53 pre a

[malik]

I have had this pre a for a little while. just wanted to get your opinion. came from cherry hill NJ after it was found in NY.
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If I see that car again I'm gonna kick its mirrors off!!!!

[mr white]

Very nice car Sir! I will check and see how close your vin is to mine. Thanks for sharing those pics,especially of the dash. Any under hood pics? I am building mine now and am working in that area any pics would be great! Beautiful car!

[alanhall]

Looks like a great project. Only thing that seems odd is that by chassis 50311 the parking lights were directly under the headlights. Looks like it got an earlier '52 nose put on at some time in the past. Love to see more photos of the car!
Alan

[James Davies]

Very cool, and very complete-looking car! I have a '53 too.

- Agree with Alan. Definitely a body-bumper nose from '52 or earlier. Both the inset turn signals and the bottom valence height indicate this.
- 50311 was probably produced last half of March or first half of April 1953.
- Very nice use of the 3rd hole under the ashtray! =]
- Looks like a USA Standard model based on the sealed beam headlights, radio blanking plate and the cord interior. Also a 1500 Normal based on the tach redline at 5000 rpm.
- Turbo rings on the wheels! Very cool. That was not standard equipment on those cars. A lovely detail.
- Fitting that front hood will be fun.
- Early gearshift knob
- Early Störk oil temp gauge
- Early white turn signal switch
- Early Reutter fender badge
- Interior looks like it was redone, only because it's a slightly different color from the radio blanking plate and it has door pockets, a feature that '53 cars didn't have. Though never say "never" with these cars.
- Engine looks like a later 2-piece engine, not an early '53. Still, nice that you have one! If you're interested in finding out the original engine number a COA from Porsche is a good step.
- Nice that you still have original "Porsche" scripts. Behives lenses are reproduced well, so no worries there. And intact reflectors! Excellent.
- Abarth exhaust! Fantastic.

What a great find. You planning on getting it in driving conditions first, or are you going to do a ground up restoration?

Definitely echo the above comment about posting more photos inside and out, including under the front and rear lids.

[malik]

Thanks for all the info, i got the COA from porsche. It came with the tail lights, and the engine in the car.That was an extra engine and parts the seller gave me., O.G.interior but the seats were dyed.
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If I see that car again I'm gonna kick its mirrors off!!!!

[James Davies]

Interesting! Dying seats seemed to be popular back in the 60s or 70s. Some turkey dyed mine too. From grey cord/leather to black. He ruined perfectly good side panels and rear seat. My front seats were the only ones that were really worn.

I would be interested to find out if your car came with pockets in the door panels. No other '53 models had those from the factory. Even the luxury models with leather had them deleted. An easy way to tell would be to remove the screws and top garnish holding on the door panel. The cloth is mounted on a piece of hardboard, and the whole panel comes off. You'll be able to tell immediately by looking at the fabric folded over the back whether it was replaced or not. Also, the last 3 digits of your car's chassis number will be written on the back of the hardboard panels. =]

That looks like a great project! Good luck with it.