Messko question

[Paul Hatfield]

I have a maroon Messko for my 68 tool roll and I am trying to understand if the gray plastic pouch or red pouch would be correct for that year. Anyone know when the red ones phased in????????

[Soterik]

Definitely grey. The red ones were a later item. That's consensus from all the toolkit collector type guys I have talked with. I've never seen a red one claimed to be original....

Eric

[Paul Hatfield]

Thanks for the reply that the grey one would be correct for my 68. I first bought a Messko that came with a red pouch (E-bay) and was told by a 356 guy that the grey one would be right. Then, I bought another one, just to get the darn grey plastic pouch. Before I sell off the red one, I wanted to get some confirmation that the grey one was correct. So, here's another question..... Of the two gauges, is there a right or wrong one to pick to keep for a 1968 car? The flash makes the front one look a little lighter than the back one, but they are the same color. Both made in Germany, not Switzerland like some of the E-bay stuff you see out there. Difference seems to be only in the gauge scales. Opinions??????????

[Soterik]

Paul,

Keep the top one, dual scale is correct.

By the way, I'll try to come over next week to pick up the roof and wiper arms...it's a free week (finally....).

regards,
Eric

[typ901]

Thanks for the reply that the grey one would be correct for my 68. I first bought a Messko that came with a red pouch (E-bay) and was told by a 356 guy that the grey one would be right. Then, I bought another one, just to get the darn grey plastic pouch. Before I sell off the red one, I wanted to get some confirmation that the grey one was correct. So, here's another question..... Of the two gauges, is there a right or wrong one to pick to keep for a 1968 car? The flash makes the front one look a little lighter than the back one, but they are the same color. Both made in Germany, not Switzerland like some of the E-bay stuff you see out there. Difference seems to be only in the gauge scales. Opinions??????????

hi Paul;
did someone say "opinion" ?
the grey pouch is correct for all period produced Messko red guages. (the orange pouch came with the run of Messko's that Stoddard commissioned in the late-70's. those guages have a silver dial vs. white)
ready for some real minutia ? there are *2* different shades of red for the original guages. if you hadn't clarified your photograph, i'd say that the one in back was the earlier one (356C - '66) and the one in front was the later one.
this shouldn't be an issue until you get to a Parade concours and maybe not even then. the "single scale" (BAR - in front) was probably issued to a EURO car.
my 2 pfennig.
isn't this FUN!
HTH
best
jerry
p.s. i'm not positive the Swiss Messko's are fake, but probably would not have been issued to a U.S. bound car.

[Soterik]

I'll go even further... I think there's 4 colors of gauges.... 2 "red" colors, as seen in the pic above...and 2 more that are much darker. I think I have all 4 colors in my parts collection, and I'll try to post them. I've got 2 darker one's handy in my office as I write this, and they are both definitely darker than the 2 pictured... One has a kind of mottled burgundy color (it's like a multi color swirl of bakelite), and the other is the darkest burgundy you can imagine. That darker one is from an NOS 65 SC toolkit I have.

This is the kind of minutia you usually only see on the 356 Registry bs board.

E

[Paul Hatfield]

Thanks for all the info guys. Let's see if I can stump the band here a little though. On the gauge that you thought is 0 - 35 Bar,,,, well, in very small print (as in need magnifing glass) near the zero it says: lbs.p.sq. I Yup, conventional translation would be Lbs/Sq. In. Take a real close look at the picture I posted--- you can see it there. Given this, I would think it was not from a Euro car. Also, really comparing them I now see that it is slightly lighter than the other. Still think the compound gauge one is the best fit for my '68????

[Soterik]

Yes, compound gauge is still correct in my opinion...as many of these as I have seen.

E