Obscure, or not, Details...

[Peter M. Zimmermann]

OK, guys & gals, I need a little help. As some of you know, I've had a '58 coupe in my garage for a bit more than a year, and I have successfully finished a number of projects on the car (it had been in storage for between 12 and 14 years before arriving at my doorstep).

The car has had one owner, and is a pretty, black, car. The paint is not perfect, but the owner states that, although the car has had some paint work, it has never had an accident. Here's my problem. Did Porsche ever fit nice, shiny, chrome rear bumper over riders (guards) to an A Model...BUT...fit dull, grayish NOT shiny, NOT chrome front bumper over riders (guards) to the same car?

A magnet will not stick to the chrome rears, or the dull gray fronts. The only bit of known history is that the car had a rather lengthy stay at a SoCal Porsche dealership many years ago, for a job that would not require a lengthy stay. Hmmmmm...

I don't believe that anyone has ever noticed the different finish on the bumper guards on this car. I think it would be greatly out of character for Porsche to fit guards with such a different finish to the same car.

Agree? Or disagree?
Pete Z.

[John Lindstrom]

My 59 has different finishes, only I would notice such a minor detail. It doesn’t bother me, just seems odd. But then again it is a Porsche, and well..

[Ron LaDow]

Pete, pretty sure that all of us who have fiddled with the things have discovered that the factory didn't throw anything out if it could be sold.
If your car was built near the change-over to some new spec, it might have earlier parts, since the factory was not going to put the new ones on until the shelf with the old ones was empty.
Example: C air cleaner housings on the right side got the taller ones with the tube-stub for case ventilation at the intro of the C. Until they were gone (or until the stock was low enough for some spares inventory) the left side got the remaining B parts.
And they would use new-spec parts if they ran out of old spec parts while the earlier car was in production: Regardless of Harry's claim otherwise, I've now owned enough 'few-owner' Cs to accept that the late ones got the 2-hole pulley, which Harry claimed was a 912 part. Probably was, but the factory wasn't gonna make a run of 4-hole parts for the last thousand Cs.
I do not state such is the case with your car or parts, simply that it's worth investigating parts used *near* the production of your car.

[Alan Hall]

'58, '59 came that way check out:

viewtopic.php?p=229418#p229418

[Peter M. Zimmermann]

Great info! Thanks, guys!!