Chapter 2 (page 13)

An amazing stroke of luck!

As my Dad began this process, he knew that even though he was very good with his hands and knew his way around a garage, this project would require knowledge that he simply didn’t have and would need to find someone who knew more than him about Porsche Speedsters. I don’t remember the exact series of events, but I do remember that as he began to research (pre-internet) on who would be able to work on the car (and help him) when the time came, he got the names of two people. I distinctly remember the person giving him the info and it went something like this:

“If you are going to restore a Speedster there are only 2 guys to go to, the first was someone with a big fancy operation in a far off state many miles from Red Hill. But the second guy (and this was the guy he recommended) is from a small town that you probably never heard of. His name is Bruce Baker and this guy is the best.” My Dad said great, what’s his number and where is he located. He proceeded to give him the number and said……Collegeville. He is in a small town called Collegeville, PA.” Seriously? Collegeville is about 10 miles from Red Hill! My Dad made a visit to Bruce’s shop and that was the start of another friendship, bonded by the love of vintage Porsches.

I remember the early stages when he began to dismantle the car piece by piece. He would slowly remove things here and there. He would ask me for help taking the engine out, the transmission, different suspension parts and what not. He would clean up small things with wire wheels and his drill and then primer and paint them. This was nice because it felt like progress and didn’t cost a ton of money. He would show me finished pieces and we would get all excited because it [the parts] looked brand new again. Things like springs, suspension parts, steering parts, brake parts, etc. Anything small got done in those early days and once they were done they were marked and stored for later.