Dan Tidwell 356

I met my 356 as I was driving down a residential street in SE Portland late in 2001. I seem to remember that I was lost looking for a shortcut back across the river. Just by luck, it was sitting there with a For Sale sign in the back window. At first look, not bad, driveable, unkept and generally neglected. As I had virtually no knowledge of the 356 other than the Porsche name on the back, I figured it was just a nice looking old small car. I had owned several VW bugs, so with the 356’s rear engine, how hard can this be?

The owner’s asking price was $10,000 including the big boom box stereo system he claimed he had spent $1,500 on. I said, OK, you keep the radio and I’ll give you $8,500. Done deal. I did notice there was a VW engine instead of whatever was originally there, but I figured nobody looks at the engine.

Getting the car home, the first person I called was Gary Emory. Of course, Gary was happy for me to drive down on a Saturday afternoon to take a look at what I had. Yes, he seemed to know the car and informed me I had a good deal, but would have to do something about that VW engine.

Well, three years and many $$$ later, I had restored the car to outlaw standards, and had become very good at snatching every little bit and piece I just had to have off eBay. Gary found me an engine and BBAB transmission. Harry Pellow supplied the big bore Weber carburetors and his special cam. Duane Spencer assembled the pile of parts I had acquired to make the S90 like new. The interior was done by Guy’s in Portland.