In late 1958, when I was four years old, my father purchased a 356A Normal coupe (shown at right). To save money, he ordered it from Stuggart, and arranged for an acquaintance who would be vacationing in Europe to pick it up in Germany. When the man arrived at the Porsche factory, order in hand, he was told they had no record of any order from a Mr. Brisco! However, they showed him onto the factory floor and said "Pick one out and we'll have it ready for you tomorrow." He chose an ivory car with brown upholstery right off the production line. A few days later he claimed the car and put a few hundred miles on it driving around Europe before it was shipped to San Francisco, where my father took delivery. He recalls that the price came to $3,850, whereas if he had bought from the local dealer it would have been $4,250 plus tax and license. He had the car serviced by Harry Weber at Transport Motors in Oakland, which was owned by Carl Block.

For the next ten years my father drove the car almost every day. He says that the only problems he ever had were a broken clutch cable and a crack in the muffler. Eventually he put almost 100,000 miles on it (without ever having to replace the brake pads) before reluctantly selling it in 1968 while living in Los Angeles. A few weeks after the sale, he got a call from the Hollywood police saying that the car had been totalled. The new owner had fled the scene. They thought my father was still the owner because the registration had not been changed. All he had left to remember the car by was one photo (shown above) and the key chain, which I now have in my 356A. But my memories of that car — and of the times my sister and I spent playing in the "spacious" rear seat area on family vacation drives — have never left me.

 In mid-2003 I saw an A coupe for sale in Oregon almost exactly like my father's car — ivory, brown interior, no radio, and overriders. The only differences were that it had a clock, passenger side mirror and it was a Super, not a Normal (my father once confided to me that he secretly wanted a Super but couldn't rationalize the extra $275 cost!). Unfortunately, I was not in a position to buy the car at that time. Two years later I was, and after pestering the owner for a month in the fall of 2005, he agreed to sell me the car (shown above at right). I flew to Oregon the next day and drove it back home in nine hours straight!

The known history of the car is that it's a California car, apparently first owned by a couple in Lodi (near Sacramento). In 1976 the car was put into storage with 64,000 miles on it. In 2000 the inheritor of the owner's estate sold the car to James Hasson of Sacramento who did a bare metal paint job in the original ivory, recovered the front seats and dash in brown leather, replaced the windshield and headliner, painted the gas tank, and installed new oatmeal carpet. Hasson sold the car in 2001 and it went through several owners in Oregon before I bought it. At that time the odometer read 67,117 miles. The condition of the car and the history make it likely that is the total mileage.

The car is numbers matching per the COA: original 1600 Super engine (#82929) and 644 transmission (#22971), with all closing panels stamped "553", and in the original paint and interior colors, ivory 5704 and brown leatherette. The door panels and entire rear area upholstery are original and in good condition. The dash has not been repainted. Just like my father's car, the only factory options shown on the COA are sealed-beam headlights and US-style bumpers (overriders). The car has never had a radio. The production completion date is 11/20/58, probably just a few weeks later than my father's car.

The only recent modifications to the car are a VDO sweep second hand clock installed in the center of the dash and a dual master cylinder installed as part of a complete brake system rebuild in 2005 that was done by Emory Motorsports in Oregon. In addition, they also rebuilt the front end steering assembly and installed new Koni shocks. Around the same time, Don Marks rebuilt the distributor, generator, and carburetors, and did a complete detailing of the engine compartment, preserving the original compartment insulation (original insulation is also present in the trunk). The transmission was recently rebuilt and the clutch replaced by Alan Klinger at The Stable in San Francisco. I have added an electric fuel pump behind the floorboards, 3-point Diest belts, and the CuLayer LED taillight bulbs.

This A coupe is my daily driver and "regular" car, just like my first two 356s were. My wife and I don't put many miles on our vehicles, and having a vintage car as a second car isn't a problem (she drives a 2008 Toyota Prius). We run our own business out of our home and spend about ten seconds every day "commuting" to our desks in our mid-century modern home (shown at right), built in 1959 in San Mateo by famed California developer Joe Eichler and designed by modernist architect A. Quincy Jones. Clearly, a 1959 356A coupe fits right in with our lifestyle.

View a photo slide show of the A coupe

Barry Lee Brisco
San Mateo, California
Registry Member #16465