After fighting (even in the deep South) reoccurring body rust, crappy generators & voltage regulators and the high cost of Porsche replacement parts, my Father traded his 356 in on a new ’64 Corvair Monza.
Dad said that he Chevy dealer gave him a surprisingly good trade in number for the 356 and that the Monza (with the 1964 camber compensater) drove like it was on rails compared to his squirrely oversteering Porsche.
I’m pretty sure I’ve seen that car around. The photo looks to be looks to be in Monterey which is about 45 minutes away from me. Maybe I saw it during Concours Week, though not at the Concours d’Lemons.
There are plenty of un restored 356’s in Southern California, not as scruffy as this but plenty of rusty and dented examples .
My ’63 356B Coupe is still mouldering in my son’s back yard, I’m sure by the time he touches it it’ll be rusted to junk but it’s his now not mine so whatever .
Like early Corvairs, the handling of the 356 depends a lot of the quality of tires fitted and the pressures used ~ few ever bother t chalk their tires like in the old days .
You apply some chalk to the side of the tire at the tread which when driven on wears off so you can see how much it is rolling over and adjust the pressure from there.
Sounds like it might work on bias ply tires but not on radials. or maybe I’m missing something?
Jim Klein
Posted April 18, 2021 at 10:27 PM
We used to do it in autocross to see if the tires needed more or less air to just roll to the edge of the tread and then adjusted the front or rear from there depending if we wanted more over or understeer. Different tires would use different pressures even on the same model of car and pressures were one thing you could adjust.
-Nate
Posted April 19, 2021 at 5:56 AM
Yes, you’re missing something ~ it works on all tires and will get you the best traction and tread wear if you bother with it .
Probably doesn’t even hurt value in the slightest knowing the collector car scene today, I saw a barn find Shelby Mustang at an auction covered in dirt and it actually had signs saying “do not clean” on it!
That said I like 356s like this, it seems so authentic. 356s can be cloned fairly convincingly on VW chassis but you can’t clone this kind of genuine age.
They try though I saw a Bentley Continental on a used car lot wrapped metallic blue with surface rust included it had a roadgrime effect on the lower sides too and matt blak wheels and only ten years old.
Mark Pribanic prides himself on driving a weathered 356 near Jacksonville Florida, and has some East Coast buds with some worn ones as well. His is the robins egg blue one in this pic.
Super cool!
No, no, there will always be someone cranking out more beater 356s in a barn somewhere in the world as long as someone is willing to pay for them.
Otherwise, yes, suddenly it’s 1980! The truck in frame keeps it from accusations of being an old picture.
Oh, there are a few beautifully derelict 356s here in WTX, coupla beater Speedsters too.
Trendy patina a driveable barnfind is the latest big thing so you restore the car but dont paint it and leave the hubcaps off.
It’s only original once.
After fighting (even in the deep South) reoccurring body rust, crappy generators & voltage regulators and the high cost of Porsche replacement parts, my Father traded his 356 in on a new ’64 Corvair Monza.
Dad said that he Chevy dealer gave him a surprisingly good trade in number for the 356 and that the Monza (with the 1964 camber compensater) drove like it was on rails compared to his squirrely oversteering Porsche.
I’m pretty sure I’ve seen that car around. The photo looks to be looks to be in Monterey which is about 45 minutes away from me. Maybe I saw it during Concours Week, though not at the Concours d’Lemons.
Check out the article and there’s a video too. Matt Hummel’s 356. Lets see if I can post a link. https://petrolicious.com/articles/matt-hummel-squeezes-every-drop-out-of-his-porsche-356
There are plenty of un restored 356’s in Southern California, not as scruffy as this but plenty of rusty and dented examples .
My ’63 356B Coupe is still mouldering in my son’s back yard, I’m sure by the time he touches it it’ll be rusted to junk but it’s his now not mine so whatever .
Like early Corvairs, the handling of the 356 depends a lot of the quality of tires fitted and the pressures used ~ few ever bother t chalk their tires like in the old days .
-Nate
Chalk? Check?
You apply some chalk to the side of the tire at the tread which when driven on wears off so you can see how much it is rolling over and adjust the pressure from there.
Sounds like it might work on bias ply tires but not on radials. or maybe I’m missing something?
We used to do it in autocross to see if the tires needed more or less air to just roll to the edge of the tread and then adjusted the front or rear from there depending if we wanted more over or understeer. Different tires would use different pressures even on the same model of car and pressures were one thing you could adjust.
Yes, you’re missing something ~ it works on all tires and will get you the best traction and tread wear if you bother with it .
-Nate
Probably doesn’t even hurt value in the slightest knowing the collector car scene today, I saw a barn find Shelby Mustang at an auction covered in dirt and it actually had signs saying “do not clean” on it!
That said I like 356s like this, it seems so authentic. 356s can be cloned fairly convincingly on VW chassis but you can’t clone this kind of genuine age.
They try though I saw a Bentley Continental on a used car lot wrapped metallic blue with surface rust included it had a roadgrime effect on the lower sides too and matt blak wheels and only ten years old.
Mark Pribanic prides himself on driving a weathered 356 near Jacksonville Florida, and has some East Coast buds with some worn ones as well. His is the robins egg blue one in this pic.