Porsche 356 Project: Part it Out or Restore it?

Are any Porsche 356’s part cars these days, or do they all have life as a restoration project? This 1965 Porsche 356C Coupe project car sold recently on Bring-a-Trailer (BaT) for $26,000. The buyer indicates he plans to restore it.

Porsche 356C Project that Sold on Bring-a-Trailer

As Commentator stevsiegrist on BaT stated:

Sure, this is a project that is not for the faint of heart or the uninitiated. Of course you can just buy a finished running car and enjoy it that very day. Nothing wrong with that! But if you do take on a build like this, then in the end, you get a car that is truly yours. You and your builder get to create something special, something that no one else has. A car that you truly know inside and out. The design, the look and feel, the soul of the car… all up to you and your builder.

The question came up as to whether this 356 project should really be a parts car, but the over-riding consensus was with the values of Porsche 356’s there are really no 356 parts cars any more. They are all worth saving.

A Major Project to Undertake to be a Porsche 356 Owner

The median price of a 1965 Porsche 356C is $83,500 so there is not a lot of room in the restoration for a professional to put this one back on the road. This is a project for a garage mechanic who has always desired to own a 356 and likes to turn a wrench. In this case though, the builder really needs welding and body shop skills as the body is in tough shape as this photo depicts where you see the steering wheel through the floorboards.

Steering Wheel as Viewed Through a Hole in the Floorboard

It allows someone with the time, effort and skills to own a 356 built to their spec.

The buyer Obrill99 made this comment after he was confirmed as the winning buyer: “What happened? I black(ed)out. Did I just buy a 356? Well 83 percent of one?” The buyer seems to realize that they got into a big project. Air Brigade would love to see if this one goes to completion.

Commentator Mazenblue defined the four steps of a project car, especially one in such a condition as this one:

If you do suddenly awaken to find yourself staring at such a project in your garage and committed to completing it, you will go through the four stages of learning per below;

1. Unconscious incompetency: “Looks easy”

2. Conscious incompetency: “OMG, what did I get into?”

3. Conscious competency: “I THINK I got this figured out”

4. Unconscious competency: “No worries, I got it covered”

I hope this buyer makes the jump from stage 2 to stage 3 because I suspect a lot of projects stop at this key juncture and end up sitting in a garage uncompleted until the next ambitious 356 desiring garage restorer takes on the project. We’ll keep watching BaT to see if this one re-appears.

1965 Porsche 356C Coupe Project

Sold for $26,000 on November 22, 2021

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1965-porsche-356c-coupe-34/

$26,000 Porsche 356 Project on BaT

• Green with black interior

• 4-speed manual transaxle

• 1.6-liter flat four from a 1960 356B

• 15” Steel Wheels

• Many removed components so it is a guess what parts are missing

• Sold by a dealer in Ontario Canada.

The Engine for this Porsche 356 is Complete but not Original

Tags: Porsche 356C, Porsche 356B, Porsche 356 Project, Porsche 356 parts car