Cam Ingram and the Road Scholars Restoration Team were featured in an article in the December 2011 issue of Excellence magazine.  Read an excerpt below:

“Grooming the next generation of craftsmen and enthusiasts is a concern in many hobbies.  Naturally, many wonder who will emerge as the leaders in the vintage Porsche world for the next 20 or 30 years…

“So, who will carry the torch for the next generation?  Cam Ingram, a slight and soft-spoken 35-year-old from the South, might be a good bet.  Why?  He just won at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, a show that’s traditionally been tough on Porsches.  He did so with a 1949 356 Gmünd coupe, a car he and his team restored for a rather special client: HansP-Peter Porsche, son of Ferry Porsche.”

Click here to download the PDF of the article in its entirety.

See complete list of winners here: Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance Winners Announced.

If above video won’t load, click here to see Road Scholars co-owner, Cam Ingram, interviewed by Jay Leno about this Gmund Coupe.

Our sincere gratitude and appreciation goes out to Hans Peter Porsche and Rolf Sprenger for this incredible opportunity.

See the Gmund Coupe featured on Jay Leno’s photo gallery:

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About Hans Peter Porsche’s 1949 356/2 Gmund Coupe #45

This rare 1949 356/2 aluminum bodied Porsche Gmund Coupe was one of the first production cars made in Gmu?nd, Austria. It has the distinction of being the 45th Porsche built with chassis number 356/2-045.

The Gmu?nd cars as they are known, truly represent the success story of Porsche. These arcane, yet skillfully built cars from Gmu?nd, represent Dr. Ferdinand Porsche’s first clear statement of purpose for building personal sports cars.”

There was a total production of 52 units built in Gmund, with an additional 11 bodies created later for competition cars.

Chassis 356/2-045  completed and shipped to Scania Vabis in Sweden on July 18, 1950. Porsche would sell a combined 15 Gmu?nds to the truck manufacture Scania Vabis, which was also VW’s importer in Sweden. Chassis 356/2-045 would be apart of the last series of Gmund’s that were assembled at Tatra (Coachbuilder in Vienna) and finished at Porsche Salzburg.

We spent over 2000 hours researching different archives around the world and inspecting seven different Gmund’s in person. It was a very interesting fact finding mission, with many differences found between each model. Indicitive of the limited resources during  the time of production and post war Germany. It become evident during our inspections that the cotton binding that seperated the body from the chassis did not do much to protect the cars from electrolysis over the years.

Distinctive Features

Erwin Komenda displayed his mastery of automotive design with the shaping of the 356/2 coupe. Like most great car designs, it stayed true to its design and did not grow in proportions when built.

The first Porsche’s were hammered out over wooden bucks by craftsmen (Frederick Weber) in the little saw mill in Gmund.

The coupe’s most distinctive feature is its flowing fender lines and partially enclosed rear wheels. Its classic fastback roof line showed traces of the Type 60K10 that was designed for the 1939 Berlin-Rome Race. It has mechanical brakes and is powered by an 1100 cc, 40 horsepower air-cooled engine, with two Solex carburetors.

Original Components

This 1949 Gmund has the following original components:

• chassis #45
• motor #43
• body #35

During the dismantling phase of the restoration, we found the original red paint underneath the hood hinges and behind the door striker plates. We later confirmed in Porsche records that 356/2-045 was indeed painted red from the factory.

The Carmel Concours on the Avenue 2011 was staged Tuesday, August 16th on the downtown streets of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.

This was our first time attending this Concours and it was over the top in every way.

It was extremely well organized and featured first class judges. We brought three customer cars for the Concours and all three scored victories. More pictures coming soon!

1. 1952 356 Cabriolet: 1st Place

2. 1958 356A Speedster: 2nd Place and special award recognition for most likely to generate a magazine article.

3. 1960 356B S90: 2nd Place in the Coupe Class.

A field of approximately 175 automobiles were featured at the fifth edition of the Carmel-By-The-Sea Concours on the Avenue, vying for 14 major awards and Best of Show. This year’s event presented multi-marques from 1940 to 1973, in addition to Porsche and Ferrari from the beginning through 1989.

Best of Show at the Carmel Concours on the Avenue 2011 was awarded to the 1956 Ferrari 250 GT Boano Convertible of Robert Lee. Wearing chassis number 0461GT, this one-off body was the 1956 New York Auto Show car.

The 2011 Dana Point Concours was wet affair, but we prevailed against the challenging weather conditions to take first place in full concours and also won the coveted peoples choice award with a 1952 356 Cabriolet (Fashion Grey/Blue). It was also the debut show for the 1960 Porsche 356B Super 90, which happens to be the very first super 90 to be produced.

