Euro bumpers on US delivery car

[Ernesto Cabrera]

I'm finally restoring (" Back to Black") a 58 T2 cabriolet #150332 that I've owned (but never driven) for over 40 years. I bought/traded it from a friend of mine who at the time lived in Savannah, Ga., he had bought it from the original owner. I had a T5 sunroof coupe at the time and my friend drove the car from Savannah to my home in Atlanta. We took the original engine from the cabriolet and installed it in the sunroof coupe and he drove off with the sunroof coupe. I had more energy than sense at the time, and proceeded to to take the car for a complete restoration ( take apart a perfectly good car ). The car was originally black but had painted British racing green, a popular color at the time. I did not like the enamel paint so I had the car repainted Sea foam Green. That is as far as the restoration went. Fast forward 40 years, 2nd restoration in progress. The car was a European delivery car, bought through Hoffmann motors in New York and delivered in Germany. What baffles me is that other than the engine, all # match. Other than one or two very small dings, the car has not been in any accidents and all panels are original to the car. I chemically stripped the car and stripped the 3 layers of paint plus the grey primer. The bumpers which are Euro type including the bumper guards have no evidence of having had the US over riders. Is it possible that some cars eventually destined for the US to have been delivered with Euro bumpers? Was there a legal requirement in the US to have those overriders? I would like to restored the car as completely as it left the factory. Would very much appreciate any feedback. BTY the relieve for the exhausts at the rear fender shirt is present.

Thanks, Ernie Cabrera

[Jon Warshawsky]

I thought US-spec overriders were mentioned on the COA (?)

It seems like a lot of overrider bumpers are now swapped for the pre-overrider or European styles, but if you've owned the car since ~1971 that seems unlikely.

[tyler carlson]

Hi Ernesto-Somethings take time! But....the clue i was looking for in the telling of the tale was-regardless of the guards having/or never had or the bumper being drilled for the over-rider bar/bars-was the body of the car itself being drilled/had holes punched for the over-rider braces! You probably saw evidence one way or another when you stripped the car down. Being a european delivery(correct me here) but purchased thru Hoffman(they just did the paperwork for the purchase in europe) could mean it was picked up at the facotry or a dealership in europe and was as a domestic model(european) and not changed to U.S. specs as a courtesy(at the factory) or just a preference for the euro look. On the european delivery cars-one that is picked up in germany(example) and driven around on your european vacation and then shipped home-it is taxed differently-it is now a used car and somewhat more profitable to bring back. An excellant example of this is in the member gallery of the car barry brisco's father purchased. neat story. Shooting from the hip so to speak your car sounds like a domestic(eurpoean) version.

[Ernesto Cabrera]

Sorry, I forgot to mention that all the bracket holes are present as are the tabs that the supports attach to and to this day those support tabs on the inner body look as though nothings ever been attached to them. When I got the car, the bracket holes were covered by solid (no holes) rubber caps that look very much like the bumper support grommets without the hole. There is no mention on the COA RE: bumpers but the info there is very sketchy. I wonder if anyone knows if the orders that came from Hoffman was kept by Porsche? Any comment much welcomed.

[tyler carlson]

That certainly is good new information! Although the COA may not have all the information-it is entirely possible the American bumpers were done here-stateside. The reason being that the much heavier American cars-whose bumpers came in about the headlight and rear license area height-posed a constant threat to the 356. Some folks thought they were 'beefing' up the protection as might be the case with your car. This would have been a fairly easy modification at a time when the car was repainted.

[Ernesto Cabrera]

That certainly is good new information! Although the COA may not have all the information-it is entirely possible the American bumpers were done here-stateside. The reason being that the much heavier American cars-whose bumpers came in about the headlight and rear license area height-posed a constant threat to the 356. Some folks thought they were 'beefing' up the protection as might be the case with your car. This would have been a fairly easy modification at a time when the car was repainted.

Tyler, It looks like the American overriders were never installed, although the body configuration is is definitely T2 US version. However, the bumpers, which I believe came with the car ( original paint primer and all over paint evidence ), has no overrider end holes. I believe, that the car may have been ordered delete overriders. What I really wanted to know is, being that Euro delivery was not uncommon and a lot of military or diplomatic personnel lived for a stint in Europe, if one was required to run the bumpers with no overriders. I know that the earlier rear full overrider obscured the license plate and eventually led to the split overriders.