Calling for French speaking 356 fan from San Diego?

[HistoryBuff]

I am a historian. On the nicely laid out French 356 site I came across charming story of a WWII veteran (pilot) who had a white 356 Speedster in Imperial Beach CA and , though I don't speak French, I got the impression from the story that a Mr. McGrath sold the car, maybe through his daughter or grand-daughter for $12,500, maybe in 2010. But I couldn't figure out how the buyer (who I think was from France) found out about the car--whether it was in casual conversation or he saw an ad. If you speak French, can you please look at this story and tell me how it happened? I love to see those old warbird pics and it's too bad the car sat for what sounds like 55 years!

356 Porsche Club France: American Dream: Little Tiger

And by the way this isn't the James Dean Speedster is it? I am still hoping to hear word of that, the car he sold to buy the 550. His Speedster was white.

[filipi]

Hello , let me try to help.

The story is being told by Pascal, who I believe is French and lives in southern California. He is a 356 enthusiast, and also is the US west coast correspondant for the Porsche 356 club of France .
A few years back, he happened to meet Jean at a dinner . In a conversation , they found out that they both owned a 356 speedster, and that they obviously both had the same passion for the car.
Jean is the daughter of mac Grath , the original owner of the 356 the article is about. She enjoyed the car as a child riding in it with her dad and later on driving it herself when she first got her driving license at 16 . She enjoyed the car so much that she made her dad promise that the car would be hers one day . She bought the car from her dad for $12500 in 1992 but it had to be kept a secret from the rest of the family so nobody would be jealous . So she kept the car in her garage until 2010 when she met Pascal, who, as a 356 enthusiast, offered to take charge of the restoration project for her . After 7 months of work the car is back to its former glory, and Jean is enjoying the "little tiger" (as she called it when she was a little girl) again.
This is not the James Dean car . According to the narrator this car is chassis #80475and Dean was #80126 so they could have been on the same ship.