The Life Cycle of a 356A

[jeremyg]

Those of you who knew my 356A may remember that I sold it to Williams Crawford, and eventually (I think when Liz Truss crashed the pound in 2022) it sold to America, bizarrely back to Illinois, where it had originally lived in its first home in 1959.

Well the new owner has had some fun with it, but it’s now listed on Bring A Trailer.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1959- ... 2024-01-23

When I started having it restored by Roger Bray, he and his team very kindly let me film the whole process. Eventually, I started putting all the many hours of DV tape together and made 2 films about the first parts of the process. I intended to edit the rest, but sadly my other film work got in the way. By the time I became free, we had actually sold it..

I’ve never showed them before, but as part of the BaT listing, the 2 films are included in the selling materials, if you fancy taking a look…

[hot66]

Love the vids. Would make a great YouTube series if you could get them all finished

[jeremyg]

Thanks James. One day I may edit the whole story - it got pretty tense at times as we scrabbled around to find the money to fund the restoration.

In the end, my mother, belatedly, saved the day. She had Alzheimer’s and used to live in a nursing home, but loved it when I used to pick her up and take her out for a drive in my 993. When she died she left me a bit of money, and that basically funded the final bills. I always considered she’d have thought it was money well spent.

[jb]

It is a lovely car
and I loved the two videos of the restoration on the bat site

[jeremyg]

Indeed - it is/was a lovely car Jb. And I’m glad you enjoyed the restoration videos.

Actually they’ve just put up what they call a ‘tribute video’ to the car on the BaT posting for its auction sale. It’s one of the best BaT driving videos I’ve seen. Actually it made me proud, and sad at the same time!

I like the way they call it a tribute video, because the car is a tribute to everyone in the team at Roger Bray who restored it all those years ago - 2011. And I take a bit of credit for curating that restoration too. I remember Rog saying to me, ‘what do you want to paint it that bloody grey colour for? It’s like a bloody Citroen!’

Graphite Metallic Grey. A Porsche colour available since 1955. Hardly ever used to see it. More common now. I like to think I helped starting its re-birth.

[KS]

I can vouch for the fact that this really is a stunning car. Driving it from Cornwall to and from Hedingham in 2022 reminded me of what a great experience it is to drive a well-restored 356. And this is certainly one of the finest!

[jeremyg]

The 356 sold last night on BaT for $159,356 before fees. I think that’s around $10,000 less than the new owner paid for it a couple of years ago - but he’s had a lot of enjoyment in the meantime.

[simon james]

Values are falling back to a more realistic level, which is great news!
They have a long way to go, in your first video you say you paid £12,000 for the car as a project, that’s a bargain, even in todays market!

And despite what Mathewsons may try and say (or do) on TV, Fast Fords, 90s Classics and Mini Coopers are not immune..

[roy mawbey]

Yes Jeremy remember meeting you and your car at a Goodwood meet up along with a small number of others in 356's. We lined up side by side on the track. A nice day and your car looked super. Strange, I bet Graham Kidd was involved with your car at Roger Brays. I knew Graham's dad way back in the 50's when we were both into motorcycles he lived in the same road as me in Greater London. Graham told his dad now still living I hope in Devon and he remembed me!
That colour looked good too on your 356.

Roy

[jeremyg]

Yes Roy, I remember our Goodwood Breakfast raid very well - we figured the only way to get parked up together was to meet up beforehand at a local supermarket car park and go in in convoy.



We drove close together so we didn’t get separated and it worked a treat - bamboozling the marshals into parking us in line.



I still reckon to this day it was one of the best displays the visitors to the breakfast clubs have ever enjoyed. And to meet you, Jonno ( @jonstevensonart ), and David (662 YUM) and all the others was a delight. You get to ‘know’ so many DDK’ers, so well, without ever meeting, that it’s really absorbing when you do!



And of course this is you taking some pics too. I’d always wanted to see your ace original 356 and it didn’t disappoint.




Looking back on the pictures we were so lucky to have such perfect weather. Dream day. Cars and car communities play such a big role in our petrolhead lives, and DDK has helped shape mine so much. (My current 911t was rebuilt and restored by Matthew (TangerineT) and is currently being fettled by Graham Kidd.



And yes, Graham Kidd did indeed build my 356 at Roger Bray’s. Such a character Roger, and Graham, apart from being ‘my’ mechanic at Williams Crawford he’s now a real friend. And yes, one day while filming the videos mentioned above at Rog’s I heard the sound of motorbikes and saw 2 motorcyclists dismount, and remove their helmets to reveal 2 surprisingly mature riders. I think Graham said ‘Don’t worry Jeremy - it’s my mum and dad!’




Whether they still ride or not I’m sure Graham will confirm, but I believe they do.

Moving on from 356’s was a wrench but sadly to also enjoy 911s and other stuff something has to go - give me limitless funds and space and I’d still own and enjoy all the cars I’ve ever had!

[yoda]

Great videos Jeremy, I bet that brought back some memories. What a lovely car - glad you got to enjoy it as intended.

[roy mawbey]

Thanks Jeremy for re-living my day at that Goodwood meeting with those really super photos that you show above. That indeed was a lovely day and one to remember.

Also pleased about your comments on Graham and Roger. They did a super job on your car.

Roy