pre a speedster barn find

fastfredracing · 06-24-2011, 09:09 AM

A younger guy stops in this morning, and says he has aquired a pre a speedster, supposed to be the real deal. He basically fell into if for scrap metal price. I am going to look it over after work tonight. It of course needs work, driveline is out and apart, and pans are rusty, but is supposed all there and saveable. I am excited, I will post up pics later as long as it is o.k with him.

billh1963 · billh1963's Garage

Hmmmmm.......should be interesting!

R K T · 06-24-2011, 09:13 AM

amazing.....they're still out there....somewhere

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

subscribing

saxen · 06-24-2011, 09:34 AM

Sub"d

wdfifteen · wdfifteen's Garage

Subed and waiting with 'bated breath. What's the scoop?

Tobra · Tobra's Garage

I know where you can buy a bunch of parts for it, look up

fastfredracing · 06-24-2011, 04:55 PM

So , on my way there, I am nervous, kind of like I am on my way to a first date or something. I get there and it is rough, but worse cars have come back from the dead. I only saw the tub, and front suspension, but he says he believes he has the whole car , mostly in boxes in his basement. He removed the front fenders as well, and has them in his basement. It is a 1955 356 for sure, Vin # 80500. It looks like a speedster, but I am not an expert in this area at all. It supposedly spent a lot of its life as a race car, has a roll bar welded in. Lots of dents, and dings and of course, rust. Was originally red, but was painted lime green Guy says he has scraped off 1/4"-1/2" of bondo .
I am going to get nominated for the worst barn thread ever, because I took about 10 photos, and ran home, all excited to post them here , and they are gone. I must have erased them somehow, either that, or the Porsche gods don't want this one discovered. He is a nice guy, and said I can stop back anytime , so I will get up there again this weekend. He does not have the original motor anymore, He said what he has now is a 912 motor. I told him about this place, and hopefully he will chime in at some point. Pretty cool to see a piece of history like this. It was supposedly sitting, rotting, outside of a small repair shop right here in the Pittsburgh area .
Sorry about the photo's. My heart sunk when I went to transfer them and they were gone.

wdfifteen · wdfifteen's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

It is a 1955 356 for sure, Vin # 80500.

Porsche 540s (Speedsters) started with 8***** serial numbers. A 1955 coupe or cab would probably have started with a 4 (gotta to some research on that). An 8**** number is a Speedster. Let me check my sources...

Laneco · 06-24-2011, 05:13 PM

FASTFRED - it's a good thing we all like you so much or we would have to lynch you right now - lOL!

Pics when you get them, I too am subscribed!

angela

id10t · 06-24-2011, 05:25 PM

From 356a.com (you can do all sorts of lookups)

year built model year type style coachbuilder begin end
1955 1955 Pre-A Speedster Reutter 80201 80929

This vehicle would have come with an engine from the following types and number ranges:

internal name common name first number last number
589/2 1300 S 50104 50127
547 Carrera 1500 90001 90096
546/2 1500 34120 35790
528/2 1500 S 41049 41420
506/2 1300 22022 22245

Note: Ignore the first digit if it is a "5". Example: if a serial number above is 5085001, it should be read as 085001. One exception: 1300S engines had a serial number between 50001 and 50999 - in this case, do not ignore the first 5!

wdfifteen · wdfifteen's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

Porsche 540s (Speedsters) started with 8***** serial numbers. A 1955 coupe or cab would probably have started with a 4 (gotta to some research on that). An 8**** number is a Speedster. Let me check my sources...

Reuter coupes and cabs started with a 5 in 1955. Sorry. BUT your number is definitely a Speedster number! This is great news!