Der Sportwagen

September / October 2016 23 KRCPCA HISTORY TRIP By Jim Gould Honeymoon Speedster LAST BACHELOR DAYS I had purchased the car in February of 1960 at Vasek Polak Porsche in Hermosa Beach, California (see used car as delivered). My choice was based on that model car doing well in SCCA F Production Class at Southern California tracks. Well, that and the fact that I am 6' 7" tall & could mount the bucket seat directly on the floorboards. My racing career at Cotati Raceway was enjoyable while it lasted. I was not really too competitive. I had to be careful. I drove the Speedster to the track & depended on it during the week to get me to work. So yes, I was being cautious about brushing the turn hay bales (see car prepared with masking tape & no hubcaps). Fate began our involvement with the Speedster after I moved from Santa Monica to San Francisco in 1961. Sue, my soon to be lovely wife, rented an apartment in the same Pacific Heights building where I was living – both units had on street parking only. Sue had just moved to San Francisco with her first car, a VW Beetle. She was concerned about the corrosive salt air. She saw me cover the Speedster every night, and thought it looked like a good idea. To find out more, she came outside when I was tinkering inside the car on a Saturday morning. She thought that I looked like a jack-in-the box getting out of the Speedster. There was an instant attraction. Sometimes I wonder if it was the car or me. Our honeymoon adventure began in the summer of 1962 in St Louis. We had been married in Rochester, Minnesota, and fortunately drove to St Louis in her VW Beetle. We packed up the Speedster and headed for New Orleans. The trip there was uneventful until we arrived at the Deville Motel, New Orleans, which had been selected by my father. It was strictly a businessman's motel & not even close to a honeymoon resort. However, we were in love & would laugh about the motel accommodations later. The drive back to St. Louis on Sunday began in the rain. If anyone is familiar with Speedsters, rain tends to challenge the side curtains and cause the canvas top to flap. The result was Sue using her umbrella to hold the flimsy top up. We still laugh about our struggles to keep dry. Just when we were about soaked to the bone, somewhere in the middle of Mississippi, the I drove the Speedster to the track and depended on it during the week.

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