Ten Fifty-nine

[sithot]

Last year I saw a movie made by the the father of a friend of ours of this area circa 1937-38. Not much around. BTW: he's sharp as a razor at age 96. He told us that his friend's mom was into real estate and the home they lived in was pretty cool. They made a funny western style shoot-em-up movie on the property.
He had joined the Navy and was planning on doing a stint and moving on. Alas WWII caught him and he became a career Navy man. Retired as a Commander. He's one of the neatest people I've had the pleasure to know and call a friend.

I'd love to get a copy of the film to see if anyone recognizes anything in it.

Tom

[LongRanger]

We headed out the same that way we came in . . . on Hwy 68. It was late afternoon, by then --- still before the dinner rush . . . and not as many cars as I was expecting, but slow-going anyway, especially out by Laguna Seca. Warmed-up, away from the coast, too

Took a coupla hot hours to get to SLO. I parked-up in front of this garage-full --- of English patients . . . . then we hiked up the block, to this little Mexican place that we found --- a coupla trips back . . . The Wild Donkey

Long day . . .

. . . but you’d never know it, looking at Zovig



Real nice to have someone to share these trips with . . .

[LongRanger]

We finally got home that Friday night --- don’t remember exactly when . . . late, but not too. I logged our last fuel stop in Pismo Beach @20:32 --- which was after dinner, so . . .

Which reminds me . . .

Trip start:
…11:30, 15-Aug, km = 74312
Fuel:
…16:02, 15-Aug, km = 74620 (191.4 mi), $32.75 @$4.379/gal = 7.48 gal (25.6 MpG)!
…14:35, 16-Aug, km = 74912 (181.4 mi), $41.25 @$4.139/gal = 9.97 gal (18.2 MpG)
...20:32, 16-Aug, km = 75176 (164.0 mi), $33.50 @$4.459/gal = 7.51 gal (21.8 MpG)
Trip finish:
...?, 16-Aug, km = ?

I topped-off when I dropped-off, two days later . . .

...19:17, 18-Aug, km = 75582 (252.3 mi), $45.00 @$3.999/gal = 11.25 gal (22.4 MpG)

Total distance = 1270 km = 789 mi
Total fuel used = 36.24 gal = $152.50
MpG (Legends) = 21.7

Really encouraged by the fuel economy. I can’t say that I’m the easiest-going driver out there, but --- with so many of the measured MpGs around/over 22 . . . maybe I’m doing something right?

Then again . . . maybe it’s Zovig!

Still want that Touring tank, though = 2nd-to-the-last bit


Anyway --- a long coupla days, a Good Drive . . .


. . . and a little souvenir

[LongRanger]

Sat down for a few minutes, today --- made what I thought would be a ‘short list’ of open stuff regarding my running down the history of The Nasty Car . . .

1) Re-start the search for Donald C Anderson
…a) listing

2) Contact US Customs to try to find out about the vehicle’s importation from Switzerland

3) Follow-up w/ the two Sellers (Dürst) in Davos
…a) translated letters
…b) photos of the car + key fob
…c) mailing addresses?

4) Find e-mail + contact ‘Roger Benoit’
…a) contact

5) Connect w/ /draft? Richie King (Karmann Konnection)

6) Re-join Porsche Club GB
…a) solicit contacts w/
……i) Derek Bell
……ii) Brian Redman

7) Get Siffert's Swiss Porsche concession address (es?)

8) Get/read ‘A French Kiss with Death,’ Michael Keyser
…a) contact author? regarding . . .
……i) sources
……ii) photos
……iii) contacts


Hhhh. Not so short


That last one concerns a book written about the filming of the movie 'Le Mans.' It's kinda important because I'm looking for information to help me to understand two photographs --- specifically when they were taken, and --- especially the 2nd one . . . where

Seems that there are two different interpretations about the green 911 that's in them
. . . Karim's --- see post #480 . . .
http://www.early911sregistry.org/for...ty-nine/page48
. . . and Milou's --- see post #31 . . .
http://www.early911sregistry.org/for...een%2C+siffert

. . . not so much about what . . . 'FR 10032'

More about when



Marco asked me, once . . . . when do you stop?


When there’s no more list . . . . . I guess


Meanwhile --- while I’m waiting for the Government to re-open to contact U.S. Customs . . .

. . . just ordered my copy of Kiss

‘. . . 5 to 6 days . . .’

[LongRanger]

I pinged the US Customs and Border Patrol site, the day after the budget mess here was sorta-resolved . . . .
http://www.cbp.gov/

I went straight to the ‘Forms’ section . . .
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/toolbox/forms/

. . . and selected CBP Form 28 – Request for Information . . . then filled it in + sent it along electronically


. . . Hello . . .

