Unrestored 1956 Porsche 356 Headed for Pebble Beach

It's owned by Dr. Roger Craig and has been since 1957. Craig saw it racing at the Pebble Beach Road Race in 1956 and fell in love with the sleek coupe. When he saw it for sale a year later, he couldn't resist buying it. "I was 22-years-old and making $41 a week.  Even after trading in my Porsche Speedster, I had car payments of $91 a month," Craig recalls. "I bought it when I was naive.  Heck, I didn't even find out it was Don Dickey's race car until a year later.  People thought I was nuts, even eccentric, but I wasn't much for following other people's pattern.

He then drove it daily until 1961 when the maintenance costs proved too much to keep up with. Instead of selling it, he stored it in a garage at his home in Palo Alto. After retiring from NASA in 1991, Dr. Craig went to work rebuilding the car's engine.

"It took nearly 10 years, but I've brought it back to its original tolerances," he says.  "I still had every part to rebuild the engine. It ran like a new car and reminded me of what it was like when it was new," he says.  "That's one of the reasons I can't wait to get back to Pebble Beach.  I love talking to people who remember this car from the old days.  All of the stories put flesh on the metal.  It brings the old Carrera to life."

Used with permission of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, All Rights Reserved