Kim and Rachel Nelson 3 Friends, 30 Years and a 356 The story for me on this car starts 30 years ago when my friend, Bob Cannon, bought this car “Ruby” (originally Ruby Red) from a 356CAR (California Alta Region) member Larry Boyd. Larry had taken the car into Wyn Robertson at Continental Motors in Sacramento, CA for repairs and the 356 was deemed so rusty that it was not road worthy. Larry was planning on stripping the car of all its valuable parts and then taking it to the local graveyard. This is where Bob steps in. Bob had been looking for a project car and Ruby fit perfectly! Next enters another 356CAR member and very good friend, Jim Hardie. Over the next four or five years, Bob and Jim took the car apart, had it media blasted and started replacing sheet metal. The floor pan, longitudinals, battery box, front clip, door skins and many other parts were replaced. Now it just so happens that Bob’s wife, Elaine, is also a Porschephile when it comes to 356’s. Elaine had spotted a 1965 Sunroof Coupe for sale that needed some TLC. A plan was developed where Bob and Elaine would buy the car and then Elaine would enlist the help of 4 other women to do a “3 day restoration” on the car. That group of women became affectionately known as the “Girl Greasers”! After several months that project stalled and Bob decided to put Ruby on the back burner for a while and finish the restoration on the 1965 Sunroof Coupe. After thoroughly examining the car, Bob decided that instead of a quick cosmetic restoration, it really needed a full rotisserie restoration. Sometime after the metal work had been completed, I started going over to help with the final shape of the body with blocking and sanding. When that was completed, we found a body shop that would rent us their spray booth for a weekend and I painted car for Bob in its original color of Irish Green with Glasurit 2 stage base/clear. While helping Bob with the Irish Green Coupe, I kept thinking that Ruby would make a great project for me and one day while taking a break, I asked him if he would sell me Ruby. Well, the answer wasn’t what I was hoping for. Seems that Bob had already offered it to another person and was waiting to hear back from them. When that person decided it was a little too much of a project for them, Ruby became mine! Now 356 Porsche restorations don’t always go as planned and Ruby was no exception. It took Bob and I about 2 years before getting Ruby and all of the parts over to my garage. And then there was the problem that I wanted to finish the restoration on a 1965 Champagne Yellow 356 Coupe before I started Ruby. Then it became perfectly clear that a larger garage was needed to house my growing passion for all things Porsche. During the next two years I found some land and built a house and separate garage for my “Porsche hobby”. Then two more wonderful delays happened. I married the love of my life and Porsche passion partner, Rachel, in no other place but our newly finished “Porsche” garage. Shortly after our honeymoon to Germany, of course, my 94 year old father with dementia moved in with us for the next 4 ½ years. It was a trying time for my wife and I, but we wouldn’t have traded it for anything in the world. Finally, the coast looked clear for finishing Ruby. Bob Cannon started coming over and helping with finishing the metal replacement work. Once completed, I started shaping, priming, blocking the body to get the gaps as perfect as I could. My wife, Rachel, had picked out the Porsche paint color from a 356 she had seen in 2005 at a North Meets South event in Cambria Pines, CA. The color, Polyantha Red, is a one year only, 356 color from 1956. I painted Ruby at a friend’s body shop in December of 2021 and started assembly in the fall of 2022 with the help of both Jim Hardie and Bob Cannon. As of this writing Monday, 4/24/2023, Ruby isn’t finished. Bob Cannon is coming over tomorrow to help me get the Pre A bench seat in the car as well as some final tweaking on the sunroof panel. Jim Hardie is coming over on Thursday and Friday and we’ll start the engine for the first time in the car. If I’m lucky, I may be able to do a few laps around the garage.