Art History

Paddock Strategy III

Serial number 117307, a 1962 Porsche 356B, started its road life as a daily driver in Malibu, California. When John Mayer of Minnesota purchased this T-5 bodied coupe, as the third owner in October of 1989 it was a direct replacement for his then-current 1956 Speedster racer. John’s idea upon delivery was to create a purpose built racecar. The 1600-cc fully race-prepared engine was fitted with high compression pistons and heads, special grind crank, camshaft and rods. With all of this equaling a solid 165 horsepower, John turned to fit out the rest of the car for vintage racing through the VSCR group. This meant correct fuel cell, roll cage, fire system, disk brakes and the various strengthening of vital frame and suspension parts. John has been vintage racing since 1982 in the Speedster until 1989, when he replaced it with this black coupe affectionately called “Black Tub”.

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Steve Natale has been playing with cars ever since he was old enough to first hold a matchbox car in his hand. A lifelong enthusiast of anything old with an engine in it or wheels on it, Steve has been active in the hobby for over 35 years. Currently he owns a successful marketing company with his wife Mary, is an automotive photographer, blogger and writer for several automotive magazines and regular contributor to various automotive websites. Steve has attended vintage car events and visited car museums and collections around the world.
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