by Wallace Wyss –

Every two years the folks that own Porsche 356 in Northern California meet up with those who own 356 Porsches but live down South. They always choose as a meeting place some hotel around the middle, in this case Paso Robles, off the 101.

( my previous stay in that burg wad during the Vietnam war, where I was marching around with a wooden stock rifle…)

I didn’t go for the whole shebang, which included tours through the countryside, a fancy banquet and such, but did drop in on the Porsche 356 concours on Saturday which took place at the Estrella war Museum only a few thousand feet from Highway 101.

Porsche 356

This is such a great color blue–aI know it was a color offering back then because I have a werks photo

Not all the planes are restored, but many will marvel at the way old warplanes deteriorate. Since they are largely aluminum, they seem intact but I would out restoration costs into a million for some…

The Porsche clubs decided to place the Porsche 356 cars in their concours around the assorted warbirds and even under the warplanes so you got some good backdrops for photos.

One touching moment I saw was a man about 60, tall and distinguished, but carrying a white cane and guided by a guide dog, being taken to each plane in turn so his middle aged female companion could read the sign with a mini-history of each plane. I gather he was a military veteran, and happy to see he got a kick out of the warbirds even though he couldn’t see them.

One of the modern but retro-styled things in a couple of the cars was a suitcase designed to fit into the odd-shaped space. I think a car matching-the-upholstery suitcase bring back a bit of the old glamor of gran touring…nicht wahr?

I myself was looking for a car to immortalize in canvas. There were many to choose from–but the French Blue (the Germans call that by another name) Speedster looks like a winner. I was hoping more pre-’55s would show up but only a couple did–the problem being even the newest of the 356 breed is over 50 years old!

This is one of the pre-A models, which were few on the ground at the event , though there was over 100 cars

I only saw one car for sale–a 356C for over $100,000–the cars are that precious. There was a parts swap that was supposed to occur Sunday but only two sellers showed up–maybe the parts are too valuable to sell!

One of the legendry Typ 547 four cam engines. If you find a barn find Porsche with this engine, sell your house to buy it…

I enjoyed hearing many stories from 356 owners who have owned their car for more than 40 years–this is a truly loyal group of owners….

This yellow one had a lift-off hardtop though it might have also been one of the ones where Porsche welded on the hardtop–which led to the Karmann coupe, i.e.notchback.”

Machine gun ports on one of the warplanes, Korean war era. in fact the plane’s design looks close to a Mig. But say it ain’t so, Joe, we wouldn’t copy enemy planes, would we?

This dog seemed to love this Speedster. Cats are much too smart to attach themselves to a mechanical beast.

Vintage suitcases were all the rage–Porsche sold luggage racks right from the beginning.

Let us know what you think in the Comments.

Photographs by Wallace Wyss.

Wallace Wyss

HE AUTHOR: Wallace Wyss features rare barn find Ferraris in his “Incredible Barn Finds” books, published by Enthusiast Books, Hudson WI (715)381 9755.