I am researching the history of my motor vehicle.

I have learned that my vehicle was imported from Switzerland to California, some time prior to March, 1984 probably by a Mr Donald C Anderson, who lived in Southern California.

What information is available from CBP regarding the importation of this vehicle?

How do I submit a request for this information?

Thank you for your time . . .


Since The Shutdown of '13 had lasted for several weeks, I wasn’t expecting such a prompt response --- five hours!. Here’s the reply that I received . . .


. . . Thank you for contacting the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) INFO Center.

Import records can be requested through our Freedom of Information office http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/admin/fl/foia/.

Thank you again for contacting the CBP INFO Center.

Sincerely,

CBP INFO Center

If you have any other questions or would like clarification on this response, please feel free to contact us either by calling our toll free number 877 CBP-5511 (227-5511) or if calling from outside the United States our toll number 202-325-8000 and speak with a Public Information Officer. Our hours of operation are Monday thru Friday from 8:30 AM-5:00 PM Eastern Time.

Please note that in our online tracking software, a “Solved” status simply means that we have provided you with the best information we have to your question. There may still be steps you need to complete before your situation is resolved to your satisfaction. Those steps are explained in our response. If you need further clarification on those steps, please feel free to contact us back.

This email is intended for Informational Purposes Only, final determination of admission is solely at the discretion of the CBP Officer based upon the inspection at the time of entry . . .



I’m actually kinda excited by the response. I’m guessing that 1059’s importation into the US --- ~’84? . . . probably preceded any large-scale computerization of records. But even still --- I would expect there would be an actual physical record documenting the car’s arrival --- forms, affidavits, photos, etc. And whatever physical records do exist are probably stored in some gargantuan document storage/repository, who-knows-where. So, using a Freedom-of Information Act request makes it sound like some Body will actually be digging around in all that paperwork looking for the package of docs that was submitted --- and I’m thinking that it was a Big One . . . when The Nasty Car came over here from Switzerland, or wherever

The problem is that I have very few details about where + when + anything --- to include in my request. The time-frame is a guess, really; CA DMV’s records are only for registration in that state. The Importer's a guess, as well; I have no way of knowing if for Donald C. Anderson brought 1059 in himself . . . or if someone else did the importation for him. I’m not even exactly/definitely sure where 1059 came from; did the car come from Switzerland directly? . . . or did it stop-off some place else, along the way

Really --- the only thing that I know for sure? . . . is the VIN


The FoIA request has a section where I get to explain what I have + what I’m looking for. I’ll try to keep my explanation + attachments short, but . . . I will try to tell something about why I'm looking. 'Cause, if there are any records, all I can hope for is to maybe inspire some Body to dig-around long + hard enough to maybe find something that can add a few more lines to this account . . .

. . . for $25



How do I spell ‘longshot’? . . .

9-1-1-0-3-0-1-0-5-9



Meanwhile, Lou Scalzo --- 1059’s 6th Owner . . . is on his way out here, to Los Angeles. Except for the pictures that I’ve sent him, Lou hasn’t seen the car since he sold it, to Mark Allbaugh --- what ? . . . .

. . . . twenty-seven years ago?



And yeah . . . we’re gonna meet up


Oh, hell-yeah

[Peanut]

Very interesting update. I may want to research the same type of information for my car, so I (and I am sure others) wish you the very best of luck in your quest. Plus it would be a great continuation to 1059's story.

Scott

[LongRanger]

Ever since I found out he was one of the previous owners + made contact, Lou Scalzo and I ‘ve been staying in touch --- a little more since all the Siffert stuff came up, a few months back. I sent Lou a copy of the Kardex --- Mark Albaugh, too . . . the guy who bought the car from Lou, and the guy I bought the car from. It’s funny to think about how something like an old car can connect people. I mean --- if it wasn’t for 1059, none of us would’ve ever met . . .

Anyway, Lou still has family + connections here in SoCal, and I’ve been telling him to let me know if/when he’s ever around . . . maybe see the car

So, last week --- sure enough . . .

I took a day off. I was hoping to be out in Simi for The Drive, but that didn’t turn out. Instead? . . . . drove out from The OC

Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I’m OK w/ traffic --- I actually enjoy threading my way through a good Sig-Alert. Been doing it --- w/gusto . . . for years. But . . . The Morning Commute --- from Tustin through L.A. then up to The Valley? --- on a week-day? . . . . . in anything without wings --- or rocket launchers? . . . .


Is

Just



BRUTAL



Left ~06:30 --- not super-early, but still reasonable, I thought --- right?. . .

