My Dad's '55 356

Thom - You might check in with member Rusty Smith, his father also raced at Paramount Ranch so he might have some way to help you with your search. Best of luck!

"Dutch"

Thom,

You may have already done so, but PCA would be the best place to check, as lots of their members are amateur Porsche historians as well as owners.  Best of luck.

Jim:

Already sent an email detailing information to the local SoCal PCA rep to forward to the membership about a year ago.  Unfortunately, he essentially blew me off and did not forward to the membership for unknown reasons.  Should not have been a problem for him, as individual members could either reply or not.

Dutch:

I'll contact Rusty, as soon as I get used to the tools on this site.

After my Dad died, I converted numerous old color slides of races taken at Riverside/Pomona/Paramount Ranch during the 1950s, including the attached slide from a box labeled "Paramount 1956", which shows a 550(?) racing another car I'm not familiar with.

Unfortunately, my Mom apparently did not take any photos of my Dad with his Porsche.

I have lots of other period slides my Dad took of amateur-class racing Porsches that I can post...

Best,

Thom

I'd offer SoCal PCA folks some of the photo shots --- that will change there narrow little minds.  Good luck with your quest.  

Thom, 356 Registry may have some good info also.

Wolfgang:

Good idea, but kinda gave up on both PCA/POC, as both contacts indicated was an interesting story, but never got back to me, even after I made follow-up emails.

Dutch:

Did send a private mail to Rusty Smith, along with my cell number.  Waiting on response (he may be out of area).

Tom:

Have already searched 356 Registry and have located 2 possible candidates, one in the PNW.  Have been emailing/talking to that owner for over a year now.  Almost got to see the car a couple of months ago, but a family emergency prevented our meeting.

Have also contacted the following: Ron La Dow, John Willhoit, Jim Liberty, Jack Skaggs, Gary Emory, Jim Breazeale, and Jens Torner (Porsche factory newsroom); to no avail.

The members of this site have been very helpful!

Even though I may never find my Dad's car, will keep trying because he was a great guy...

Best,

Thom

Hi Thom,

My dad raced SCCA / CSCC in the 50's. I found him here - http://www.racingsportscars.com/drivers.html

You might try googleing Vintage 1950 SCCA races or CSCC races

I don't know if SCCA and CSCC sanctioned races were one in the same.

Let me know what you find.

You can call me if you want - I left you my number in a message.

Looks like you are getting good feeback from the group, lot of great guys on this site.

It would be cool to see some of your other slides when you have time to post some. Best of luck with your search for information and welcome to the madness!

Was your dad named Charles?

http://www.racingsportscars.co...arles-Deane-USA.html

Rusty/Robert:

Checked the link both of you suggested.  Found a "Bob Deane", which is the name he went by, but the one on the list was from Canada.  Charles Deane is from USA, but not a Bob, unfortunately.

I believe that I contacted the folks at Buttonwillow Raceway (SCCA?) at year ago or so, but did not seem interested at all regarding any archived material.  As I recall, they referred me to a retired fellow who reportedly might've had some old paperwork, but really had nothing.

Still, keeping my fingers crossed on a productive, albeit belated, reply from Porsche...

Rusty, I'll likely call you sometime this weekend.

Best,

Thom

Oh, yeah - I'll post all of my Dad's old racing slides on this site for all to see, although I think that some may have been misplaced into the wrong boxes over the years:

Pomona 1955 - 24 slides

Paramount Ranch 1956 - 16 slides

Riverside 1958 - 23 slides

That is, as long as I don't exceed a limit.

I wish I had known about these slides before he had passed, as I would have spent the time with him to discuss them and pick his brain more thoroughly regarding his 356.  Oh well...

I addition, anyone located in the Inland Empire?  I spend my time between Forest Falls and Redlands.

Best,

Thom

Would love to see your dad's old racing pics.

Another option...put 'em all in albums on flickr or photobucket, and post the link here.

Paul, et al:

I've posted all of my Dad's racing photos at the following links on Photobucket and hope you all enjoy them.  Does anyone else here have similar photos?  Might even find my Dad next to his 356, if your photos were taken at SoCal raceways between 1955-1958, inclusive.

1955 Pomona Raceway

http://s464.photobucket.com/us...os?sort=3&page=1

1956 Paramount Ranch Raceway

http://s464.photobucket.com/us...os?sort=3&page=1

1958 Riverside International Raceway

http://s464.photobucket.com/us...os?sort=3&page=1

Yes, that's me at RIR in 1958 ~1 year old, hopefully before my Dad sold his 356.  Pretty neat that I was at RIR during the vintage years, although I have absolutely no recollection of the day.  At 58 years old, have about the same amount of hair though...

