1955 Porsche 356

Speedster Convertible

4 - Cyl.

Manual

80236

Clear

Gasoline

You are bidding on a very early production Pre- A Project 1955 Speedster. The chassis number is 80236 This is the 36th car made for the 1955 model year and the 236th car from the beginning of Speedster production in 1954. It originally left the factory painted in the #602 "Speedster Blue" color and was fitted with a 546/2 1500cc 3 piece case motor. This color combination was only painted on a total of 193 cars for the entire Speedster production from 1954 thru 1959, so it is quite rare. The car's last owner had driven the car quite regularly up until two years ago, and the last sticker on it's license plate would seem to confirm this. It has a VERY solid chassis with all original panels and NO clips and minimal rust. It is believed to be an original California car from new, but I have no proof of this except for the fact that it has an extremely dry chassis with no previously replaced panels. The floor does have pop riveted pieces covering rust holes in it. The rust is not into the perimeters and is only in the center of the floors. I believe all the floors are Original and that there never has been any welding of any new metal into or onto the chassis. The only other area of rust on the car is the battery box floor and once again, the rust is confined to the center of the floor. If you look closely at the doors you can see that someone modified them and installed roll up windows. It would be relatively easy to remove these and go back to the original look with side curtains only. Also, whoever installed the VW engine, cut a hole in the engine lid rain tray to clear the VW air cleaner. These are the only modifications done to the body. It has been owned by the same owner for the last 20 years and always driven by him with the VW motor that's still in it. The original 1500 Porsche engine, top bows and bumpers have been missing for quite some time. However, there is a short block '55 Porsche engine that comes with the car. No tin, fan housing, carbs, etc. It's just a short block with only one cylinder head, butnever the less, is a basis to build a complete '55 Porsche engine from. Most of the hard to find Pre-A parts are still Original from the day it left the factory. This includes the windshield frame and posts, both main guages in the dash, emergency brake and steeringcolumn, Speedster seats, small diameter Speedster steering wheel, gas tank, horns, shift linkage,square door handles, transaxle and brakes, heater flapper valves, etc. There are probably a few other things as well that I am forgetting to mention. This Speedster deserves to be restored back to it's very cool and rare Speedster Blue color like it was when it left the factory in the spring of 1955. But, if not ready to restore it now, it would be just as much fun to put a little mechanical effort into it and drive it as is in it's kind of Rat Rod look devoid of it's side trim and emblems. Please ask ANY and ALL questions prior to bidding!! International shipping is not a problem, the Port of Oakland is close by.On Apr-24-10 at 18:04:21 PDT, seller added the following information: