This fascinating 356 Speedster has had one attentive owner who acquired it just months after it was first sold. An engineer by trade, the owner gained a great respect for Porsche’s engineering of the 356 when he drove one several hundred miles in the Midwest in 1955. According to his logbook, he bought this Speedster from a young couple in Glendale, California, on February 27, 1957 (which he noted to have been a Wednesday evening) for $2,800 with 7,200 miles recorded. The following pages of the book chronicle seemingly every gas fill-up, adjustment, and repair that the Speedster received until he retired it from daily service on January 27, 1986, having covered 252,148 miles. The Speedster was recently brought out of long-term hibernation from its Whittier, California, garage and has been returned to running status.

Included with the car are a copy of the Kardex, invoices, numerous original parts, a rare original workshop manual, tools, and a California road map distributed by the Bob’s Big Boy restaurant chain.

Numerous photographs show that the car was used on camping trips, and many an expedition further afield. After sustaining some damage to the rear end in May 1960, the Speedster received updated rear lights common to the later 356s. A Southern California car since new, this numbers-matching 356 Speedster offers its next caretaker the coveted story of its 60-year stewardship by an old-school devotee, with pictures and notes to prove nearly every turn of its date-coded wheels.