Unrestored, matching number Porsche 356s have been hard to find for quite a while now. The owner of this 1960 356 S unfortunately is having to sell it due to a medical condition–I’m sure that’s the only reason! It’s listed for sale here on craigslist and is located in Greeley, Colorado (near Denver). Thanks to Barn Finds reader Gunter K. for submitting this cool find! The seller is asking for an offer near $45,000 for the little silver beauty.
Although the car is not a runner, it appears to be basically sound. The seller tells us that the 88,192-mile car has some surface rust, but that the floor pan and structure look good. The Porsche left Stuttgart in September of 1959 and was first titled in the USA in 1960. I found this uber-cool picture of the Porsche assembly line around that period to illustrate how these cars were essentially hand-assembled. Even by this point in time, Detroit had become considerably more automated and stories abound of how the Porsches of the time were of extremely high quality.
The car features a few non-standard body modifications. Thankfully, though, most of the trim looks to be in great shape apart from the bumper and missing over-rider.
Plan on replacing or repairing the battery box area. As you can see, there’s some repair needed in the hood area as well. Again, nothing that can’t be done, but the repairs will have to be done correctly to maintain and increase the value of the car. Porsche enthusiasts aren’t very tolerant of slap-dash repairs!
I’m pretty sure 1960 356s didn’t come with tufted velour interiors; at least none that I could find. However, it does appear to be in good condition, so this wouldn’t be the first thing I’d change. As a side note, this car features my favorite walnut AMCO shift knob type; I have one on each of my Triumphs!
The seller tells us that the flat-four is a factory super engine that was rated at 75 horsepower. I believe that this is the first year of 356B production, which was known as the Type 616/2. The seller states the engine turns over freely, and as simple as these engines are, I suspect it wouldn’t take much to get the car running again. I’ve never been lucky enough to drive a 356; have you? How much different is it than a tuned Beetle? I look forward to your recollections!
Been lucky enough to put over 200,000 miles on 3 different 356s. A ’59 coupe, ’65 C coupe and a ’64 coupe in order. All bought used and proved to be trouble free, fast, and comfortable on the road. In the late ’60s and ’70s they were our primary transportation. There were tuners that pulled much more horse power out of both the Porsche and VW engines for racing. These days with better metals and designs you can pull almost twice the power out of the same engines than in the past. As for the front pan rust, replacement pans are available and are part of the strength of the unibody chassis in that area. This car will be a good one to restore and drive.
No, we didn’t drive it in snow. Just took it out of the garage to take the picture. Had a VW Notchback for snow.
Me too Bobhess. I’ve enjoyed several 356s before I got my first 911 and that ruined to for me and I never went back to those basic, simple, dependable and beautiful early Porsches. They were great in snow and when I owned them they were my daily drivers and they seemed to thrive in any and all New England weather. Skiing in the mountains in winter or day trips to beaches in summer . . . always fun!
Love the single grill 356s
I was lucky enough to have befriended the late Weldon Scrogham of G&W motorworks Waynesboro Virginia,(the guy who sold Jerry Seinfeld a couple cars and had a Large sticker on the fridge during the Seinfeld episodes). I purchased a 1970 911T (I was 20) off of Weldon years ago and would go and visit him often. I got to start a pre-356 all handmade body for the first time in many many years that he was working on. Also he let me drive a 1956 356 for my birthday one year, silver with a green interior beautiful car great handling. RIP my friend!
Trevor… I’m assuming your friend Weldon isn’t with us any more. Met Weldon in the late ’80s when we sold him a ’60 Porsche Roadster race car that we spent 4 years restoring. Just hanging around looking at all the cars while he processed the paperwork was worth the trip from Oklahoma alone. They raced the car for a few years and then sold it to a PCA member in California. Nice folks. Picture was taken on our way to sell it to him.
Yes sir we lost him April 17 of last year. He was a funny guy and one hell of a driver. He used to sign checks “Donald Duck” instead of his real name and the bank cash it! When I bought my 911 it was an old one, but solid faded paint not quite up to his standards. it was sitting around back waiting to be sold to a junkyard in Atlanta for $7k he told me I could have it for that he pulled it out from around back one day put a jump box on it and check the oil and that was it, after it sat back there for about four months. Didn’t check the air pressure or anything else and took me out for a test drive. Scared the ever loving crap out of me, He pushed that car harder than I ever pushed it of 10 years of ownership. 25 mile an hour turns at 70+, what a ride!
I remember a 356 many years ago for $2500, told a buddy and he bought it. I did buy one for $1500 a few years ago, sold it for about the same, that thing needed everything..
So-called silver cars today are actually gray. The 356 color was SILVER.
gone.
Weldon was my neighbor growing up. Was the 911T yellow? I have his 1988 911 3.2 Cab. 35,000 miles.