Oh yeah, I've been to Pomona (for the auto swap meets) and former RIR site (work as hydrogeologist on local projects), but never been to Paramount Ranch (plan to in a few months or so) and not familiar with surroundings.  SO, if I need to move photos from one Photobucket album to another, please let me know and be specific.

Best,

Thom

Thanks for sharing those links to some cool vintage pics, Thom!

Rusty Smith arranged a tour of the Paramount Ranch track this summer for a group of us SoCal SOCers. His dad raced his Speedster there as well. Give him a call and he could probably give you some info for the track. Maybe we could all meet up again for a cruise.

Here' are some pics from that gathering...

Lunch in Laurel Canyon...

 Heading out to blast through Tuna Canyon down to the coast...

 Rusty Smith found this book...

 What's left of the track...

Parked on what's left of one of the straight-aways... 

 Chris Robertson's Spyder on one of the straight-aways...

Great pics Thom!

What a time that must have been.

The cars in the spectator areas are as cool as the cars on the track!

Thom

Here is a link to the San Diego Auto museum.  I was ther with my daugter working with their archives, they have alot of picture and publications as well as the union tribune auto motive archives. 

http://sdautomuseum.org/

Larry

If you guys meet up for another cruise give me plenty of notice, as I would be driving a couple hours from the Redlands area to get there.

But be warned - I don't have a Porsche yet, as you can tell I'm trying to find my Dad's.  However, I do have a 1959 Lowlight Karmann Ghia (semi-rough condition, scheduled for pan-off resto next year) and a 1959 ragtop bug (finishing pan-off resto), see below.  Would probably drive the Ghia for the turns.  Might even get my neighbor to drive his 1964 356C to the meet as well, provided he solves his generator and steering box problems...

Larry, what did you find in the archives?  Do you think it would be worth a trip for my efforts?  Would the LA Auto Museum (I'm assuming one exists) likely have what I'm looking for?

Best,

Thom

Low-light AND rag-top!! Dude, you fit right in with the SoCal SOC group!

Thom,

Chris was doing some work to help the mueseum organize it's library. I was help her do some estimates on needed physical space for the data (books per foot blah blah), i got to fish around the data, they have pictures of 50's car races at Mira Mar air base as well as other local tracks.

If your Dad raced in the LA area they may nopt have what you need. LA auto museum may be the place to visit. You have a compelling story. Locate a doent at the museum for help in their  library. Anothe rthing to check is if they have photo and document access on line.

The best of luck.

Larry

MusbJim:

Thanks for the comment/likes.  My neighbor swears that I'll be able to keep up with his 356C in my Ghia on the curves, but I think he's being nice.  I do have a 1600DP/Empi 38 engine set-up, along with a HD front swaybar and a camber compensator, along with Vredestein tires.  Whenever I drive the curves in the local mountains, I pretty much "know" how it felt when my Dad likely pushed his 356 through the curves...

I've had the ragtop for over 30 years.  Wife swears will bury my body in it when I go.

However, current plans are to give both to my nephews when arthritis prevents my turning wrenches, provided they learn to adjust valves, promise not chop-top/Cal Look them, etc.

Larry:

Will contact LA Auto Museum (Petersen?) after it re-opens from re-modeling.  Hopefully, will have what I'm looking for.

Also, plan to call/visit the Auto Bookshop in Burbank (http://fredchaparro.com/) for the Paramount book.

Best,

Thom

Thom,

Next weekend in Dana Point they are having the annual huge 356 show.  Many old time Socal 356 guys usually attend along with other P-car celebs.  You may be able to gather some info there. Bring all your photos.  Sunday is probably the best day.

Tom:

Will be there with my neighbor who owns the 356C, except we'll likely take his 996.  His 12V small-diameter generator was replaced by a generator shop with a Opel generator of same diameter, but rotates CCW.  Won't refund him, essentially told him to pound sand.  Also, his ZF steering box grinds too much and he's concerned might lock up in mid-turn.

Anyone have a line on these items?  Either used or reasonable repair services?

But, before we go, I'll get up early to watch the Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring.  When I was leading a geoscience team at the Lehel Electrolux project in Jaszbereny Hungary during the mid-90s, a couple Hungarian team members and I watched Michael Schumacher win the HGP.  We jumped the fence and went to the winners' circle (touched the winning car).  Try to watch it every year in honor of my former crew.

Anyone want to meet up at Dana Point on Sunday?  Contact me directly via this site and we can exchange phone numbers.

Best,

Thom

Hey Thom, thanks for putting up those old pics. I enjoyed looking over them, especially the 550 and 550a shots.

DannyP:

You're welcome.  Do you know of other such photos on this site?  Haven't had time to do a thorough search.

Best,

Thom