1959 Porsche 356 Convertible D 1600 Super
VIN # 86604
Engine# P*84254
Transmission# 23268
93,700 Original Miles
15,000 miles since restoration (early 1980’s)
Ivory on Dark Brown Interior with Dark Brown Top
Clean and Clear California Title
Southern California 2-owner car
Numbers matching with Certificate of Authenticity on order.
Offered at $69,990
“The successor to the famed Porsche Speedster, the Convertible D model run was limited to 1,331 cars built between August 1958 and September 1959. Possibly less than half remain. These cars were hand built by coachbuilder Drauz and fewer unmolested original cars are available.” Thank you to John Chatley, founder of the Convertible D Registry. For more great info on these cars, go to his website at www.convertibledregistry.com
Recently, Bruce Anderson showed the values of these cars from $70,000 for a so-so example to $106,000 for an excellent example. And, we have seen how Bruce’s estimates tend to be very conservative. Although this car is not ready for a full concours, it is far from a so-so condition model. This is an excellent example of a local unmolested survivor. It is obvious that this car was simply enjoyed and maintained.
This 356 was originally purchased in Orange County by a doctor who drove the car for 75,000 plus miles over 20+ years. He then traded the car to Jim Rinker who did a complete restoration (early 1980’s). We have some vintage photos of the car being stripped down to the bare metal. The drivetrain was rebuilt at the same time. The current owner purchased the car from Rinker a few years later. For the past 25 years, the current SoCal owner has only put 15,000 miles on the car. It mostly sat in his garage in Whittier, CA.
About 2 years ago, the car went to a local 356 expert to have rust in the bottom pan fixed as well as the transmission rebuilt. Also, the distributor was rebuilt by Wilhoit. Recently, the car was tuned up as well as the carbs cleaned and rejetted.
This car is a very nice driver and survivor.
The body appears to be straight with no signs of rust. The front left fender was fixed due to a scratch from a bike falling on it in the garage. The repair was ok and under fluorescent lights, you can see a slight change in color. The bright work has normal patina for the age but appears to be straight and correct. There are some small signs of body/road wear from time. You can see details in the photos.
The engine area is very clean and original looking. The trunk area is very clean as well. There is no original tool kit…just the original jack and lug wrench.
The interior is in decent condition with no rips, tears, or cracks. The carpet is in surprisingly great condition for the age. The top is also in very condition with some fading/discoloration on the rear plastic. The radio looks great and worked up until recently…not sure if it is a fuse or a connection.
We just took the car to Scott’s Independent in Anaheim (very well respected Porsche repair facility) to do a full pre purchase inspection including compression and leakdown. Scott felt that the car was an excellent restoration candidate due to much of it’s originality. And, upon test drive, he said it drove better than he expected.
He said the floors and front suspension looked great and rust free. It appears that there was some front end repair that was ok but the bumper looked to be factory original. We test fit a correct 4-1/2” wheel with 165 tire and it did fit nicely (not included with the car…the car comes with a 5-1/2” spare seen in the photos). The rear of the car was perfect with no signs of damage (the rear braces from the factory were intact). The front wheel bearings could be repacked as the front left wheel moves slightly. The car is wearing Brazilian wheels and we couldn’t find the vin# stamp on the hood. The rest of the panels and hardware appear to be original to the car. The rear braces going from the frame to the body appear to have rust between the body and the mounts causing cracking in the paint behind the rear wheels. The passenger side brace is in good condition, but the driver side has visible rust.
Regarding the drivetrain, it appears that the transmission mounts were installed backwards and there is a very slight weeping of oil from transmission bolts (common on rebuild if they aren’t resealed properly). The transmission fluid was drained and the drain bolt was inspected. There was typical debris on the magnet. Swepco fluid was replaced. The bushings on the spring plates need to be replaced. We also found the clutch dragging a bit and could probably due for a new one. The brakes are in good condition and appear to work properly. There is some very slight oil blow by on a couple of the cylinders so we did a compression and leakdown:
Compression:
#1: 135
#2: 135
#3: 145
#4: 140
Leakdown (loss):
#1 8%
#2 10%
#3 4%
#4 2%
The spark plugs were changed, carbs adjusted, and a new generator belt was installed. Afterwards, the car drove very nice. Obviously, this is not a “perfect” Convertible D but rather a good potential driver that still looks great and you don’t have to worry about driving it around. Also, with nice restored candidates growing in value, this could prove to be a fun and good investment down the road.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Paul at 714-335-4911 or paul@autokennel.com
For tons of pictures, either cut and paste the following URL into your browser, or click here: http://www.AutoKennel.com
This vehicle is sold “as-is” with no warranty, written or implied. In some cases, the vehicle does have the remaining factory warranty still in place and will be described above if that is the case. All taxes and fees are the responsibility of the buyer and are not included in the listed price. The vehicle listed is described to the best of our ability. We are not responsible for errors in our description of options or any other details. We do welcome all local pre-purchase inspections on vehicles in order to verify condition.
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