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Adapting a Modern Bike Rack to a 356
Text and photos by Ed Hyman
I have my old Leitz rack mounted on the 64 356C, just like the one shown here. I stopped in to my local bike shop and they showed me a Thule folding rack #960 (about US$65.00) that straps to the trunk of a normal car. It is designed to hold up to three bikes
It fit cleanly onto the Leitz rack. I used four simple U bolts from the
local hardware store to clamp it down, saving having to have a slew of tie
down straps. [Mounting hardware shown in photos below.]
My feeling is that as that one or two bikes are a better match as the Leitz
host is attached to the grill. There would be increased stress at the
engine cover hinges, if too much mass was applied to the rack. Also a
pre-T-6 hinge may be less strong and only one bike would be recommended
for earlier 356s.
In any event the Thule rack allowed me access to our Lake Waramaug (8 miles
around) every day from May to November when it became too cold to ride. The photo above shows the rack with my 1964 Atala ten speed (Campagnolo record deraillieurs). When my wife found that I could no longer reach the brakes she made me go out and buy a 2005 Trek 7500.
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