Aluminium Reutter bodied 356 cab?

[Mike Smith]

CORRECTION


You are correct NJF 250 WAS the ex John Lucus Car

[pmjt]

The ex John Lucus car laid under a tarpaulin in his front garden forever. John gave it to his daughter Carolyne and it then went to Ireland for a while (still un-restored)

Ah - this is the one Fred told me about - was it in Cambridgeshire somewhere?

[Mike Smith]

You are getting warmer

Phillip - do not forget that I still have the Gearbox case for your RHD `A` Cabriolet (if you stll have it - ?)

[pmjt]

You are getting warmer

Aha - so I'm not *completely* loosing my marbles

Phillip - do not forget that I still have the Gearbox case for your RHD `A` Cabriolet (if you stll have it - ?)

Absolutely - in fact I think she needs to come and see Uncle Mike for a service. I'll call you when I'm back from Asia

Philip

[roy mawbey]

Is the Eric Studer RHD 356 speedster carrera still around, 697 UVX I think? That was a nice car he used to race a lot in the 70's.

Roy

[higs356]

Hi all
some years ago I had in my care a RHD Speedster which had started its life in South Africa being shipped into Johannasberg at which time it was orange with US bumpers and coupe seats, it came over around 1990 and was maroon with speedster seats (well trimmed fibreglass) . Interestingly it featured GT brakes and had had a couple of switch holes welded up in the dash on the far RH side , I had it around 2001 , I think, and I thought it ended up going off to Hong Kong, Bill.

Bill
Small world ..it is !
I've seen that car in the flesh about 6 yrs ago ...It is in Melbourne now ...it also had some unusual features in the engine bay which pointed to its having had a 4 cam engine in situ at some time in the past...I remembered it from your description of the GT brakes Hong Kong and the dash holes ...From memory Orange wasnt the original colour either.
I can only find one picture where it sits in the background in the spray booth

[Dakota]

Hi
I have some pictures of the RHD SPEEDSTER somewhere , I was working from memory but I am pretty sure it was orange on the paperwork and as for the holes in the engine bay and the simple wing brace on the left side who knows, I didn't really get the Speedster thing until I drove that car down the A2 on a warm drizzly evening with the top down , I was whistling along with the rain going over the top , it was rather nice , I have a friend fromm Melbourne he owns a 356 and a 911 and it is a small world, Bill

[Greg]

I usually hang about on the 911 side of this site, but just belatedly saw this topic. I owned for 19 years one of the three Carrera Speedsters that went to Oz. It was originally a 1956 356A, Aquamarine blue (5607), but the problem was that by the time I found it, previous owners had removed and lost the engine, and then set about removing all traces of its Carrera heritage. It had a VW motor in it when I bought it, and I restored it as a 1600S - which I thought it had been - after searching a long time for an engine made at around the same time.

It was only when we discovered something odd about numbers on the gearbox when it finally came up for a rebuild, and asked the factory to clarify, they came back with the news that it had been an original RHD Carrera.

I searched for ages for the original engine - but in pre-internet days, so who knows, if it was today, maybe it would have turned up. But I enjoyed the hell out of it as a 1600S. I repainted it black, and it remains that today in the hands of a very well-known Australian collector.

You can read the (reasonably accurate) story here:

http://www.my356carreraspeedster.com/?contentid=15

It is the 18th one down the list - VIN No 82459.

And just out of curiosity, wonder if anyone has ever come across the engine? It was no. 90674.

Cheers
Greg

[58A - 71E]

Great story Greg, and a better return than any bank will give over 19 years
Do you have any other photos?

[Greg]

It was a fantastic return James. I still have the box with all my receipts in it, and including buying a 1600 Super motor, rebuilding it, stripping the body back to bare metal and repainting properly, replacing half of the floorpan, replacement Speedster seats, dash, carpet, wiring loom, all rubber bits, etc., etc., it only owed me in total around $20,000 when I sold it. I was lucky because when I waas doing the rebuild I was travelling back and forth (from Australia) to the USA, and each trip I used to enter or exit through Los Angeles, hire a car and drive down to San Diego and several places in between, where I picked up the wiring harness, the rubber bits, Mahle pistons and barrels, etc., all at very good prices compared with Australia. Always arrived home with bulging suitcases - but didn't ever pay any duty on anything.

I hated selling it, but I needed to start a new business and something had to go. With three kids in high school and a wife with her own business, it couldn't be either of the SAABs. . . . Unfortunately.

Also unfortunately, I have very few pictures. I'll try to dig out a couple of the rare ones that exist and scan them. Bear with me.

But at the end of the day, it just gave me so much pleasure over all that time that I couldn't really have complained if I only broke even.

I'm in a 911 phase at the moment, with the 911S almost finished but still with a way to go, and I am now very curious about the 912. The stories about it being pretty well as quick as a 911S point to point because of different weight distribution, etc., have me intrigued, and I am looking for a good one at the moment.

The 911S is probably the next to go - I love it, but would have preferred it was not a Targa - even though the soft rear window makes it very versatile and heaps of fun in the beautiful summer we enjoy here in northern Japan (but with barn finds, you don't have the luxury of choice).

And if it brings the sort of money I am told it could, on the right market, next will be a good 356. For my money, a good, strong '59 sunroof coupe must be about as close to motoring heaven as you can get.

Cheers
Greg