This just feels like a Sunday car. Porsche’s 356 has the sort of vintage style and charm that makes for enjoyable cruising and certainly would serve as a capable machine for relaxed oceanside or mountain driving. Would those drives necessarily be spirited? Perhaps not, but then you may be better suited to something outside of the vintage car world to meet those purposes. This particular 1965 Porsche 356C Coupe sits in an excellent Bali Blue over Red color combination and as one of the later 356 productions is about as modern as one of these Coupes might come.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1965 Porsche 356C Coupe on eBay
Year: 1965
Model: 356C
Engine: 1.6 liter flat-4
Transmission: 4-speed manual
Mileage: 28,000 mi
Price: $125,000 Buy It Now
Reluctantly selling my 1965 Porsche 356C. I have owned this car for 5 years and have spent a great deal of that time restoring it to near perfection. I only say near because i actually drive the car. In 2012 it underwent a complete bare metal respray in the original Bali Blue color using single stage enamel. The car was sold new and has lived in California its entire life (see photo from the 70s). It is free of rust and was never in any accidents, so all gaps are about as good as you can get. All lids and doors are original and numbers matching to the chassis. Motor is numbers matching and recently had a top-end rebuild. Transmission was recently fully rebuilt. Interior is all new italian leather in the correct 64/65 356 red (it looks a little light in the photos due to camera flash). Gauges rebuilt by Palo Alto speedo. Correct Michelin XZX tires. Carrera wood wheel. All new brakes… like I said, fully restored and near perfect. Everything works even down to the original self-winding clock and Blaupunkt radio. Original black plates included and I hope it stays in California so the plates can continue to be registered to the car.
Like with many examples of the 356 we come across the ad doesn’t give us a lot to assess its long-term history and as is typical the stated mileage raises questions. My assumption is that the reported 28K miles are the number traveled since rebuild or the odometer has rolled over. In either case, I don’t expect it to be the correct number of total miles traveled to date. Neither the exterior paint nor the interior leather are original, but each remains in its original specification. Given the asking price the dearth of historical documentation is likely more problematic than the original paint and interior, but all three areas are items that would make this more valuable. With those negatives out of the way, this is a really beautiful 356 and while the Cabriolet attracts more attention and, frankly, is the more visually appealing machine, the 356 Coupe employs its vintage looks well and this one does look in nice shape overall. As performance cars these aren’t going to blow you away, but for the pure joy of connectedness between car and driver, through the feel of the leather and the wood wheel, these vintages machines can captivate in ways that modern technology fails to do.
-Rob
