Back in 2012 I found a car in Tuscon Arizona, it was a 1958 Porsche 356A T2 coupe. It was in terrible condition and was owned by a former gold miner by the name of Jonathan Marshall. The car had crates for floor panels, most of the interior was in boxes, but the wheels where still attached and surprisingly the engine still pulled strong!
After some convincing, he sold the car to me and I imported it to the United Kingdom. It sat in the workshop for about a year and I was in two minds whether to be restore it or use it as a donor for an outlaw that I wanted to build.
I ordered the Certificate of Authenticity from Porsche and discovered that the car wasn’t a mixture of ivory white and rust, but was originally a luscious ruby red with brown leather. Strangely, I awoke one night from a dream in which I saw the car restored, it was as if the car was calling to me!
The next day, I decided to have the car restored and proceeded to place it with my longtime mechanic, Lee Reynolds of Longmynd Classics in Shropshire. Now, me and Lee go back a few years, but he is pretty slow at this kind of work, like most of the classic car fraternity out there, perfectionists!
Towards the end of December 2016, the car finally roared back into life and is now a jewel of a car, having had a full nut and bolt, back to bare metal restoration. The car is very original, with all of the correct numbers stamped on the right panels, date stamped wheels and gauges. Unfortunately, I have to sell it so that I can finish my first love, a 1955 356 pre-A Continental coupe, which has been in restoration for about three years, original parts are hard to find.
The 1958 coupe is now ready to run for another 60 years and given market prices would make an excellent investment for someones pension fund, or to enjoy as a weekend or daily driver. I sent a picture of the fully restored car to original owner Jonathan, envious isn’t the word. He is back gold mining his old claim in the Tuscon Hills and says that if he ever finds enough gold he will buy the car back, Good luck Jonathan!
The car can be seen and driver at Porsche Centre Cardiff.
