1958 PORSCHE 356A CUSTOM COUPE 'BEASTIE BOY'

Details

Known as 'Beastie Boy,' this 1958 Porsche 356A outlaw was featured in the May 2009 issue of Excellence magazine and was professionally built by and owned by known Porsche restorer and customizer Dink Farmer. Farmer's top-flight metal-working skills are expressed throughout the car down to the smallest details. Instantly you will notice the chopped roofline and widened front end and rear quarters connected to the covered and louvered rear quarter-windows and a louvered rear deck/engine cover. The

front fenders and frenched-in headlights were raised to accommodate a modern 911 suspension. Custom front turn-signal indicators and taillights with chevron motif, reminiscent of a 1940 Ford. The doors were sectioned 6 inches with rounded corners similar to a Ferrari 206 Dino. 911 door handles and housings were modified to leave just the push-button mechanism to open the doors. Lightweight plastic windows are raised and lowered via GT-style straps. Farmer raised, reshaped and rolled the rocker panels to resemble those of an E-Type Jaguar while adding air scoops for the rear brakes. The front cowl was carefully reshaped and modified to accept a real Speedster windshield frame. Farmer fabricated a new rear cowling to accommodate the rear-mounted spare. Power and performance capabilities are far beyond original specifications. Open the Carrera RS-style rubber hold-downs on the rear handcrafted lid to expose a very unique engine compartment. The original 4-cylinder engine was replaced with a 911T 6-cylinder engine breathing through a pair of triple-choke carburetors delivering the newfound power through a 911 rear transaxle. Among the suspension upgrades are 911 components that include a limited-slip differential. Braking is handled by a disc brake setup front and rear. To compensate for the extensive modification the car's rear was widened by 4 inches. The handcrafted interior is trimmed in tan leather and features custom-upholstered, Speedster-style lightweight bucket seats and sculpted door panels with matching leather headliner, compliments of Dan Acker Leather Works in San Francisco. The dashboard is copied from a 1950 Mercury and was made from a fresh piece of sheet steel, formed on Farmer's English wheel with modern instruments frenched. A custom floor console houses switches and control buttons. Other interior updates include the banjo-style steering wheel and relocation of the spare wheel rear seating area. A fuel cell is found underneath the front trunk lid, while an electronic ignition system fires the fuel/air mixture. The car rides on an air bag suspension that allows you to set the ride height as desired. Hoosier tires on Minilite-style alloy wheels provide road contact. Exterior graphics and pinstriping are hand-painted by graphic artist Don Bridge of Ukiah, CA.