This 1962 Carrera II Cabriolet is a rare find, indeed. With only 4 owners from new, it has never been restored. We met this Cabriolet and its’ owner many years ago at a Seattle area PCA tour prior to the Kirkland Concours. The owner was much smarter than I was in the 1980’s — as he was buying 356 Carreras when I was buying Camaros — and we all know what the better investment was!
What struck us about this 356 was the originality of the car. Upon our first inspection, we found a very nice, original car. The top and interior appeared to be original. The black paint showed a very nice patina. The chassis had never been touched, and the car ran great. Remarkably, the engine is 3rd from the last 2 liters ever built. The original Kartex shows options and original warranty work as well as 100,000km badge from 1964. The engine appears to have been with the car since before its introduction to the U.S. in the 1970’s. Considering the mileage, it was most likely a factory exchange. It was a remarkable car, so we had to buy it. Upon more inspection, the paint code really threw us for a loop because we’d never seen that code before, and that was when we realized this was indeed a very cool car with a special “paint to sample” green.
We purchased the car, pulled the dash out – and what do you know – found a good sample of the original green paint! Now it was on! The color as you see it here is a beautiful darker green. We stripped the body down to the bare metal and found a stellar original body with no rust, all original panels and only one slight bump on the door. All of the emblems and vast majority (with the exception of 2 bessels) of the trim are original to the car. It is simply amazing that a 356 that has been driven throughout its life had remained so well cared for, and so nice.