And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Wow, this brings back so many memories! Just out of the Navy in late '69, I got into VWs -- the first (of many) being a '66 Karman Ghia. I used to hang out at a local VW repair shop on the weekends and one of the owners, Gunther, had a 1960 356 coupe. He would let me borrow his 356 from Saturday afternoon when the shop closed until Sunday evening when I would drop off his car at his home (he drove my car to his home). The condition was that I would wash and detail the Porsche during the time I had it. That was a great deal for me and I took every opportunity to get more seat time in it.
A few years later, his partner Ron bought a 1963 356B cabriolet from a friend of his in the Air Force who brought it back from Germany. It was Ruby Red and Ron subsequently had it custom painted by a well-respected local shop (Roman's Chariot Shop). It was simply gorgeous and in pristine condition. Several years later he decided to sell it to fund the purchase of a Winnebago motor home and asked if I wanted to buy it. That was a no-brainer and I loved the heck out of that car for a couple years before my (then) spouse decided she wanted to move on. In the settlement, she got the Porsche and most of the furniture, and I got the house and a '74 2002Tii that I was making payments on. She ended up selling the 356 to Check Stoddard (owner of Stoddard Imported Cars and Porsche collector). I was heartbroken but life went on, and got better.
I was never able to find another 356 that could match the one I had, but continued my love for VWs, mainly GTi's, a Scirocco, an R32 and others. I did end up buying a perfect 85.5 Porsche 944 (with just 6K miles on it) from a neighborhood buddy and kept it for a number of years. But it wasn't a 356, or a 911 so I ended up selling it to an Oberlin College professor after several years of ownership.
Fast forward to the 90's and while browsing at a bookstore I found a Porsche coffee table book that had 6 photos of my old 356 taken somewhere on Chuck Stoddard's estate. His collection included the rarest of Porsches, race cars, including a 917, etc. At least I knew my 356 had a good home. Not sure what ever happened to it after Chuck Stoddard passed away. Every so often, I pull that book off the shelf, or pull out the stack of photos from the box in the attic and reminisce about the fun I had driving it.
My 2nd wife (we're now at 45 years together and counting) has been supportive of my penchant for nice cars and other guy toys. Looking back, I realize just how lucky I've been to find a life partner who means more to me than any car, no matter how special it might have been.
I was a senior in high school in 1979. I lived on a hay farm and one of our customers was a local doctor. He had a trophy wife that had horses. I delivered the hay for her horses. He had a 64 365 coupe he wanted to sell because he had ordered a 930. The 365 was deeply discounted to me but I could not afford it. I could come up with about half the cash to buy it. Missed opertunities.
Wow, this brings back so many memories! Just out of the Navy in late '69, I got into VWs -- the first (of many) being a '66 Karman Ghia. I used to hang out at a local VW repair shop on the weekends and one of the owners, Gunther, had a 1960 356 coupe. He would let me borrow his 356 from Saturday afternoon when the shop closed until Sunday evening when I would drop off his car at his home (he drove my car to his home). The condition was that I would wash and detail the Porsche during the time I had it. That was a great deal for me and I took every opportunity to get more seat time in it.
ReplyDeleteA few years later, his partner Ron bought a 1963 356B cabriolet from a friend of his in the Air Force who brought it back from Germany. It was Ruby Red and Ron subsequently had it custom painted by a well-respected local shop (Roman's Chariot Shop). It was simply gorgeous and in pristine condition. Several years later he decided to sell it to fund the purchase of a Winnebago motor home and asked if I wanted to buy it. That was a no-brainer and I loved the heck out of that car for a couple years before my (then) spouse decided she wanted to move on. In the settlement, she got the Porsche and most of the furniture, and I got the house and a '74 2002Tii that I was making payments on. She ended up selling the 356 to Check Stoddard (owner of Stoddard Imported Cars and Porsche collector). I was heartbroken but life went on, and got better.
I was never able to find another 356 that could match the one I had, but continued my love for VWs, mainly GTi's, a Scirocco, an R32 and others. I did end up buying a perfect 85.5 Porsche 944 (with just 6K miles on it) from a neighborhood buddy and kept it for a number of years. But it wasn't a 356, or a 911 so I ended up selling it to an Oberlin College professor after several years of ownership.
Fast forward to the 90's and while browsing at a bookstore I found a Porsche coffee table book that had 6 photos of my old 356 taken somewhere on Chuck Stoddard's estate. His collection included the rarest of Porsches, race cars, including a 917, etc. At least I knew my 356 had a good home. Not sure what ever happened to it after Chuck Stoddard passed away. Every so often, I pull that book off the shelf, or pull out the stack of photos from the box in the attic and reminisce about the fun I had driving it.
My 2nd wife (we're now at 45 years together and counting) has been supportive of my penchant for nice cars and other guy toys. Looking back, I realize just how lucky I've been to find a life partner who means more to me than any car, no matter how special it might have been.
That was a refreshing bit of good news; thank you for posting and congratulations
DeleteI was a senior in high school in 1979. I lived on a hay farm and one of our customers was a local doctor. He had a trophy wife that had horses. I delivered the hay for her horses. He had a 64 365 coupe he wanted to sell because he had ordered a 930. The 365 was deeply discounted to me but I could not afford it. I could come up with about half the cash to buy it. Missed opertunities.
ReplyDelete