Road and Track article on new Emery 356

Did you notice that the speedometer is the dual scale replica guage that SE, and IM had made up...

"All of the body panels, as well as the floor pans, have been replaced with new hand-shaped aluminum."

So is it a replica?  With aluminum instead of fiberglass?

I saw this car at their open house, and my immediate thought/question was, "If you are going to cut out the back end, why not use a Porsche flat six, water cooled?"  But, what do I know?  No one is asking me to build them a car.

If it retains it's Porsche VIN then it's a Porsche.

I don't know what I think of it, except I know I'm not fond of the modern headlights.

But somebody loves it, so more power to them!

That shifter knob would look great in the cafe macchiato

It’s been available for a while Marty, cream is nice but honey in coffee works too

Just watched the entire video. WOW, great engineering went into that car.

  I was watching the video and thinking that he takes himself a bit too seriously, but then heard him give credit for the engine concept to someone else, in this case, Chuck Beck.  That's class.

Chuck Beck, certainly has done a lot of interesting things. 

Someone should write a book about it.

Most of you have NO IDEA how cool this man is.

Chuck built Jay Leno’s favorite DD car, a friggin Ford Fiesta (Shogun) with an SHO V6 rocket for an engine that could eat Ferraris (and everything else) for breakfast (and DID)!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...6c&feature=share

One of the years that my son and I worked the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, Chuck came down from Georgia to show his 904 to a driver friend of ours who was then thinking of buying one.  I went over to Chuck and introduced us, having met him at Carlisle and thinking I was pretty cool, too, and Chuck, while gracious, was like, “Meh”, you know?  Like “Just who the f*** are these guys”?

But, Honest to God, it seemed like half of that Paddock had people wandering over to say Hi! And shake his hand when they discovered him there.  He was like the Pope for the true motorheads.

We inhabit just a very small part of the “motorsports spectrum” with our little clown cars.  Chuck is a huge part of that, but has pretty much covered the entire spectrum in his amazing life.  I would put him way higher than Bruce Meyers, and many of you know I think really highly of what Bruce gave to our hobby.  Even in my own chosen field, where I was reasonably successful, I didn’t even come close to what Chuck has covered, believe me.  Chuck Beck is the real deal and HE defines what the “Real Deal” is.  

I have to say I like some of the constituent parts that make up the whole, but I just can't like the whole.  There are some very unique and interesting outcomes, but overall, no thanks.

^^^^^^

Me, too.

BUT!

 If I had a lot of cash to burn and wanted a car to take to the track (maybe even DRIVE to the track) and race and have a lot of fun, I would be in line for one of those.  I could park it next to Pearl in my 8-car gaarage-Mahal, and make her look even MORE beautiful.

I watched the video.

I'm on record over on FB as saying how much I hate how this car looks, and I'm not backing down from that. As an aesthetic exercise, it's a complete mess. In the video, Rod Emory delineates the difference between his "Outlaws", his "Specials", and this car-- which is the first of his "RS" cars. I love his Outlaws, although they were actually his dad Gary's idea and thing. I've not been wild about Rod's "Specials". I still really don't care for this. Dr. Carley reminded me over on FB that every ugly baby has a mother who loves it-- but this one looks like it was dropped over the ugly tree by the stork, and hit every branch on the way down.

There are a few touches on this that I can get behind. I love the look of amber fiberglass, as I think it looks like cutting-edge, circa 1960.  The engine is the bomb, and I'll bet Dean Populous is crying in his beer right about now. I priced a Polo 911/4 engine a few (well, probably 10 now) years back, and I can see why Emory cast his own case for this (and future) cars. A built Polo 911/4 in 2008 was going to be way north of $40K, without carbs, and this was before Porsche prices took off for the stratosphere. Passing on the original Beck 911/4 that Anand was selling a couple of years back remains one of the great "things that got away" of my life, if only for the provenance of the motor.

Probably most importantly to the guys hanging out on this site-- at the end of the day, and for the first time, I can say that we've reached a point where I really do like what's happening on this side of the 356 hobby more than what's over on the metal side of the fence.

This car probably cost $500K+. It was eventually going to be built, because Rod Emory is running out of new things to do to 356s without getting all Ed "Big Daddy" Roth (which he did on this car, IMHO). There's people out there with way more money than taste, which was true of Roth's cars and is true of this one.

We're a more frugal bunch, headed in our own direction over here in fiberglass world. We love the shape of the body, but we've never been Porsche guys to start with, so we're more interested in what works well. We can disagree regarding whether a water cooled mill loses the essence of a 356 or Sypder (it doesn't, at least to me), but nobody thinks it shouldn't be done. Hey, we've got a major player on this side of the fence going to all-electric running gear. It's not my thing, but I'm not up in arms over it. There's not a guy here who wouldn't upgrade the suspension to something better even though the VW beam is a very, very close approximation of the original 356 front end, if the new part fit right in and could be had for a decent price.

I really do like replica 356s and Spyders. I'm not sure why. But I have a very strong sense of what I'd do, if I were building my perfect car. I'm pretty sure everybody else does as well. 

That's cool. Way, way cooler than Rod's "Rat Fink" 356.

Rod Emory without question has acquired the skills to do what he does in a craftsman like manner day in and day out plus a monumental following with large pockets. Without question we all wish we had Emory's mad skills and vision. This particular "exercise" obviously was a step in the direction of something way different and if it pleases the eye or not IMHO he succeeded. We'll all concur that it's not for everyone but as the old adage goes " There's and ass for every seat" and that's all one needs to cinch a sale.

I like so many things about what he did, but like Pontiac did when they came out with this,  we just have to wonder, why?   There are so many cool Porsche cars and derivatives using Porsche styles. (Audi TT, Nissan Z, BMW Z cars, and on and on)  Unless someone drew that and said, "build it and, here is a blank check," I would have to wonder about the market for such an aggressive styling. Body seams on cars are for  NASCAR along with open scoops and missing panels.  Just my opinion that nobody asked for.  ;-0  

Jim

The guy is a great builder without a doubt and is working in the dream land of no budget.  

I think the dreamer is in control but eventually how do you create another great car. Can you sustain new builds without new situations arising or modifying the original car  as in this example.  I guess he will have to borrow from H Reisner and do an electric one.  

From the day this was unveiled on social media (with great fanfare) as a final product, until right now— there has been the argument made that this must have been a client’s vision, with Emory merely fleshing out what the buyer wanted. “No way would Rod Emory be responsible for a design like this”, the thinking goes.

Laying aside that this isn’t how someone of Mr. Emory’s reputation works (an artist looks for patrons, not visionaries)— in this video, he himself lets the world know that this was his team’s deal from the get-go. A client emerged after the initial concept and renderings were already done.

Somebody else footed the bill, but this was Rod Emory’s baby (to beat Robert Carley’s metaphor to death). Love it or hate it, Emory alone is the proud father. 

Stan: Agreed, art is in the eye of the beholder and is the vision of the artist. However, I think the rendering is nicer than the final product. Of course, if it was offered to me, I would not turn it down!  However, I might turn down a free Pontiac Aztec even though some day, they might be worth as much as an AMC Pacer... LOL... 

I have to confess I did not pay enough attention to what he said more to the car so I think your appraisal is correct.  Emory had the dream and someone liked the vision and paid for it. 

I watched the entire video and came away with the unfortunate feeling that Mr. Emory has plumbed the depths of his personal creativity in developing Outlaws and has surrendered to the pursuit of his RS line. Stan is right, this thing is pure Rod Emory design and the concept was sold to somebody to finance who wanted a totally unique 356 variant.  Mr. Emory said as much. Well, the customer got it.

I get it though. The Outlaw 356 is a self limiting concept. There is only so much that can be done before the essence is lost and the thing becomes a caricature of itself and morphs into something else. I can't describe where the lines are that can't be crossed but I know them when I see them, or at least my version of them.

I'm simple like that. Give me a 56 coupe, maybe a little flared in the rear to accommodate wide wheels and tires, dropped to a few inches off the ground, suspension set up and tuned for challenging twisties and with a Polo engine, single center exhaust, 5 speed, wide fives and discs at all four corners. Speedster seats, requisite gauges and a simple  deep red interior ( no diamond pleats or other silliness) OMP perforated pedals and rubber floor mats. Some sinister color like slate grey. A car that says " Come take a ride, if you dare!".  There is comfort in that formula.

Now if I could sell that concept to someone who would finance it and then give it to me, that would be perfect. Who wants to be first to pony up some loot to make me happy?

I saw yet another 30 min. Video of Emory going over the car and he mentions the owner/investor that was involved in the early stages, Henrique Cisneros - The Owner of the Momo Brand.

I believe the client is the CEO of Momo Italy, Henrique Cisneros.