Porsche 356 Outlaw

If you didn’t catch it yesterday, Petrolicious have uploaded a new video featuring a very special Porsche 356, owned by enthusiast Jack Griffin. This particular 356 is special for two reasons, first and foremost, the car is a 1955 U.S. spec car and as such was branded as a Continental. Porsche did this for only one year as a marketing ploy, before having to quickly change back to the 356 name, after Ford threatened them with legal action due to the fact they had already used this name in their own line-up. The second thing that makes this car interesting and will make a lot of Porsche purists squirm in their seats, is the fact that Jack has completely modified and modernised this car in terms of its handling and performance.
In place of the original motor, Jack swapped in a 1720 cc engine from a 1965 356 that now produces 115 horsepower. Next came a 1962 gearbox, which provides a smooth robustness not found in the original, Volkswagen-based gearboxes. The car also received disc brakes all around, which resulted in him having to change the wheels and, finally, an upgrade to a 12 volt electrical system.
While these modifications won’t please a lot of purists, it’s important to note that Jack wasn’t doing this simply to follow a trend or to please a particular crowd, he had a vision and then set about building the car he always wanted. He took an iconic classic and brought it into the modern world, with more power and reliability, yet he still managed to retain the cars most striking feature, that classic and iconic 356 look.