Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/646941
March / April 2016 24 two years of duty I returned home. A single guy, eager to become a sports car owner and within a couple years moving from a '57 Austin Healey 106 to a slightly used 1959 356 A silver Coupe. What a difference! I was driving it when in 1962, I joined the SCCA. There were many great events, and fine friends as well as John, who at the time was one of the old timers in the Kansas City Region club. His glory years were mostly in the past, but he remained an active member. Coincidentally, John Ross occasionally vis- ited our company owner, who was the SCCA Regional Executive atthe time. Both were long time members of SCCA. John often stopped at my work station for a chat. One day, he let me know that his long time friend who raced the 550 RS was hoping to add the Porsche franchise to his Volkswagen business in KC Mo. That was Art Bunker. I'd been a customer of Art Bunker Volkswa- gen, who serviced Porsches, since owning the 1959 356 Coupe. It was then 1963 and I had bought, stripped and sold a wrecked '58 Carrera coupe and a '59 Carrera 1600 that a friend want- ed to replace, because it needed some repair that he didn't want to use family funds on. The sil- ver 1600 Carerra drove well, but had a leaky oil cooler that was more messy than drastic. After some time, it was bought by another friend who wanted a cool car. About this time in 1964, John told me about an airline pilot friend in Dallas who became a fam- ily man and had to give up his '58 straw yellow Speedster 1600 Normal with 32,000 miles and a rotting canvas top from not being garaged. I asked him to set up my meeting with the gentle- man when I flew into Dallas to buy his car. If memory serves, the price was $2,600. I had the longest lasting smile on my face, - all the way back home in my Speedster. And along the way, I planned what the car would undergo soon. SPEEDY was mine the next 8 years along with a few other Porsches that I bought, spiffed up, e bt event for Speedy was the Ozark Weekend in 1971, my wife Pat and I m at that event...