Text and photos by Wallace Wyss –
If there is one event every Porsche fan wanted to see come back after the plague year it was the Swap Meet at this German themed club in Anaheim, California.
Though the event is sponsored by the 356 Club it’s actually welcome to all Porsche fans though I saw water cooled ones only here and there and Cayennes and the like were out in the parking lot, not on display.
The real treasures were the 356’s particularly the early ’50s ones, some sporting a patina that was hard to tell from dirt (maybe patina is a five dollar word for dirt?) I liked the ones with tires and luggage on the roof, unthinkable with today’s Porsche but common on Yurrip in the Fifties.
I like the 550 Spyder even though I know it was a replica. I actually have driven one by the same maker–Fibersteel–and I was equally entranced by a rudimentary truck the firm’s founder said was made by VW but it seemed to be using 1915 technology.
The swap meet part only had about 20 booths but some of the guys had engines, and my favorite is the road lamps. I mean what evokes an era more than a 50-year old Marchal fog lamp. They are works of art in themselves. Then there was rare literature, a scattering of books and T-shirts. I should have looked one swapper’s used T-shirts more-each one a souvenir of some long forgotten event.
The club the event takes place at the Phoenix Club–has a German restaurant and has been in existence for many years. There were at least three dealers of old cars there, one the Beverly Hills Car Club which has over 400 cars in stock. I didn’t see a single For Sale sign on a windshield!
The event is one of several the 356 Club has, one coming up is October 14 – October 17, the East Meets West Roundup Driving Event where the Arizona Outlaws 356 Club and the New Mexico Zia 356 Club are planning a driving event centered in Silver City, NM. Another is the Palms-to-Pines run up the mountains above San Bernardino. For info on club activities go to 356Club.org.
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THE AUTHOR: Fine artist Wallace Wyss has Porsche art and some historic photos. Write for a list to malibucarart@gmail.com
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