Porsche 356A // La Carrera Panamericana // Dubai

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Sometimes I never cease to be amazed by what Dubai and the region as a whole can turn up when I least expect it.  I first heard about this particular gem a couple of weeks ago, when a reader and one of our good friends dropped me a text with a picture if the little “A” attached.  At first we thought the car – a 1956 Porsche 356a – was just a wannabe Panamericana replica, however a little digging has proved otherwise.  In fact, it is a class winner of the rally with some real history behind it!

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Before we get into details of the car, let’s have a quick run through the event and add a sprinkling of history. I think it’s fair to say that the the Carrera Panamericana was, and probably still is, one of the most arduous and machine breaking rallies there is.

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In its original format it was run from 1950 to 1955 with the race results featuring in the World Sportscar Championship at the time.  If you had the budget, or a manufacturer behind you, the extreme road race was a must.

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Sadly 1954 saw the demise of the race as it was stopped due to saftey concerns of both the drivers and the public – 27 spectators had died alongside 3 drivers during the very short run of the rally.  If you look back, these where the danger times of motorsport with drivers and spectators alike being taken out in uncontrollable numbers.  Sadly the world waved goodbye to this epic race, however time would recover the situation.

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So that now takes us to this car sat in a nice underground garage in central Dubai.  As safety has moved on a massive amount, the race is back up and running and vehicles like this 356a is one such car that was created to take on the challenge. However cars now have to have a fair amount of modern tech applied – with fuel cells, roll cages and fire suppression systems mandatory and drivers have to wear full race suits and saftey helmets. As you can imagine, it’s now a pretty hardcore event for cars and drivers alike.

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From what we know, this little 356 was one of the most successful Porsche 356 racers in the Klub Sport Challenge Series in California during the 2000s. It was then bought and re-built with the challenges of La Carrera Panamericana in mind.

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After being purchased, it was torn apart and taken back to a bare shell to be prepped for the race.  It received a thorough suspension overhaul, new disc brakes and engine case from the Porsche 912.  And for the geeks out there, it was fitted with a type 741 transmission with close ratios and a ZF diff to make it fully ready for an attack on the legendary race.

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At the business end is where it gets interesting.  The 912 engine case was race prepared by leading Porsche engine guru Dwane Shasta of Shasta Design, and reputedly produces a stump pulling 130bhp on low octane Mexican juice.  Remember this is just a 1620cc four cylinder producing those numbers!

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The owner that originally took on the project never made the 2007 race, however it appeared in 2008 and proceeded to take a class win.  The picture above was taken at the start of one of the early stages.

So I now suppose the big question is how and why is sat in an underground car park in Dubai? We are mid flight with a dig to understand more and will bring you any further information that we get.

Thanks to again to the Ice Man for the heads-up!

Categories: Lifestyle

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  1. Phil Parry

    I’m in Dubai on business at the moment and thought I’d see if I could find any interesting re Porsche 356s to go and check out. Stumbled upon this article and funnily enough when I was here a couple of trips ago, I stumbled upon the car too – in that same underground car park. I was in a client’s car leaving the car park and nearly gave him a heart attack when I screamed at him to stop. Beautiful car. I have a B and a pre A, which ‘might’ have run at Sebring in the 50s. Thinking very hard about restoring it to race spec rather than stock….! Thanks for the article – nice to know more about the car.

  3. Mark

    Great race, Johny Tipler wrote a book on the event I have a copy signed. Andy Prill and Richard Clarke have done well in the past with a 356 A. Looks a mad fun event but tough as well..

  5. Tom Bird

    Sorry about that Adam. In our eagerness to get the story out, we overlooked the proofreading stage. We’ve had a little tweak to the story now, so hopefully it’s a little clearer now!

  6. Adam

    Did anyone proofread this article? I’m usually a big fan of Crank and Piston but the numerous typos and overall poor writing really ruined the article.