This XK120 Fixed Head Coupe comes to us from a automobile collection focused on being the BEST. The details are what separates the best from all other restored cars available. Our XK was pulled out of a warehouse in the San Francisco area in the mid-90′s, 100% original, where it had sat for over 34 years. Mike and Sue Tillson of West Chester, Pennsylvania had just won their class at the Amelia Island’s Concours and were now looking to win at Pebble Beach.  They purchased this car to win because the Jaguar was still wearing her original paint and interior and every nut, bolt, washer, hose clamp, etc. was also completely original to the car.

Following a 2 year restoration and a few hundred thousand dollars, they discovered the class they wished to enter was no longer and their dream of competing at Pebble Beach with this exquisite car would not happen. The Tillson’s did show her at a JCNA event and scored 99.95 out of 100 points then vanished for the better part of 10 years. We have been lucky enough to find this treasure, having traveled only a few hundred miles since being in a private collection and still wearing her California black plate.
This is the finest XK120 on the planet and with a little prep will be a consistent class winner at any Concours!

SOLD
The 300SL Roadster offered here is documented as being only the eighth such
Roadster ever built. As such, it bore many similarities to the 300 SL Gullwing.
According to research documentation provided by Mercedes-Benz Classic in
Stuttgart, the car was delivered to the U.S. sales distribution agency on July
31, 1957. At the time of delivery, it was finished in black with red leather and
white piping and featured English instrumentation, sealed-beam lights with a
separate parking light, as well as a two-piece trunk set. Additionally, it
featured an optional rear-axle ratio of 3.891 as opposed to the standard 3.641.
A barn find of sorts, the car was found rather recently in Ohio, unrestored and
unregistered for road use in over twenty years. Its current owner, only the
third in the Roadsters history, acquired it in November 2003 and commenced a
nearly two-year restoration, which was completed under noted expert Brian
Anderson of Classic European Restorations in Escondido, California. This
frame-off restoration was finished in the summer of 2005 and no expense was
spared in reviving or replacing every element of the car when necessary. HK
Engineering of Germany, a respected 300 SL supplier with over twenty years
experience, supplied various pieces such as the Rudge wheels, which, it should
be noted, were not originally supplied with this car. In addition to receiving
Best in Class honors in 2006 at both the Los Angeles and Palos Verdes Concours
dElegance, this spectacular Mercedes was awarded Best in Show at the Gullwing
National Convention in San Diego, a very praiseworthy accomplishment bestowed by
peers and experts of this marque and model. Since completion of the
aforementioned restoration, the car has never seen road use and has only been
driven to and from its trailer at show events. The quality and attention to
detail of the workmanship is readily apparent in the cars present concours-ready
condition. The metallic blue paint is spectacular and, along with the matching
Rudge wheels, blue convertible top, and brightwork, appears to be free of
imperfections and very well maintained. As for the interior, the Parchment
leather upholstery is outstanding as well – nicely fitted and in as-new
condition. The instrumentation, white steering wheel, grey carpeting, and Becker
radio all have a showroom quality appearance, indicative of the cars extremely
limited use. In the trunk, a proper two-piece luggage set matches the interior.
As would be expected, the engine bay and engine show no evidence of road use and
have been restored to as-new factory specifications. The frame itself was
powdercoated during restoration and is essentially spotless as well. Finally, in
addition to the matching trunks, an owners manual and complete set of tools will
accompany the car. In the 300 SL Roadster, the enthusiast finds all the pedigree
that re-established Mercedes-Benzs dominance over road racing alongside a sexy,
unmistakable body. Given the high desirability of the 300 SL Roadster on todays
market, an expertly restored example is all the more attractive. A 300 SL such
as this is equally deserving of careful preservation as it is of attendance at
the worlds finest concours events. It is, quite simply, one of the finest 300 SL
Roadsters extant.

