Trying to trace a silver 1980 911,reg FYE 359V. Please help

[Jay Kay]

For a while I have been trying to trace my late fathers old Porsche. It is a silver 911 (SC?) with a Targa top, registration number FYE 359V. He owned it more than 25 years ago and I believe the man he sold it to still owns it. I last saw it about 8 or 9 years ago driving through Marylebone, London (where dad used to work). I understand it is likely to be located around the Elstree area and would love to see it again and hear about its travels in the many years since it left our family.

If anyone has any suggestions regarding how best to trace the owner, or if anyone should know the car, then I would love to hear from you.

Many thanks




Jamie
(I would be happy to speak to anyone with information. my mobile number is 07866 688208)

 

[Dino_jr]

Hi, I just spotted this post from years ago. I have owned this car 5 years, previous owner had it 5 years also. Between me and him we have spent nearly £40k on keeping it running and repaired
Now looks like this: A previous owner added Fuch wheels, I replaced worn black /beige Pascha seats with Black/white.
It's currently with a body repair guy who has removed the wings to waterproof underneath and respray panels: Another BIG bill !!

 

[T8]

:thumbs:

I gave Jamie a call to advise him of this news.

 

[barty964rst]

That is great news! Remember reading this in 2013 and thinking, no chance! Please keep us posted on further updates.

 

[Jay Kay]

Hi everyone.

Firstly, thanks Terry for the call. It really is very much appreciated.

Next up, Hi Dino! Thank you for the update, also very much appreciated. Presumably you bought the car from David in Beaconsfield? I managed to track the car down to him a little while after my post on this site and I had a chat with him. Apparently he bought it for his wife and the car was living in his garage/barn while slowly being restored and rarely being driven. It was great to hear that it was still being kept alive and I got the impression he was having to spend quite a bit on the old girl. He kindly agreed to allow me to visit to come take a look at the car but on the agreed date the weather was just awful so I suggested we postpone as I got the impression it wasn't a car that he brought out in the rain. I later sent him a message to ask if we could rearrange but I never heard back from him. You owning the car for 5 years would make sense and presumably he had only just sold it when I last tried to contacted him.

My dad owned the car for a while in the 80's (my mum would still tell you it was her car!) and sold it to a friend. When I last saw it driving through London in he early 2000's it wasn't exactly in tip-top condition I remember seeing the fuel filler flap was missing too and the chap must of owned the car for 20+ years so I can only assume that it perhaps wasn't as loved as it should have been. I tried to buy it back throughout the mid-2000's but the owner loved it at the time and wouldn't part with it. In 2008 I got engaged to my now wife and we ploughed all of our savings into the wedding and a new home. In a case of extremely bad timing, a few months later I got a call saying I could have the car as the owner wanted a new Porsche and was being offered £10,000 for it in part-ex so that's what it would cost me. With every last penny I had being tied up, the decision then effectively became, the car or the wife, so with a heavy heart I had to walk away from the car I had chased for many years, knowing I would probably never get the chance again to bring it back to our family.

In truth, my wallet was probably never deep enough to own and maintain such a car but as I was just a young boy when I last sat it in, nostalgia took over and sent me on the hunt for it all those years ago. If it's needed £40k spending on it then you might perhaps say I had a lucky escape, although the thought of looking out at my driveway and seeing the Porsche sat there still makes me smile.

So that's my story! If you should ever attend any events or shows with the car, (or if you should ever be passing anywhere near Cheshunt) please do let me know as I'd love to pop along and see how lovely and shiny it now looks now. And thank you once again for responding and for keeping a car that has been so special to me, alive and well.


Jamie

 

[uk996]

Lovely story. Porsche reckons "Over 70 percent of all Porsche vehicles ever built are still on the road today."

 

[Jay Kay]

Lovely story. Porsche reckons "Over 70 percent of all Porsche vehicles ever built are still on the road today."

Wow, that's a bold claim but hopefully still true

 

[Jay Kay]

This is the picture of the car David sent to me around 6 or 7 years ago. She looks bloomin lovely!

 

[Dino_jr]

Yes it was David who owned the car before... I bought the car from RPM where he had spent ~20k on fixing pretty much everything over his 5 yrs. (Admittedly that was at RPM's labour rates.).

I have had the car serviced by DSD Motorwerks in Essex in my time...
I had total reliability for first 3.5yrs but then experienced various air leaks causing unstable idling, so had Inlet Manifold off for new gaskets & Injector Inserts, plus a few other bits while apart. After, decided to waterproof (Waxoyl) the underside and wheelearches. At this point my bodywork guy pointed out various rust patches and thin metal, that has led to the teardown in the above photo. Haven't seen the car in 8 months :what: (Covid hasn't helped progress). Should get the car back soon with all the silver bits looking as new. Next year the black bits will get attention (Roof panel and Targa bar)

Bonus pic added... Do you have any from the car in the 80s as per your first one? Curious to see how much of the original car remains. :mrgreen:

 

[Jay Kay]

Thanks for the extra pictures, lovely to see the car getting use. The photo in Tesco carpark make me laugh. Not sure I'd have the guts to take it to Tesco, I won't even take my Subaru to the shops through fear of someone opening a door onto it.

I'm afraid I don't have any other photo of the car when my dad owned it. He changed cars regularly so I have hundreds of photos of Jags, Astons, BMWs, and even every single model of Capri that Ford brought out (including a Perana)
but no more of this one sadly.

Seeing the photos makes to so mad I missed out on it for £10k back in the day - I dread to think what they change hands for now.