Porsche 356 Registry - Member Gallery

1960 Cabriolet — Red Baron in the Persian Gulf

Jim Penland
Bahrain

I have been a 356 Registry member for 6 years and have read several very interesting articles in the magazine never believing that I might be one of the contributors. But I am relaying the story of the flight of the Red Baron to the Persian Gulf.

It all started when I bought the Baron in Marin county, CA in several boxes as the owner had lost interest in restoring the 1960 cabriolet. The engine ran, barely, and was told everything was there. Not. I was in the Air Force and was supposed to be stationed at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas but that was changed en route to be Langley AFB in Virginia. So I was even further away from my uncle¹s shop in Emeryville CA. This made the project much more difficult to finish. But after three years of traveling back and forth we finally did finish. I had the car in Virginia until the end of 1995 when I retired and moved to Phoenix AZ. It is there that I met Mike Wroughton and the Arizona Outlaws, joined the Registry and participated in several very nice events. But duty called.

I was hired to provide F-16 training to the Bahrain Amiri Air Force F-5 pilots for transition in 1998. I moved to Bahrain and put the Baron in temporary storage in my garage. My wife and son were remaining in Phoenix to make sure he finished high school in a timely manner. He has since graduated and my wife has moved over with me. Now was the time to bring the Baron. Alan Gruening, a good friend and quintessential Outlaw, was keeping
the Baron hangared with a classic T-28 at Falcon Field in Mesa and driving it a couple of times a week. This proved to be very beneficial for I had just had the engine rebuilt by Bob Poister after Walt at Precision Engineering did the the machine work. It all was working very nicely and I even was able to participate in the West Coast Holiday 2000 at Durango. So a plan was hatched to bring the car over to Bahrain.

One of the first F-16 pilots I trained here is a prince in the royal family and an avid racer. He has a first rate Mitsubishi Lancer that he races in the gulf region events. He was an enthusiastic volunteer to help me get the car through the mountain of red tape at the gulf end of the trip. I had to get the US side going. I flew into Phoenix and met my wife to drive the car to Oakland as the jumping off point. That might be a poor choice of words. But the fun part was driving the Baron from Phoenix to Oakland by way of Cambria and Highway 1. The trip up the beautiful California coast is what the car was made for. What a wonderful trip with the sun shining and the top down. Just doesn¹t get any better!

We arrived after 2 relaxing days of travel to my mother¹s house and went to work at continuing the efforts to get the car shipped to Bahrain. The company that the handlers in Bahrain gave me were a little dubious of my intentions to pack the car in a 20ft container and send it off to the gulf. I was a little dubious myself. I could just picture the car smashing from end to end as the ship rocked in some horrendous storm and the moorings of the car broke. But I digress. I had to get the car to Oakland ready to
ship first. I had some first aid equipment for the trip having read the 356Talk articles about lists of useful items to take. But I had to include a small floor jack and some stands if I was going to be able to perform some simple maintenance to the car in Bahrain. Shopping I went. Bought most of what I thought I needed plus an big car duster. It is very dusty in Bahrain. I need a big baggy more than a duster! All was prepared.

We delivered the car to the container company that actually puts the car into the box and secures it. They have plenty of experience in securing cars from Fantasy Junction of Emeryville and Blackhawk Museum for transporting their cars. They also had several nice cars in their warehouse waiting to be shipped. One old Ferrari about 50s vintage. I thought if they could manage those old cars then they should be able to load the Baron
uneventfully. But they had the wrong size container there and that had to be changed. The little truck that moves the containers around had broken down. So I had to leave the Baron unstuffed and head straight to the airport to return to Bahrain. I made the lady promise me that the car would be loaded and the cover put on for the trip. I called her later and she told me that the car was eventually loaded and the car was put to bed as I
had asked. I am still nervous about the fact that they had to pull the batter cables and that means opening and closing the hood. As we all know any neophytes messing with the hood could spell trouble. So I was headed home with those thoughts rattling around the old cranium.

I was told that the car should arrive around 30 July. 30 July came and went with no word. I had called the company a few times and found out the ship actually goes into Dubai, UAE first then reloads onto a smaller ship that plies the shallower Gulf ports. So I waited. On 2 August I received a call that the ship had arrived in Dubai. The smaller vessel should arrive
here in Manama on 4 August. Now I have to find the prince to see if I can get the car through customs unscathed. Holding my breath for the big container opening.

I arrived in the morning with the shipping agent to witness the opening of the container. To my amazement the car was already unloaded, battery reconnected and the car running. Why? Unknown. No one knows who ordered the container opened or why it was out on the tarmac or even running. It just happened. But now the fun part starts.

My enthusiastic prince has turned up missing and I am going to fight the customs officials alone and unarmed. It turns out his uncle died in London and was at his funeral.

So it was going to be an uphill battle without him. I was ushered into the head appraisers office as he tried to determine the value of the car with which to set am import tax. I was sweating bullets. This was supposed to be greased! I had my "official" word that the car sold for new at around $4,500 and with 40 odd years of depreciation then it was almost without value. He looked in several resale guide books but without success. They
only went back to early 70s. He made a few phone calls to his supposed experts and was still scratching his head. One of his henchman told him that the car was shinny and looked like new. So he informed me that if it looked like new then it must BE new and would be valued as new. I tried to negotiate and tell him if it looked new it was merely clean and not necessarily new. So he decided that he was going to have to look at it
himself. He was driven out to the covered dock where the car sat and walked around it hemming and hawing. The duo got back into the truck and was driven back to the office. I dutifully followed and resumed my spot waiting for the decision. He shuffled a few papers and declared that the value was 1,500Bahraini Dinars($3,978) and smiled. He then told me he owned two classic Mercedes SLs from about the same vintage. He knew what he was doing by making me sweat but was letting me off the hook. Whew! What wicked
entertainment these bureaucrats enjoy!

I then had the car delivered to my house via the worlds oldest and unsafe looking ramp-up trailers. It was unsafe at any speed but the guy correctly refused to drive it any faster than about 40mph. The Baron was finally unloaded at his new home now to begin the inspection saga for his new license plate.

Before the licensing can begin I had to get insurance for it. The local companies only provide third party insurance for older cars no matter what condition. No such thing as classic car insurance. But I convinced them to insure it properly but it cost more than double required for insuring a new car. But I wanted to feel a little more secure on these "bumper car" roads. Having accomplished the insurance I then had to get the car inspected. The inspectors are given a crash course in what new cars look like but have no
idea about old cars. The guy looks underneath and sees that the car had been hit in the right front and the strut had been welded. I think the accident occurred 20-25 yrs ago. But the guy says the weld is unsafe and the car couldn¹t be aligned. I told him that the weld had lasted for 20 yrs and the car is currently aligned. No, he said and flunked me. I needed more horsepower! So the next time I will have the prince with me to verify
proof of drivabilility. So we both went down after the car had a new coat of under seal put on it. The inspector didn¹t like it because he thought I was hiding something with the under seal. Who me? Never! But he kicked the decision up to his boss. The Captain of the Inspection Station waxed eloquent about how cars in this country had to be new and safe. I guess he has missed those mobile wrecks that ambulate some of his countrymen. But he gave me a restricted license that is only good for two years then I have to
take the car out of the country. Ok, I can handle that. See ya then.

We have been motoring all over the island and it has been a real attention grabber. Now currently trying to get my removable hard top to fit. This is the first time the car and top have been in the same city so lots of work ahead on that. Also, the Baron was chosen as Mr Oktober in the 2002 New Old calendar. Looks like a movie star.

Keeping the 356 faith in the Gulf.
Jim Penland