1956 Porsche 356A Carrera GS Coupé at Bring-a-Trailer

[Jim Alton]

Bring a Trailer is celebrating its 10,000th listing with something special: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1956- ... a-carrera/

It's now running a 2 liter engine from a Carrera 2 and a later transaxle.

The first bid was $ 150k.

[Doug McDonnell]

In fact 1st bid was 10K and I commented that opening bid should have been 100K to weed out inane bids. A few minutes later 100K was bid.

[David Jones]

My inane bid was going to be $200K in the certain knowledge that I would be outbid but I would have the satisfaction of seeing my bid up there. It would at least make people think I had some money.

[John Clarke]

Yes Jim, very nice . But something not quite right. I think that the winning wealthy bidder may have a nagging doubt what he has just bought.
Jay

[Jim Alton]

It's several orders of magnitude outside my price range.

I have the impression Carreras were more likely than most 356s to lose their original engines so maybe the current Carrera 2 engine was inevitable.

It's a little sad to see it so "personalized." Just 5½ inch wheels when having two sets would have been a trivial expense in this price range (I had two sets for my 911 when it was cheap).

And, the original Lago Green Metallic would have been far more unique and still gorgeous.

[Jim Karaba]

Yup Lago Green is nice

[Bil Brown]

And I noticed the Kardex mentions interior "acella bast" and COA gives int color as beige. Don`t see too many acella bast interiors, mostly in Speedsters. Lago & yellow acella would have been a striking combo!

[Jim Liberty]

I'm watching with great interest. My take is that only #1 cars do well these days, but we shall see. Matching everything 100% original, or a true nut and bolt restoration to #1, numbers matching cars are still moving up. Nearly everything else is struggling.

...................................................Jim.

[David Jones]

I don't see "A" cars struggling to make money no matter what the condition. They all seem to go for good money even without matching #'s. Maybe Adam can confirm or deny their saleability.

[Jim Nelson]

I'm watching with great interest. My take is that only #1 cars do well these days, but we shall see. Matching everything 100% original, or a true nut and bolt restoration to #1, numbers matching cars are still moving up. Nearly everything else is struggling.

...................................................Jim.

It will be very interesting. It’s had an exterior color change, interior color change, transmission type change, engine change to a very different spec, the “is it a real sunroof car” thing—all of this would doom a pushrod car, even if it was a better spec. But....this looks really, really nice. You would (well, I would) want the better engine and trans, but I’d go with the original colors. Great car.

[John Clarke]

Would be interested in Vic's opinion. He's out there with the auction crowd, and was involved with the drive mods. No doubt these upgrades enhance the reliability and with the later 2 litre engine, assume that it performs very well. Bit of a worry that it hasn't been used much. These engines must be used. All these 'upgrades' from seats, instruments etc are very nice. 'But they were not there when Porsche built it. Too much of an outlaw for me, and I could only have it if I sold the house! Still like it though, no disrespect.
Regards Jay

[Vic Skirmants]

My opinion: it's worth what you're paying for it.
I think Carreras are evolving into a different preparation/modification status than pushrod cars. "Good" modifications don't seem to affect the price considerably. Not unlike old Bentleys from the 1930s; those cars get engine, transmission, body, chassis, etc., changes and still go for heavy money.
Pure originality will always trump modifications, but "proper" changes will still be worth big bucks. By "proper", I mean 356-based Porsche parts, not 911 transmissions, suspensions, and crazy engines. That's right, I don't like those cars.
Only criticism I have of the blue car in question: I think the rear is too high; needs a touch of de-cambering/lowering to get down a bit.

[Ibrahim Kuzu]

My opinion: it's worth what you're paying for it.
I think the rear is too high; needs a touch of de-cambering/lowering to get down a bit.

Vic,
Just what i was going to mention...And due to 2ltr engine in an A body you will have that huge muffler
braking the lovely design of the Coupe.Would have been nice maybe install a GT Muffler for the look...
All these can be done by next owner...Very nicely personalized 56 Carrera .....

IK

[Steve Douglas]

I know this car it was built to be a driver, everything was done right, be best stuff, and while not original it is so much better with the updated mechanicals. Neil has had the car for 12 years and is ready to find it a new home. He has a couple of other really nice cars and an early 911 in restoration, so he wants to concentrate on those. If someone wants to make a huge impression in the Outlaw Featured Class, at the upcoming Werkes Reunion Monterey, this would be the car. It is better up close than in the pictures. Neil knows what he was doing when he built this car, having much of the work done as a special project by Alan Klingman of the Stable in SF. I have been on a couple of drives and it is fast and very stable and drivable. Yes, it isn't a numbers matching car, it is a personalized "hot rod" to the max, but with the trend of Outlaws and R Gruppe type cars it will be a "buy" for someone, try to find an early A coupe that is a true Carrera, and then try and find a good 4 cam engine, then add in all of the trick stuff and it's mega bucks. Sad that it most likely won't be showing up at our local events, but it will be nice to see Neil's newest project.

[Ron LaDow]

I know this car it was built to be a driver, everything was done right, be best stuff, and while not original it is so much better with the updated mechanicals. Neil has had the car for 12 years and is ready to find it a new home....

Steve, didn't know this was Neil's car, but the engine build and dyno runs were enjoyable to watch at The Stable. I have no interest or involvement in the car whatsoever, but I never saw Neil nor Alan do anything that wasn't first-rate.