. . . not

That 50-60 mile run out to Chatsworth turned into an almost-3-hour slog. And 13.4 MpG, when I tanked, that night, thank you very much. The sheer volume of traffic is just fearsome. And there was an accident --- of course . . . ~La Tijera/Howard Hughes Parkway, I think. Then things picked-up some --- even through the normally-occluded Sepulveda Pass . . . where the construction project/boondoggle to actually widen that monster --- as if 10 lanes isn’t enough . . . is already 15 months late. I tried to keep the revs up --- 2500 minimum . . . but there’s only so much I can do in traffic/at close-quarters . . . without any charges being filed. Now, after all the Dancing-with-Cattle, 1059’s paying me back by having picked-up a little fumfing/farting, at idle/low RpM, again . . . so we may need to go out + pull some revs + clear some stuff up

Gives me a new appreciation for the people who actually bought/used/lived-with these things as transpo, Back in the Day

And I’m obviously an Idiot

Anyway, I had a google-map w/ the address/location where Lou was staying, printed-out, flapping-around rather-merrily in the pass seat. Got as close as I could on The 405, then got off + wandered around some on city streets. After Ben Huring my way up the highway --- whips, chains, blood, a cheering crowd . . . all those hapless/half-asleep city-street commuters that I torched were almost a relief. Almost

Have I written how good it feels to have a good sturdy German horn in The Nasty Car again? Felt kinda naked without one. Without her voice, 1059 felt pretty vulnerable. Now? . . .

No more knuckleheads casually wandering over into my lane
No more ’didn’t see ya’s, ‘where’d you come from’s or ‘hang-on --- I gotta take this call’s . . .

None

With 100+ dB?, on tap, out under the nose . . . the Dead will now awaken



Anyway . . . got there ~09:15

Lou heard me as I pulled-up, came out of the house, had me park in the drive

Howdies, handshakes . . . . . + big smiles


26 years




1) Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhh

2) Sepulveda Pass de-/re-construction. 15 months late. 'Bad concrete.' Someone building a sub-pen?

3) Sherman Way, heading West. No prisoners. (Hey! --- beats sitting on The 101)

4) + 5) Lou



Keys were in it --- and The Nasty Car was already all warmed-up, so . . .

. . . told him to take 'er out

Hell-yeah!


26 years

[LongRanger]

Lou was gone w/ The Nasty Car for only few minutes. Took off like a pro, too --- smooth + authoritative --- not tentative . . . but just around the block, too, it seems. Gone for just a few minutes. And I’m feeling badder about that now. We'd originally planned to swing by Magnus Walker’s garage + visit some . . . but it turned-out that he was outta town that week, so --- except for the run there + back --- and Lou's lap . . .

. . . 1059 sat


. . . Anyway, in some of our earlier conversations, Lou’d also mentioned that, when he’d first purchased the car, he’d looked over + underneath 1059 and noticed that the left rear wheel well had a lighter/lesser/different-textured coat of underbody schutz than the right. Anderson'd never mentioned anything about an accident, but Lou figured that something had happened to that corner, but --- because everything fit so well . . . gaps, bumper/fender/lid, etc . . . he’d never worried about it. Seeing the car again, Lou repeated that story . . . as he ran his hands up inside of both rear fender edges. That’s a Porsche Guy

Cars don’t talk --- but owners do. And 1059 has had a life. And so, after all this time, to have Lou here with me --- telling me his part of The Story . . . then driving --- even running his hands over his old car, again . . .

So cool that he remembers those details, still . . . and looked for them, again


Anyway, Lou and I stood out front, in the drive, and talked --- for a coupla hours, maybe? . . . then went inside . . . but only because Ed invited us

Lou had lots of interesting stuff to say . . . and not just about 1059. Turns out that he’s had a LOT of 911s, since --- 6 or 8, I think? . . . has one now --- G50 Carrera? Had some 914s, too. And buses --- Type IIs . . . still

Talked about when he was looking for/buying 1059. Back Then --- getting an Early 911 was actually his 3rd choice. 1st was an SC . . . but those were too expensive. 2nd was a G-body car --- more ‘modern-looking’ w/ the big bumpers . . . but ditto. So --- 3rd up . . . was a small-bumper ‘S’ 'cause it was --- ‘the hottest 911 that I could afford.’ He’d had an Early 911, already, by then --- a ‘T’ that he bought/drove/sold before coming to CA

Anyway, when he was looking for his ‘S,’ Lou said that there were 3 good prospects, that he could recall . . . one especially --- this white car, w/ a built motor --- ‘ran real strong’. . . but he wasn’t too sure about the body work, so . . .

Lou did his car-shopping in The Recycler --- used to pick it up, as soon as it got delivered to the mini-marts, on Thursday evenings . . . go through it quick + call --- to try and get a jump on any prospects. He told me that he’d seen the ad for 1059, called, then went out to have a look at the car the next evening

Said that, as soon as he saw her --- he just knew . . . ‘that was the one’

Fell in love with the color . . .



