Real Vasek Polak License Plate Frame

[speedracer901]

I am selling this excellent condition Vasek Polak License Plate Frame.I have had this on my wall for over 20 years which my dad who was one of the master mech's at Beverly Hills Porsche in the late 70's and the 80's gave to me after a customer wanted BH frames instead of the Vasek's.This all happened well before they went up in value and these repro's started popping up everywhere. Just a little history on the frame.This is a actual dealership frame from the Vasek Polak Car Dealership.Across the street was the racing division and the saloon was next door where you could get a drink. So only the frames with Hermosa Beach were from cars bought from Vasek. They did have Vasek Polak repair shops in Manhattan Beach and Hermosa and I think a volkswagon shop in Redondo in the early days. This is why you see some Vaseks say different cities. I have seen real Vasek's in pretty beat up condition sell never less than $500-$700 if they are dealership frames. You will not see to many in your lifetime for sale and almost never this well taken care for.And not to mention having this not only looks awsome and turns heads.These are stamped on the back and the tabs that hold the frame are perfectly intact.Light wear in the black but the chrome is awsome and these are straight. The price for 1 Vasek License Plate Frame is $700 .I will pay shipping w/tracking and insurance.Paypal accepted.Thanks speedracer901

[popowitz]

Its a bold statement to say that a car with a Vasek Polak license plate holder will fetch 2-3K more than a car without one.

Having said that dood luck with the sale.

Regards,

Dave

[LongRanger]

Vasek Polak.

People seem to have some kind of mystic notions about the man.

I don't.

Lemme tell you a little story about Vasek Polak, as told to me by the late Craig Stevenson.

Vasek Polak got started as a mechanic for Porsche, back in the 50s. Good mechanic, too. Smart. Made his bones working on Carreras. First came to America as a Carrera mechanic, helped a lot of people with their cars, helped a lot of people win, used his rep to get a dealership with Porsche, and several others, as well.

And Vasek Polak was good businessman, too. Built all his businesses from the ground up. Worked hard. I don't know how many cars he sold over the years, but he was a fixture in the South Bay, for over 3 decades. Long time to be in the car business. Especially in Southern California.

And Vasek Polak liked cars and bits, had a real eye for The Good Stuff, too. For those of us who ever visited any of his dealerships, from back in the 70s on --- his street-side display windows were filled with amazing cars: 908s, 917s, 934s and 935s, CSLs. Even if you didn't know WHAT THE HECK you were looking at, those cars --- HIS cars --- were quite a sight.

Yeah, Vasek Polak was something. Prominent business man. Successful. Bitchin' cars.

And smart. Really, really smart. And successful.

Now remember how i said that he got his start working with Carreras? Well, back in the 60s and into the 70s, some customers would come into his store with, say, an old Carrera, one that was having trouble, hard to keep properly tuned, what with the high compression and dual ignition and fancy carbs and everything . . . well, Vasek Polak would offer that Customer a brand new SC motor in exchange for their pesky, troublesome, 4-cam Carrera motor FREE, with maybe just a little charge for the labor.

What a Guy, huh?

Never confirmed any of the details. Never ran across any 'customer' who could repeat the story . . .

But. Years later, long after I first heard the story, when Vasek Polak had died, and they'd opened-up all his garages, and they'd pulled-out all the stuff he'd collected over the years . . . I remember hearing . . .

'Where'd he ever get so many Carrera motors?'

Hhhh.

Let's just say I won't be buying anything with 'Vasek Polak' on it.

Rick Kreiskott

[Bill Simmeth]

Rick with all due respect, isn't your position vis-a-vis Vasek Polak a bit with hind sight? As I recall, four cam engines were down right cheap and scorned in some circles as impractical not all that long ago. It's only in more recent times that they have become such priceless collectibles. Maybe his vision was such that he foresaw their eventual worth, but as your story attests, he never really benefited personally as time ran out.

[LongRanger]

Hey, Jones . . .

No due respect necessary --- we're all friends here.

I can only speculate on any person's motives, now or ever. What was done years ago --- if it was done at all --- has only left an impression on me. This was only a tale told to me once-upon-a-time, by a wonderful, and so-very-flawed, friend of mine.

Look. I'm only a 'hobbyist' . . . and whatever time or energy I put into, as well any associations that may come out of, all this 911 stuff . . . is all 'for fun.' (Or, at least, it's supposed to be.)

My hobbies work in ways and places that aren't exactly rational. Which means that sometimes . . . I have a gut reaction to things. Its not a 'dollars-and-cents' thing, not a 'right-and-wrong' thing, not a 'correct-or-repro' thing --- but personal. Sometimes very personal.

Like when I see someone offering a license plate frame for a thousand bucks . . . pitching me, on my 'for fun' web-site about why it should be something I want . . . I look at the name on that frame, and I remember this story a friend of mine told me, in a garage, with us sitting in a couple of dumpy chairs, next to this Carrera Cab that had been given to a certain Dr Ing F Porsche. That was a lucky car, that Cab, to have come down through the years, with all of its 'stuff' still on it.

I wondered then about all the cars that didn't. And I remember us talking about Vasek Polak . . . smart, successful Guy.

Like I said, I won't be buying anything with 'Vasek Polak' on it. For fun. Or otherwise.

Peace.

Rick Kreiskott

[prez!]

Its a bold statement to say that a car with a Vasek Polak license plate holder will fetch 2-3K more than a car without one.

Having said that dood luck with the sale.

Regards,

Dave

I thought the same thing when I saw his listing on Pelican.

[Bill Simmeth]

Hi Rick, I still respect my friends -- most of them.

I tend to agree with you about dropping serious coin on an item like this. But in regards to the 4-cam story, I guess I view Vasek's deal with the 4-cam owners as a win-win in its day. Can you imagine the cost to repair one of those as trained mechanics and parts began to dwindle? (Can you imagine being the service writer and handing the customer the service estimate!) So, the owner got a much more economical motor, one still viewed as 'hot' in the day. Vasek got parts cores. I don't think it was anything more sinister than that.

True, quite a few great collectible cars by today's standards were stripped of the vital component that make them so collectible. (Perhaps a litttle chicken and egg?) But back in the day when used Speedsters were selling for hundreds of dollars, I don't think people spent a lot of time worrying about keeping the original motor in the car. Kind of like why did anyone put a 930 kit on a 68S?

Peace and out.

[72targa]

I like this related item, too...no affiliation...

http://cgi.ebay.com/PORSCHE-VASEK-PO...item563d7f1c48

[denson]

With respect to the license plates, I remember a few years ago that people were paying extremely silly money to obtain one. They were on ebay, dealers would remove them and sell them and there were even repros. I thought it was getting a bit "corny" when enjoying early 911 cars came down to this.

I have two Polak plates as they were on a 356 when I purchased it. The car looks much better with them off and just chrome plate holders on. If the car was truly purchased at Polak's, perhaps then it makes some sense. To each his own,,,,,,,,,,,,

[speedracer901]

Some of us are into license plate frames like others are into steering wheels. But if it was only a hundred dollars how many of the same peaople would have bought it. I bet if I lower the price that would help. How's $800