I bought my first 356 from Tom in 1977, a '62 ruby red T6 Notchback with 19,000 miles, and it was a great car. In the late '80's, he bought a '63 S90 Cabriolet with a truly splendid document trail from an extremely meticulous second owner, who had bought the car in July 1965. When Tom bought the car, it had 65,000 miles on it, and it now has a bit over 71,000, so not a lot of miles in 20 years.
To my extreme surprise, he had arranged for me to take custody of his baby. So the little green 356 has made its way to the West Coast, and now it starts...
It has its original paint and interior. It has its original, complete tool kit. It had a replacement top (vinyl, ugh..) about 30 years ago. One headrest, seat belts, "anti-drone" mats, a Becker Grand Prix, two loudspeakers, and a travel kit, as per COA. It's numbers match, and the engine is a strong runner, surprising given it sat for about 18 months. Still, the running gear will get attention to make sure it's re-commissioned safely. It is missing its travel kit. It had a clutch at 69,000 miles. New tires at 58,000 miles. It averaged a bit over 22 mpg during break-in, and about 27 after that. The second owner documented every fillup, the cost, the location, and every dime he ever spent, as did Tom. It has the original owners manual, service manual, radio service manual and warranty, an early COA, and a host of other interesting reading. We found the original radio in the last box we looked in when cleaning his garage, and Becker has agreed to restore it.
So a few questions..
I have both sets of original keys. There are four! While I can find spots for three of them, I can't help but think I've overlooked something. One works for ignition and doors; the next for the gearshift lock; a third for the hood lock--but the fourth----is a mystery. Any ideas?
At the end of the day, I'll miss Tom tremendously--more than you could express on this board---, but at least I'll be happily reminded of all the good times as often as I can.
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