We were a little shocked to wake up Sunday morning to a rain storm in sunny southern California in late July. The hotel valet assured us that it was very rare, but his comforting words were lost on us.

We had spent countless hours on these two cars, and had shipped them across county in a transporter to compete in the 356 epicenter. The last five years of concours experience has taught us not to panic when faced with diversity. Although, it was tough to remain calm when we ran out of towels by the third onslaught of rain.

It was particularly rewarding since we decided to bring our customer cars to the Dana Point show instead of Porsche Parade. Kevin and I wanted the cars to be judged by knowledgeable people and compete with our restoration peers.

The 356 Club really deserves credit for hosting an incredible Concours event that we are extremely proud to have been part of.

The Ault Park Concours is a fantastic event that takes place in Cincinnati Ohio every year. Road Scholars concours prepped two cars for the event, a 959 and Carrera Abarth GTL.

The 959 won 1st in class and the Carrera Abarth GTL earned the Howard Rapp trophy (Best Porsche).

The competition was impressive and diverse. This is a really fun event and beautiful venue for any concours guy.

http://www.ohioconcours.com/index.asp

This year was the fourth time we have attended the Kirkland Concours in Kirkland Washington.  What a great event!  The featured marque this year was r5eally just “Carol Shelby” and all the cars that carried his imprimatur.  There were also many other incredible vintage cars, boats, and motorcycles.  The display of GT40s, Cobras, and Shelby Mustangs was awesome.  With lots of local Shelbys entered, you had one of the best displays this side of a SAAC convention.  They had original unrestored cars and then Bruce Meyers restored Cobra, simply the best I have ever seen.  When I moved past the featured cars I found an incredible collection of Packards, Alfas, Cadillacs and pre-war iron.  I was stopped in my tracks by a beautiful 100M Healey, black with red, the windscreen folded down, and just the right stance.  I wanted to take our 1958 Speedster, issue a challenge, and settle it once and for all.  Or not.  The motorcycle display was also terrific with a fine selection of Ducatis, MV Augustas, and even a sidecar racer from the 60s.  The docks had an excellent display of vintage hydroplanes with their mohogany decks, straight pipes, and direct drives.  It makes you wonder what those drivers were thinking.  Nuts!  They had to be nuts.  We’d brought a couple of our cars for the Porsche display – the Orange 1958 Speedster and our fashion-grey 1952 Cabriolet.  While the judging consisted of a quick look to popular choice, Dennis Rood made this truly an event you had to leave smiling.  Well we certainly were, as we finished first and second in class.  I ran into one of our first “repaints,” now in the hands of our freinds Peter and Fiona.  I’m glad to say that it won second in the peoples’ choice class four years after we painted it.  Our Parade-winning Performance Class 1973 911 is now enjoying its life as a “driver.”  It went on the wine tour and to the show.  The engine and gearbox are still fresh but she’s starting to show what she was built for: driving.  The grey-beige 911T took second in class and the only cleaning was wiping the bugs off windsheild.  The real congratulations goes to the Pacific Northwest Region of the Porsche Club for getting over 100 cars to show up on what appeared to be a gloomy day.  Dennis Rood and the rest of the club members get an “atta boy” for a job well done.  The Kirkland Concours will be on my must attend list for 2011.

Sass spoke to Cam & Kevin, along with Porsche Club of America’s executive director, Vu Nguyen, and Porsche Cars of North America’s spokesperson, Tony Fouladpour, about the intense competitive nature of the Porsche Parade, and about the cars Road Scholars brought to Illinois, saying that “They stood out in sea of red, silver and white cars.”

To read the full article, click here or visit NYTimes.com.

The 24th annual 356 Club’s Dana Point Conours was another success story for the Road Scholars team. With our 1958 356A Speedster and 1952 Cabriolet coming in second and third overall in the Restoration Group.

1958 Porsche 356A Speedster: Full Restoration Class 299.2 out of 300 (2nd place)
1952 Porsche 356 Cabriolet: Full Restoration Class 298.9 out of 300 (3rd place)

It was stark contrast  in atmosphere from the Porsche Parade, with more 356 camaraderie and attention to authentic details on the cars. The Dana Point Concours is a must see for any 356 enthusiast and a really fun event to attend in a beautiful setting.

Here is a nice blog feature about the 2010 356 Club’s Dana Point Concours:
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/07/12/porsche-clubs-24th-annual-dana-point-concours-shines-through-th/

This 1973 911T was awarded:

• 1st in Street Modified Class (295.3 out of 300)
• Division Winner Street Modified Class

We are proud to announce this is the second year in a row we’ve won the Street Modified Class Division at the Porsche Parade.

See more Road Scholars 2010 Porsche Parade Awards