Don Emery a well known Southern California painter took care of the repaint in black with near flawless results. The chrome is very nice, and the exterior shows exceptionally well.
Tony Garcia at Autobahn Interiors made the black top and then stitched up the lovely red leather interior. John Willhoit received the car a few years ago and worked his motor magic to the numbers matching engine. Now producing about 115hp the 1600 engine runs like no other! This 356 runs flawlessly and pulls hard through all the gears especially since John put on one of his short throw shift kits in it. The 51/2 wheels really round out the total package with modern rubber on them. The Roadster is finished to an exceptional high standard, runs like no other and drives and handles great.

1966 Porsche 911 (Original Survivor) 67K Miles Multiple Porsche Parade Winner: Numbers matching with leather interior.

This 1966 Porsche is the “Holly Grail”, an all original 911. In 1974 Bob Gould bought this Porsche in Quebec Canada. The car was advertised for sale in Montreal by a locale Cello player for the price of $5000 as 100% original. Bob was experiencing his last gasp of the single life while courting his soon to be wife Francine. Bob and Francine started their love affaire with Porsche and it outlasted the 911 and its still going strong today with their 356′s. After 31 years they sold the 911 in 2005 to a collector in New York.
While in his possession she was lovingly detailed and cared for and sparingly driven around the Hampton’s. I found Bob’s number in the records and called him to chat about his 911. This well taken car of car has been featured in two of Dennis Adler’s Porsche books and had been shown in several Porsche Parades. Bob had to have the decklid painted after a ding (no dent guys back then) and the drivers side door had a spot touched up before he bought it in 1974. The original all leather interior features headrest and a “Frankfurt” radio as well as the webasto gas heater to help on those cool Canadian days.

Bob was most proud of the engine detail job he performed when he had to rebuild the engine due to a burnt piston. Saying a car is documented is one thing, backing it up is another. Bob and Francine back this story up! The End!

This very early, 34,000 original mile 1973 911T was a dream trade in. Our good friend Scott happens to love great original cars and has an eye for the best. He purchased this 73 T and then a few days later I found his dream car and he was willing to trade.

Signal Yellow has to be one of the rarest colors offered in 1973and this paint is as good as it gets for original cars. Many hours of cleaning the chassis, body and interior have paid off. The engine has been removed and completely serviced by Chris’ German. Upon removal we found it had never had anything done! Cork gaskets, rubber chain ramps and original clutch all had to be updated. Along with the chain tensioner update, valve adjustment, engine resealed and clutch disc have all been done with the “tins” all freshly powder coated. We then turned our attention to the chassis and body.The chassis had never been cleaned. Lots of degreaser and scrubbing cleaned it up nicely down to original coatings. The paint had the biggest transformation.One panel at a time, hand cleaned and lovingly rubbed to a wonderful deep showroom shine. Rocks chips happen and this car had a few we had to touch up.One chip, one dab at a time, she came up great and with such low mileage there was not that many to fill. The fuchs has been refinished by Weidman’s and the XWX’sare great. This T has had only 3 owners,� with documentation that would warrant a preservation winner anywhere it was shown. Signal Yellow, documented low mileage 911′s are rare,original paint is priceless!

In 1964 the Carrera II was at the top of the heap in 356 Performance Porsche’s. Following on from the 356B Carrera 2 the 1964 356C version introduced an improved braking system now employing all round discs with which to slow the car down from its 125mph top speed.

This Carrera 2′s most prominent selling point is it’s Dr. Ernst Fuhrman designed Type 587 engine. Featuring 4 cams, plain bearings and 1966cc this was the last of competition tested, 2 liter engines to leave the factory in a production 356. The torque curve was broad and flat, and peaked at an impressive 131 pounds/feet at 4,600 rpm which also gave it a quick 0-60 time of around 9 seconds, quiet a feat 1964. Although the 356C Carrera 2 was an improved version of the earlier cars, only 126 were produced before production was ended in 1965.

