Considered one of the best automotive designs of all time, the Porsche 356 is nothing short of an icon, with clean examples routinely fetching sums well into six-figure territory at auction. So, while it’s a markedly more involved process, one more affordable path to 356 ownership — aside from purchasing a replica kit — is to buy a tired and decrepit specimen and bring it back to life through a ground-up restoration. And while these barn-find-style examples seldom surface for sale, one 356C that’s particularly in need of a nut and bolt restoration has just popped up on Bring a Trailer’s online auction block.
This 1965 Porsche 356C Coupe Project comes cloaked in Karmann-manufactured bodywork that’s finished in a green livery — which is not the car’s original factory paint. Because this ’65 specimen was purchased as a project, it’s already been partially torn down, with a plethora of parts already removed. In the Porsche’s rear engine bay sits an air-cooled 1.6L flat-four that was plucked from an earlier 1960 356B and has been paired with a four-speed manual transaxle. Inside, the Porsche has been largely gutted as well, though it does still boast its original driver’s seat and a factory instrumentation setup with a center-mounted tachometer, a five-digit odometer, a 120mph speedo, and fuel level and oil temperature gauges. The sale also includes a box of various parts including the 356C’s passenger seat, door panels, bumpers, door handles, carpeting, windows and trim, and a myriad of other miscellaneous components.
This 1965 Porsche 356C Coupe Project (chassis # 131823) — which is showing 85,000 miles on the odo — is currently being offered on Bring a Trailer by Legendary Motor Car in Georgetown, Ontario, Canada, where (as of the time of writing) bidding has reached $4,000 (with seven days remaining on the sale).
