For me, there was just no escaping the feeling of de- ja vu as I continued to fan through my November issue of Excellence magazine. The first time it hit, I had only made it half way through the magazine before discovering the article by Randy Wells  (about John Manning’s gray, 1970 Porsche 911 Hot Rod / i.e RSR). And now the very next article I came across got me again, causing  another of those “de-ja vu” moments. Here once again was a car (a Light Ivory, 1967 Porsche 911, a “barn find” with some rather “distinctive makings”), that I had encountered in July while attending this years Porsche 356 club Concours d’ Elegance, held at Lantern Bay Park in Dana Point, California. I remember thinking at the time ” this poor car needs to be restored”…

So I sat down to read the article (another wonderful account by Randy Wells), about the car that had been parked just one row in front of me while at the Dana Point Concours. I have a particular fondness for early 911’s, since my very first Porsche was a 1966 911, that I bought back in 1972, and eneded up owning for 14 years.  After reading the article, all of the missing pieces of the puzzle came together;  the conversations I overheard while viewing the Porsche;  talk about it “needing to be restored”, or “how could someone let their car get into this condition”, etc.  I now understood why the owner was not as concerned about the storms that kept blowing through that morning, each successive storm dropping more rain than the previous. I also think he enjoyed watching the rest of us scrambling with the passing of each storm front, grabbing our microfiber towels to dry our cars off before any water spots could set. The article  also explained why the motor sounded as healthy as it did when it pulled up to park. Once the engine lid was opened,  one could see that the motor had been rebuilt, in stark contrast to the surface rust  scattered randomly across the body,  a result of having been in storage for 34 years.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to read the article about this car in the November 2011 issue of Excellence magazine, or are interested in learning more about Porsches, then this is the magazine you want  to be reading. And who knows, there are still ‘barn -finds” to be found, and there could be an early Porsche 911 in your future.

(All photos by the author)