Our Carrera II was purchased new in Munich, Germany in 1964 buya Doctor for his daughter. The second owner bought the car in 1966 and then had it shipped to Canada in 1967. The third owner was Cappy Thompson, he bought the car in 1968 and the immigrated to New Zealand in 1975 and brought the car with him. Cappy repainted his otherwise original Carrera in 1983 to fix a bump in the left front fender and a few years later sold his beloved 356. May of 1988 after 21 years and 1/2 the world away from its beginning to another Porsche file, Phil Harris bought Cappy’s Carrera that had covered just over 72,000 Km’s (45,000 miles) since leaving Stuttgart over 24 years earlier.

Phil rebuilt the original engine from 1992-94 in New Zealand (with the help of Billy Doyles parts supply) and enjoyed his Carrera for another 5,000km’s before listing her for sale in the “Hemmings Motor News” in August of 1998 for $69,000 dollars.

Duane Hartley of Santa Rosa was the lucky buyer and he brought her to his California home. Duane wrote Phil on September 28th of 1998:

“Well, it arrived. I was there to break the seal: we pulled it out, and it started right up. It’s great, it’s just what I wanted. It’s a real solid car that needs cosmetics, but it drives great!”

Duane painstakingly went over this Carrera and soon after receiving the car went to Steve DeJung of DeJungs Motorsports for help. The first step was the body which they had Anderson’s Vintage Restoration services handle. They completely media blasted the body and wheel wells and found they only needed new door skins. The 356 was painted, color sanded and buffed to what you see here today! The bumper trim was changed to GT Type and the rest of original trim was refinished and put back in place. The interior was re-finished by Tony Garcia and the original headliner still remains. The car is straight and true and shows exceptionally well. The Engine was found to have debris in it (media contaminated the oil tank during stripping) so Billy Doyle performed his magic on her back in 2000 with a full rebuild. Duane sold his Carrera II back in February of 2002 to a gentleman in Redondo Beach who held the car in his collection until we bought it in January of this year.

This Carrera is one of only 126 1964 Carrera II’s produced and 1 of 1 with this kind of 6 owner documentation ! The original owners manual, toolkit and documentation completes the package for this lucky 356.

The Sport Classic is a result of Porsche’s reborn Exclusive department and takes us back to the essence of the Porsche 911. These two examples have been US EPA/DOT approved and ready to be enjoyed.

With Porsche releasing special models left and right, it easy to dismiss the Sport Classic as a restro-inspired money maker. It’s not the limited production (250) and special details that will make this 911 a feature collecitble, but what it offers in a driving experience.

Here, “classic” refers to the usable performance we used to get from our sports cars. Much the way I enjoy driving a 356 or a short wheel base 911, the Sport Classic really offers a pure driving experience to be savored.  It also delivers on a visual presence not seen since the creation of the 993 turbo in my oponion.

It will be fun to see the retrospective articles on the Sport Classic in the future in our favorite magazines dedicated to the Porsche marque. I suspect that they will re-discover that the Sport Classic has all the elements that dictate desirability and collectibility. Here is your chance to aquire one of the few that will be in the US and ahead of the market curve.

Dana Point Update July, 2011: See photos from this cars debut show in Dana Point California.

Restoration Update 10/12/10: The Super 90 has been painted its correct factory color (Heron Grey) and we just completed the undercoating process last week.  Now the exciting and careful assembly process begins on this Concours project.

History of the first Super 90.

In the fall of 1959 Porsche introduced an updated model, the 356B with the factory’s newest engine package, the Super 90, eponymously named for its 90-horsepower DIN.  The new T5 body was a modernized evolution of the 356 body style with added comforts, while the Super 90 engine offered the highest output yet available on the street Porsche pushrod platform.  Porsche shipped the first new cars out as factory demonstrators to their field representatives and the orders started coming in.  So it was that the very first Super 90 ever made was shipped to southern California, chassis #108921

In September 1959 the workers at the Porsche factory returned from holiday anticipating the start up for the T5 356B.  Their first two cars were 1600 Normals but the third was special; it was the first Super 90. Whisked away for testing, # 108921 was then sent to Porsche’s prime Southern California market to one of their biggest dealers, Vasek Pollak.  It was there that our good friend Paul Rissinger drove this car and was so impressed he ordered one.  Other enthusiasts agreed, and the Super 90 was a hit.

