The Swiss Miss ('64 C #126687)

[John Pierce]

DG,

Great find. I'm not really a Targa fan, but may have to change my mind after seeing your car. Congrats.

JP

[Jonesy_356]

Mate I love my daily driver '71 Targa, they're a great car. You beautiful wife and her beautiful new car look like they belong together. It's got that great '80 s look to it. Well done, she's a keeper!

Jonesy

[bbspdstr]

OK, settle down.....got to make this a more technical thread......SO, what tires did you get for that green thing? You say it's a Porsche? OK, so it's air-cooled. So were Volkswagens... I have a t-shirt that proclaims that "Sure Porsche made cars after 1965...but who cares?"

Seriously, a seriously good find...and dare I say... a nice car!

On a personal note, in '88 I had a very nice '85 S/R Coupe in Oak Green Metallic with a Cork interior. Had trouble selling it (before the Internet) just because of that. All the replies to my newspaper ad had expected/hoped for a red, black, white or silver version and no one even looked at it until one curious person, like you, fell in love with it. I liked it because it was "different." Wish I had it still....great car.

Don't "keep the faith".....keep the passion! (Add: keep the car!)
Regards,
Bruce Baker

[roy mawbey]

David,

I own a blue car but actually green is favourite colour! That colour is so nice and the car looks great. I bet you wife is as pleased as punch with it. ( strange UK? saying like our spelling ) but it fits the bill.

Nice story!

Roy

[JR]

What can I say, but 'VA-VOOM!
Targas are cool too!
Dick

[JTR70]

A very nice car for your wife David! Congratulations on scoring it!

Great pic! Reminds me of the photos in my Dad's old Porsche brochures I used to look at as a kid in the late 70's.

[DG58INNM]

Wow, kind words from all. It is a really neat car, and best of all Cha is just thrilled with it.

Joris, you better hurry up and get that '65 done. Your wife will love it, and never want to drive the 996 again. What a great car for her. And you are so right about the special order cars. Such a nice change from the red/black/white/silver stuff. I've always hated the black anodized trim on later cars. Its the chrome that really makes then "pop".

Thanks Mark, I agree, I AM a lucky man

Thanks John. Hopefully Hygge has given you new appreciation for Targas.

Jonesy, lets see a pic of your dd Targa. Which is a keeper? Hygge or Cha?

Thanks Bruce (belated happy birthday, btw). I remember those shirts, but didn't they say "but who THE HELL cares"? I would have loved your Oak green car. Beautiful color! I have seen an Oak Green SC Targa with a lime green interior. It was a striking combination, undoubtedly another special order car.

Thanks Roy. I know that saying well!

Thanks Dick. Looks like a kick having your Targa at speed at VIR! That sinuous road behind you looks so sweet!

And Thanks Justin, both for the kind words, and for hosting this site where I can post stuff like this to share with nice folks. The first ROW 911SC brochure features a green targa, with silver trim, cookies, and brown interior. The green looks a little darker than this car, but I have wondered if that brochure might have influenced Don's choices. There is a mid-70's brochure that also has a bright green targa.

Take care,
DG

[DG58INNM]

OK, in a nod to Bruce, back to 356 content. Sort of.....

Found this guy hanging out with the Swiss Miss on Halloween. Quite large, about an inch in diameter. I've since been advised it is called a "cat faced spider". Seen them around before, but always outdoors and smaller. The lesson for me I suppose is that I am not out there working on the Swiss Miss enough if spiders have time to take up housekeeping.

[JTR70]

That's a big plump one. He looks dangerous, better that you found him here than under your bed!

[DG58INNM]

Out working on the Swiss Miss today. Getting frustrated trying to weld around the heat duct exit and the inner frame member. Laying on my back under the car. No clearance. If I lay back I can't get close enough to see. If I lift my head I've got 10 seconds before my next cramps. Too tight for the mig, can't see the tig, and the torch keeps blowing itself out. These cars.....aaaarrrgghhhh.

No pictures. Its the same thing John has been posting recently on his T6 thread, and his looks better! Maybe when its all done. Anyway, on a lighter note, a brief 911 note.

Some errands to run down in town this morning. Cha said "its such a pretty day, lets take Hygge". It was sunny when we left. A nice drive. Did the stores, went and had some lunch, and when we came out it wasn't sunny anymore! This is what it looked like by the time we got home. Well, I like driving Porsches in the snow, and it made for some nice photos of Cha and Hygge.









Still snowing too. Now back to the shop I go!
Take care,
DG

[John Pierce]

I like!! These cars are meant to be used.

[bbspdstr]

Well....yeah. The only snow that stopped my 356s was that which was deeper than the floor pan, then the snow would pack until the rear wheels couldn't get traction.

It's not the snow that hurts any Porsche, it's the salt used in some area/states that causes the rust. When they rust, ya just buy a new one....who would fix one just to keep driving an old one?

[JTR70]

Great photos David! Sounds like you need to get that car on a rotisserie. Impossible to get a clean outcome lying on your back with a neck cramp coupled with the fear of getting burned by hot slag falling on you...or under you.
Justin

[DG58INNM]

Yup, exactly Justin! I've got slag burns in some pretty strange places

Not to mention all the stuff that falls in my eyes when I'm hammering under the car.

I have a couple friends here locally that will loan me their rotisseries, and I will do that when its time to paint and undercoat. But I've never been willing to hoist one up when doing structural stuff. I know guys do it all the time, and seem to have no problems, but just feels wrong to me. I need to have them sitting horizontal and level, supported by the suspension points when possible. Going back out in a bit to tray and finish up this area.

Bruce, what's better than a 911 in the snow?
A 356 in the snow, of course!

When I was young and adventurous I got sent to pick up a speedster in Denver. It was January, and I drove back to Texas in one heck of a blizzard. Man, was that a cold trip! Cars and trucks everywhere in the ditches. But the little tub just surfed its way through the drifts no problem, following the lights of the 18 wheelers in front of me. Peering through the little hole I kept wiping clean in the lower left corner of the windshield.

John, right you are! Drive 'em like they were meant to be driven. Lots of great period shots of Porsches driven in all weather, all the time. Fortunately, salt is not used around here. Just crushed volcanic cinders, which wash off in the spring.

[S.J.Szabo]

When I was a sprout here in the Heartland where coal was plentiful and the heating plants of public schools produced enough cinders to do all the 1/4 mi. athletic tracks with plenty left over, coal cinders were a part of the winter road mix. This saved money on salt and saved finding ways to get rid of the stuff, piles at a time.

Cars still rusted, but the rate was slower than later times when salt became king. But the air has gotten clearer and the river cleaner.

Nostalgia has a price.