the tach is for a pushrod engine?
Jim Ansite, my friend, builds pushrod and 4 cam engines for some of the pickiest collectors in the world. www.ansiteinc.com
He showed me the 1600 (pumped up to almost 1800) he had just finished in a B Roadster last week. He said it would spin to 6K instantly and he'd been hitting 60mph in 2nd gear turning near that. Trust me, he wouldn't dare risk harming an engine he probably received $20K to build!
I'm pretty sure, based on that, that the tach in question is Chinese, set up for a VW camper van...
Heck, I shift at 4,200 from 2 to 3 and 3 to 4 and my piddly VW engine feels like it has tons more than that!
This eye candy car is becoming an enigma.
What a great thread.
Will, is that a real 4- cam at the Ansite website or something else he build?
Gotta be diesel then...