I was never that much of a car girl, but as I recall, the cool cars of my late teens and early twenties – before folks segued their driving experience into Saabs and Volvos – were Datsun Z’s and Porsches.
Practically speaking, most of the people I knew who had “foreign” cars had Beetles.
But I did babysit a couple of times for a family in which the dad – unlike any other dad I knew – drove a Triumph, and it was a thrill to pipe down Worcester’s Speedway, sitting next to the handsome and dashing Jack McG, top down, on a spring night, pretending I was on a date. As if! (Jack was the decade-older cousin of a good friend of mine. Kathy was the main babysitter for Jack’s family, but I was the first sub.)
One of my friends from high school drove an Austin Mini. This was decades before Mini Coopers became a thing. Kim’s was an Air Force brat, and her family had spent a few years in England, where they acquired the Mini. Ultra fun to stuff a bunch of friends into the Mini and have Kim show off her wrong-side-of-the-road-stick-shift skills. (Bonus points because the tires were really tiny.) I’m still friends with Kim, and it amazes me that, when the Mini Coopers were introduced, she didn’t bite
I had a college friend who had a classic Jaguar, and I spent plenty of time tootling around in that one.
My friend Joyce’s boyfriend –later and still her husband – had a Z for a while.
But a Porsche was the ultra.
When I was a Big Boy waitress, the manager was a very nice, very young, very good looking fellow who drove a red Porsche. I can still remember the little frisson that ran through the waitress staff when John screeched into the Webster Square Big Boy parking lot in his Porsche.
Porsches are a lot more prevalent these days. They even have “family cars,” SUVs.
But back in the day, they were the ultimate cool, sexy ride.(Not that I ever rode in one, although I have a vague memory of John taking turns taking the waitresses for a brief spin around the block. He really was a very sweet guy. A demanding manager, but a fundamentally sweet guy. His brothers Tim and Dan also worked at Big Boy. They were both sweet guys, too, especially Dan.)
Anyway, it’s no wonder that folks who are into collecting classic cars would want to have an old Porsche or two as part of their stable.
If you want to collect a Porsche, one place to look would be a California outfit called European Collectibles.
The Porsche is their “mark of choice.”
Only the finest will do from metal finishing the body to the last original Porsche crest installed on the hood. While, cosmetics are critical, drivability is essential to fulfilling our ultimate goal of a satisfied client….
Today, we have a full restoration facility employing a staff capable of metal fabrication and finishing, paint and body prep, as well as mechanical staff. This allows us to perform all restoration functions In House which enhances efficiency and quality control is ASSURED.
It looks like European Collectibles may have gone a bit overboard on restoration. At least when it came to the 1958 Porsche they sold Jerry Seinfeld a few years back for $1.2 million. (I don’t know what one would have paid for that Porsche in 1958, but I’m guessing the appreciation has been pretty good.)
Seinfeld held onto this particular Porsche – he has a large collection of them – for a few years, and then sold it to a Channel Island company called Fica Frio. For $1.5 million.
Fica Frio is now suing Seinfeld, claiming that the Porsche in question is a fake. Seinfeld is, in turn, suing European Collectibles, claiming that he relied on the certificate of authenticity that they provided him at the time of his original purchase.
The question of what’s real and what’s fake hovers around any item – cars in spades – where there’s extensive restoration involved.
If you’ve replaced every component of, say, a ‘34 wagon that you call a woody, with something that wasn’t there when ‘34 wagon rolled off the assembly line, is it still a ‘34 wagon? What if all of the components used come from other ‘34 wagons? What if the body is real, but the engine parts are all remilled? And wouldn’t tires from 1934 have rotten away by now?
A rather philosophical problem, no?
Seinfeld bought and sold on good faith, but now his lawyers are calling out European big time:
The lawsuit alleged that the Seinfeld purchase was not the first time European Collectibles was alleged to have sold a restored Porsche that was alleged by a disgruntled collector to be inauthentic.
The lawsuit said it seeks to “reveal the extent to which European Collectibles deploys fraudulent practices in connection with its restoration and sale of classic cars.” (Source: AP News)
This should put something of a crimp in European Collectibles business. I’m guessing they won’t be selling any more pricey classic Porsches until this sitch is resolved.
In Seinfeld’s suit against European, things get a bit snippy:
“Mr. Steinfeld, who is a very successful comedian, does not need to supplement his income by building and selling counterfeit sports cars,” the lawsuit said.
Counterfeit sports cars, eh? Was European doing more fabrication of hoods and less installing original Porsche crests on those hoods?
When a work of art is bogus, there are some pretty extreme forensic means for determining authenticity. Is there an equivalent for cars, when a lot of the parts are replaced or “restored”?
Guess at some point we’ll find out if the Porsche in question is a real fake Porsche or a fake real Porsche? A $1.5 million question, for sure.
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