How refreshing

[ignatzcatz]

As a newbie to this site I have to mention that it was a most pleasant surprise to see altered 356's listed under 'Hot rod/modified 356' and not the awful and much over used title of outlaw which I dislike. Also I dislike the terminology of the 356 Registry which states under their 'outlaw 356' as 'those who couldn't care less'. I took this up on their forum and received various response but the underlying feel was that it was an anathema to mess with these cars and those who do should be looked upon as third class citizens with very poor upbringing.
Well I shall leave them to worry about whether the slot in their 8 mil screws should be pointing North or South and what shade of primer should be on the inside of the door hinge, I'm just happy to be the owner of a 356 and hope that soon I will be able to get out to be able to drive the wheels off my 'modified 356'.

[JTR70]

Glad you like what you are seeing so far Graham. Based on an old story relayed to me by my late friend Craig Stevenson Dr. Ferry Porsche would have agreed with you and what you have been up to. The story goes back to the early 90's during a huge Porsche holiday that Ferry had attended. There were of course all the concourse queens on the field but the car that stood out to him most was a Red coupe much like yours with a 911 engine in it and polished Fuchs alloys. When asked which car he liked best much to everyone's complete astonishment he pointed to that modified coupe and explained that it was his favorite because it represented the Porsche philosophy of never ending performance improvements. So there you go, you'd have the bosses blessings for sure.

Justin

[356]

Yes, I can see where one could suffer from "outlaw fatigue". This term much like many others these days can get thrown around a bit too liberally thus weakening or diluting its intended meaning. An outlaw356 is normally associated with the efforts of Emory's so I can understand an independent builder such as yourself preferring another noun to describe their 356 expression.
~Vance

[ignatzcatz]

Blimey, that is nice to know, the guvnor giving it a thumbs up, so I'm officially liked - cool!!
It's funny that some cars take to modifying whereas others just do not. To this reasoning it seems that you can mod up a 911 and most folks are OK with this but to do it to a 356 is something quite awful. The way in which our American cousins take on this task is, in my view, somewhat fashion driven. With street rods for one period it is resto mod work then the billet era and now rat rods have become much more civilised than the early affairs and are now being built in numbers. Similarly with muscle you have had the drag look then pro touring and now it seems everybody is stuffing LS motors into anything with wheels plus huge rubber and turbos are the definite required accessory.
In the UK although we had some quite awful jacked up examples most modifications lean toward the rally and circuit race style with handling mods taking preference. Under the classic car banner the alterations generally seen are a change of wheels and some peripheral pieces.
The last car I threw my spanners at suffered from this view of being a car which should not be modified. Whilst restoring my 356 I started work on a Morris Minor Traveller which came to my door virtually for free so I thought it would be cheap transport and quite a quirky little car to boot. Also I have lusted over a '40 woodie after seeing them at a AMBR show a couple years back so this would be my own little woodie wagon and good to carry my boards to the shore so not to get the wife's Cayenne all full of sand. Now cutting an over-long story short I ended up fitting this Traveller with a tuned, rebuilt, by me, fast MGB engine and overdrive gearbox, plus it got alloy rims, new woodwork and a re-spray. It looked great but not radical and went like stink - 115 plus! So attending a classic car meet where there was perhaps 10 other Morris Minors, I was noticeably shunned, I was the black sheep of the Morris Minor owners. The only folks who spoke with me about the car were a couple of guys who came in their '50's American pickups, oh and a bloke on a Harley.
It was weird but I guess that is what happens when you step out of line. You spend years doing what you think is best with your car then some geezer tells you he thinks it's crap. So what the f--- you can be pretty well assured that guy drives a Gremlin.

[roy mawbey]

Hey Graham for few years my second car alongside the 356 was a 1950's Morris Traveller. Wet days I used the Traveller very reliable and very slow compared to yours! I like your idea's a lot if a car suits you, why not improve the old fashioned items with improved updates . I remember back in the very early 60's modifying my 500cc Norton with all the gear, Highlift camshaft, High Compression pistons, a later Aluminium cylinder head ported with improved carbs and exhaust. All okay so much faster but.. an original valve seat in the aluminium head came loose and twisted itself around the valve at speed and that finished off my tune up! I was only about 19 at the time but it taught me a lesson on always looking carefully at every aspect and not just assuming. everything is okay. This happened in Somerset and I remember one of the last steam train drives back towards London!

Keep up your great work!
Roy

[ignatzcatz]

I bet you had fun kicking that one over!!

[JTR70]

The Morris sounds like a great little hot rod. I'd wear the shunning as a badge of honor. The old saying comes to mind about opinions being like assholes. "everyone's got one and they all stink"

Stay true to yourself.