A few months later Emil Pardee from Palo Alto Cailfornia was in Stuggart with a friend and visited the factory. The day was spent demonstrating the new Super 90 and then trying to buy one, but to no avail.  Back in Palo Alto Mr. Pardee received a phone call from then Porsche Sales Manager, Wolfgang Reather, that they had a demonstration car available in Southern California.  Emil was told it had been in an accident but would be soon repaired and he could take delivery very shortly.  And he did.

Fast forward 50 years and Road Scholars entered the picture when we received a call from a Broker on the west coast that knows of our passion for rare Porsches.  The car was described a nice solid car that could be restored if needed but ran well.  We were so excited about it being the first Super 90 and having a sunroof that we bought the car, intending it for a client with a number of rare and special 356s.

But, we bought it WITHOUT INSPECTION.  (Yes, we know   our mothers reminded us.)  Upon the car’s arrival storm clouds gathered.  What appeared to be a good driver was actually showing signs of damage in the front trunk – bent inner fenders, kinked access panels, and – to top it off – one headlight was about an inch higher than the other.  Screwed again!

How can these “experts” miss this degree of damage and bad repair work when describing a car to you? (Yes, we know.Our mothers reminded us of THAT too.)
We spent the next week carefully striping down the car to a bare shell and, thankfully, found a few neat details. The car was not originally Ivory; it was Heron Gray. The previous owner had stated the car was “off-white,” so we assumed Ivory, but in the nook and crannies of the tub we found abundant Herron Gray. Further, the door hinge posts are hooded and many shims were used to hang the door, sure signs of early production.

Hans Sahling our metal guy had seen much worse but it had been a while. We started by ordering the sheet metal, nose and fenders came from the usual providers and the structural pieces came from Al Zim. Hans got the sheet metal for the nose and fenders, judged them to be useless, and threw them into the yard.

Great, so now what?

We had a terrific T-5 available so we scanned it, had a 3-D cad drawing made, and then new body bucks. The car was then media blasted and another issue came to light. The front axle beam was pushed back two inches on the left side and up over an inch. All the bent sheet metal had been simply brazed together some 50 odd years ago, not fully straightened or replaced or squared. Front left tire wear must have been awesome. The body also had a few minor rust issues that you would expect in a 50 year old 356. So the car was placed on a jig and the cutting, welding, and straightening started.

Once the chassis was repaired correctly and dead straight, Hans turned his attention to the body. The nose and fenders were and formed over our bucks, the hood was reskinned and de-kinked, and the doors made from scratch. The rear section was removed, rust repairs done underneath, straightened, and replaced.

So, now we have tens of thousands of dollars in just metal work, but the first Super 90 is straight and true for the first time in 50 years. With the complete owner history and very good records from the 60′s we have been able to put together an interesting tale that could have ended badly for this car. Our client who has many truly special 356s in his collection did purchase this car ands we are restoring it for him. Soon he will have one more truly special 356. Were it not for his passion, this little piece of Porsche history, the very first Super 90, easily could have been lost.

July 8, 2010 - Proud, excited, exhausted, and overwhelmed…..Those are just a few words to describe how the team here at Road Scholars is feeling this week.

After almost a year of double-checking details, researching records, matching parts and scraping our knuckles, we were ready to take not one, but four cars to the 2010 Porsche Parade.

Although we were confident going into the show that we would probably win at least one award, we were humbled and amazed when all four cars finished in the top 4 or above.

Here’s a wrap-up of the show: