Normally on this web site we expect to see the latest adventures of Tom Tate. This article is a little different. Instead of a story by Tom, this is a story about Tom. This past Thursday Tom presented his latest adventure to a packed house at the Lars Andersen Museum entitled “The Forgotten Porsche”.
This was the story of the restoration of the “Puddle Jumper”. Tom’s black 356A sunroof coupe. If you are a regular reader of Tom’s work, you have read of this car before as Tom went thru the tribulations of the restoration process and wondered just how did it get that name? I’d assumed it probably had something to do with the water filled pothole riddled streets of New England combined with the rust prone floor pans of an old 356. But no, the “Puddle” referred to is rather larger than that. There is a placard on the dash installed by the original owner’s son that explains the origin of the name. Look for the car at the next Concours or Cars and Coffee where Tom brings the car. ( Tom has a number of Porsches to select from so it’s always a surprise which one he shows up with.) I guess you’ll just have to attend some upcoming events to learn more of the origin story.
The physical restoration of the car from the engineless non-drivable car with front end body damage to show ready condition that was done over a period of 15 years is only half the story. As with any classic car or antique, a large part of the value is in “The Provenance” – The history and the story of the car. As only the second owner of the Car, Tom had the advantage of talking with the family of the original owner so, over time he was able to document the entire history of the car, right down to a photo of the original hand written in German Porsche Factory “Cardex” ( Build sheet) .
Another element of the story was the effort to find parts for a 60 year old car that had a total world wide yearly production was only 600 + examples, Parts for the original optional hand windup clock that was part of the Glove Box door or the 2nd cable drive for the Halda SpeedPilot Rally clock that was added by the first owner. The number of 356’s built that were Black Sunroof Coupes (an unpopular color and expensive option in the period) dwindles the total examples down to just a handful. Tom’s car is remarkably complete with the original engine back in it’s place, missing only the electric auto-retractable radio antenna that still is on the “needed to find” list. If you know of one, I’m sure Tom wants to hear from you.
Ted Shaw