He talked about the paint job. Lou said that his impression was that Anderson didn’t do a thing with/to the car while he owned it. Wasn’t abused or anything . . . but Anderson kept it in a barn --- just a car, nothing special. I asked about the Porsche crests, on the front quarters, and Lou said that they were there when he first saw 1059 --- but on both fenders --- in yellow . . . and ’clear-coated over’

Also said that, even when he first saw her, the paint on the RIGHT side was crazed/flaking. I pressed him about this point --- and he was sure. RIGHT side

This whole insignia-thing is really gonna bug me, now. 1059 was found to’ve been damaged/repaired on her LEFT side . . . yet Lou said that that side looked fine. So . . . why is the RIGHT side looking so shabby? I’d’ve thought that that would’ve still been original paint, there --- and then I’m remembering some of the comments made . . . that ’70 was when the Faktory first started using two-stage finishes for its metallics . . .

. . . and had problems w/ crazing/flaking clear-coat

So now? --- I’m wondering how long those Porsche badges were on 1059’s fenders . . . especially if they were clear-coated w/ what sounds like the same short-lived stuff that Porsche used on all their other finishes

‘Cause --- if the right-side insignia was under a Faktory-flaky clear-coat? . . . then those crests may’ve been on the car from the Faktory

The only problem with that is . . . how would someone have repaired the left-side w/ an identical insignia to the right? Unless, maybe . . . that was when both insignia got put on --- at the repair. I’m still thinking that the repairs we found on the car could’ve done by Porsche themselves --- the work was a bit too elaborate. John had commented, when he stripped the car + saw the left-rear, that he . . . ‘had no idea how they did it’

Hmmm


Anyway, at some point, after talking some more inside, we --- as in Lou, his buddy Ed, and I . . . decided to take + try to find this Mr Anderson’s place where Lou first saw/bought 1059. There were three of us, so --- Ed took us in his van

Now, all of this was really asking a lot of Lou. He’d been to Anderson’s place exactly twice --- and once was in the dark . . . and that was 26 years ago. Lou didn’t even remember Anderson’s name --- I'd pulled that off of the CA DMV’s registration history. But Lou did remember this one particular road that he drove --- going there + back . . . and specifically a sharp ~90-degree turn . . . with a bunch of trees around. So, Ed dug up a 13-year-old Thomas Guide --- 'member those? . . . and he and Lou pored over the pages, looking at the neighborhoods Back Then, trying to see if anything looked familiar. I was surprised to see how close-by the places were --- 5 minutes, literally. Coupla good candidates, too . . .

. . . but no luck. Everything's been built-up, since . . . pretty-much un-recognizeable

I’m still running down some/several D C Andersons --- but if nothing pans out? . . . then I’ll take a hike down to the County Recorders office and see what I can see . . . tax records, title changes, something-or-'nother. I'm not done

Anyway, after driving/looking around for a bit . . . Ed and Lou took us out for lunch --- this not-so-little Mexican place, there in the area. We ordered + ate --- conversation going-on all the while, when, at one point, Lou (PO#6) asks me (CO# 8) . . .

‘Hey! --- you still in touch with Mark (Allbaugh aka PO# 7)?’

Had my mouthful, so --- being polite . . . I got out my cell, pulled-up my list o’ ‘contacts,’ found Mark A, punched the button --- then? . . .


. . . handed Lou my phone


And-yeah --- they hit it off



Lou ate his lunch cold



1) Coupla 'ten fifty-nines'

2) No lights . . . . just camera + 'action'

3) Yup --- still fits. Also . . . this'll be the new 'portrait' pose

4) Lou + Mark

5) Ed + Lou

[911T1971]

and then I’m remembering some of the comments made . . . that ’70 was when the Faktory first started using two-stage finishes for its metallics . . .

. . . and had problems w/ crazing/flaking clear-coat

So now? --- I’m wondering how long those Porsche badges were on 1059’s fenders . . . especially if they were clear-coated w/ what sounds like the same short-lived stuff that Porsche used on all their other finishes

Yes, early on Porsche had problems with clear coats.
In July 1972, for warranty repair they even printed a 7 page repair instruction, handed to dealers and paint shops.
This was basicially a paint problem on brand new cars.
see below.

[LongRanger]

. . . Yes, early on Porsche had problems with clear coats . . . they even printed a 7 page repair instruction, handed to dealers and paint shops . . .

Wow! . . . fascinating

I'd heard/read that Porsche had problems w/ their paint jobs . . . but I never heard of this repair instruction

And only 7 pages?

What are the instructions? Is it just about stripping-off/re-spraying the clear coat?

Or is it more elaborate?


And where the heck do you find this stuff, Karim?