Porsche 356 B 1600 Super 90

Chassis 108921’s first private owner, Emil Pardee, had been in Stuttgart with a friend and spent the day at the factory test driving a Super 90 on the Autobahn. He attempted to buy one, but to no avail as all the cars at the time had already been allocated. Luckily, Pardee was a successful SCCA racer and a partner in a Palo Alto, CA Volkswagen/Porsche dealership, and was offered a Super90 factory car that had been damaged. At the time, it was being repaired, but Pardee accepted and once the repairs had been completed it was shipped to San Francisco. “As I remember the car it was off white (ivory) with a sunroof,” he wrote, “had U.S. instruments, and long gears (Nurburg Ring-Rations).” He successfully campaigned the Super90 in nine competitions throughout his ownership in SCCA regional events in northern California in the class C production category. Pardee eventually sold the coupe to someone he knew in Reno, and the Super 90 circulated in the used car market for decades before Road Scholars was notified of the car. Upon inspecting the car, what appeared to be a good driver actually showed signs of damage in the front trunk – bent inner fenders, kinked access panels, and one headlight was approximately an inch higher than the other. Furthermore, the front axle had been pushed back two inches on the left side and up more than an inch.

An excellent example of a T5 was scanned and a 3D CAD drawing was made to commission into new bucks. Chassis 108921 was then stripped to bare metal, and in the process, it was found that the car had originally been painted Heron Grey. It was set on a jig and many hours were spent cutting and straightening the chassis. Once the chassis was repaired properly, a new nose and fenders were formed over the bucks. The front decklid was de-kinked and re-skinned, and the doors were fabricated from scratch. The rear section was removed, rust damage repaired, and straightened before being refitted to the bodywork. After thousands of hours in metalwork alone, the first Super 90 ever produced was finally straight and true for the first time in over 60 years.

After the completed restoration, chassis 108921 was awarded second place in its class at the 2011 Carmel-By-The-Sea Concours on the Avenue and a first in class at the 2016 Pinehurst Concours d’Elegance.

Chassis 108921 is truly a unique example and the only of its kind. Its extensive restoration preserves a milestone in the Porsche 356’s lineage and its incredible story, and its existence today helps to tell the story of the role racing played in the success of Porsche in the United States.

Highlights:

• The very first Super 90 and third T-5 356 produced.
• Used as a Porsche Factory sales car for the Super 90 model
• Numbers Matching with a sunroof
• Bare metal Concours restoration by Road Scholars Restorations
• Extensive documentation with period race history
• Original Nardi wood steering wheel
• GT 80 liter gas tank
• Headrests