We’ve all heard the saying, “Rare doesn’t always equal valuable.” That’s absolutely true in the world of collector cars when you’re discussing monetary value.
Having said that, I can pretty safely assume that you wouldn’t have been chosen to receive this publication if your sole interest in cars was for financial gain. As a true enthusiast, cars are a catalyst for a fun lifestyle involving interesting people and new experiences. That’s where the fallacy of the aforementioned value theory comes into play. Rare and unique cars can be some of the most rewarding from an ownership experience standpoint, regardless of cost or financial upside.
On the 18th fairway, 1964 Porsche 901 Cabriolet/Targa prototype at Pebble Beach.
I bought my first Porsche, a 12-year-old 356 B Coupe, when I was a teenager 44 years ago—and I still have it. I wanted a new 914, but the dealer was unimpressed with my $900 budget. My very wise father also politely declined to serve as my bank. At the time, 356s were generally out of favor with the mainstream Porsche community, and their values reflected it. Porsche 356 owners were almost forced to band together to maintain technical and emotional support. The fact that my poverty guided me to this wonderful group of enthusiasts for an (at the time) orphan model was truly a blessing in disguise. Some of my oldest and deepest friendships in the hobby were formed at this time, and I still hold them dear to this day. The aching memories of selling fully restored Speedsters for $5,000 to pay tuition and giving away “worthless” four-cam parts are far overshadowed by the warm feelings for all the great friendships I was able to make.
Award-winning Datsun 200SX at the 2013 Concours d'LeMons.
My dad really hated cars (I told you he was wise), but as a jeweler, he had a great eye for unique things around him. Somehow, that awareness rubbed off on me. As I attended Porsche 356 events, I was always drawn to the more unique examples; cars that were in special “paint-to-sample” colors or had unique options or interesting histories. Even more appealing was when the occasional 550 Spyder or 904 would show up. Although my financial position was improving, I still wasn’t in a position to take the step to those iconic cars. Then, one day, I saw my first Porsche-Diesel tractor. Even as a city boy, I immediately fell in love with the unique shape and the overall universal appeal of a tractor. Best of all, I could afford one. Heck, I could afford a dozen, but that’s a whole different story. I started taking my tractor to Porsche events, and the world changed. It made everybody smile, especially kids and young families. The only person I ever encountered that wasn’t thrilled about one of my tractors was the owner of a then-new 959 because his state-of-the-art supercar was getting less attention than my smoke-belching mechanical farmhand.
1935 Hoffman.
This brings to light one of the great benefits of owning rare and/or unique vehicles. Your special car can often be the center of attention at an event regardless of what you paid or the financial upside of the vehicle. To use the example above, a Porsche tractor costing in the tens of thousands of dollars will create just as many smiles and memories at an event as the latest seven-figure hypercar. If you let kids actually sit in it or crawl around on it, you’ve just planted some seeds for the future of our hobby. You’re doing a service for the collector car community as well as having fun.
Speaking of having fun, unique cars open the doors to all kinds of non-traditional and very fun events. In 2013, my youngest daughter and I did Monterey Car Week as a father–daughter adventure. We were fortunate to have our 1964 Porsche 901 Cabriolet prototype chosen to be on the lawn at Pebble Beach in their recognition of the 50th anniversary of the 911. It was the only remaining open 901 prototype, and I had owned and driven it for over a dozen years at that point. It’s a unique car in its own right, and it was an honor to participate in such a prestigious event, but we had just as much fun with an old Datsun 200SX convertible conversion we bought when we landed in San Francisco. We happily wheeled that thing around to various events, not knowing if there was a top under the boot and not worrying about what to do about the mounting number of empty In-N-Out sacks. We had a blast on Saturday at the Concours d’LeMons and met some truly interesting people. Unlike the 901 at Pebble, it actually won an award. We left the prize-winner in a random parking garage in Monterey in the hopes that a friend would pick it up before it got towed. Eventually, it found its way to Ohio after three years of creating smiles and memories for others along the way.
This is my only green Porsche.
One of the great unspoken benefits of owning a unique car is that you can be truly creative. One-off cars especially give you a great opportunity to simultaneously hone both your sleuthing and storytelling skills. We have a one-off streamlined car from the 1930s known as the Hoffman, which has been cloaked in secrecy its entire life. Its most intriguing feature is its rear mid-mounted X-8 engine. It was in the Brooks Stevens family collection from 1961 until I acquired it in 2011.
Straight outta' Compton: The 1954 Powell Sportwagon. Built in Compton, California.
The only guide we had to help us in recommissioning the car was an article written in Special Interest Autos in 1972. There was no Chilton’s manual, and NAPA wasn’t much help either. In disassembling the engine, we found that many of the technical assumptions in the article were wrong. We were able to determine displacement, compression ratio, bore, stroke, etc., for the first time. We also determined that the initial belief that it was commissioned by Henry Ford was not accurate. It turns out it was commissioned by the Fisher Brothers as a possible halo car for their anticipated purchase of the Hudson Motor Company. Just recently, I was contacted by the site manager of the Fisher Mansion in Detroit after he discovered unknown blueprints for a streamlined car with an X engine in the family’s vault. This kind of thing is better than NCIS for a car guy.
Finally got my 914. One of two 914 pickups built by Troutman-Barnes in the early '70s.
All this makes for a great story, but there is still much to be learned. That’s where your creative juices can really start to flow. I have a good friend named Lyn Smith. He is the genius who is able to keep my one-off wonders moving under their own power. On our way to Pebble Beach for the Hoffman’s public debut, we were discussing the dilemma of dealing with many of the still unanswered questions. As usual, Lyn had the answer: “Make something up; no one will know the difference!” There are no Govier or Marti reports for one-off cars, so the owner is automatically the world expert.
As you can see, there are many benefits to owning one-off, low-production, and otherwise unique cars. Sometimes those benefits are financial, but more often and most importantly, they bring you and enthusiasts around you joy and long-lasting relationships. If you have the self-confidence to enter the corner of our hobby that deals with unique cars and assume the label of “that guy,” I promise you never-ending fun and a limitless number of solicitations for Leata Cabaleros and Intermeccanica Murenas.
I eventually did get a 914. It’s one of two pickups built by Troutman-Barnes in the early seventies.
