1958 Porsche 356 Emory Special Speedster

Few names in the custom Porsche world have been doing it as long as Rod Emory of Emory Motorsports. Influenced by his grandfather’s hot-rodding, and having grown up in a vintage Porsche parts warehouse, Emory’s cars depict a classic, yet subtle, hot rod look with a hodgepodge of parts from 356s, 911s, and other vintage Porsches. His work has become internationally recognized with the rise of all things Porsche and commands a premium, as you’ll see here in a second.

This 1958 356 started life as a Coupe before being converted to a Speedster look by the previous owner. Emory purchased the car in 2021 and went to work transforming it into the Emory Special Speedster pictured above.

The car was stripped to bare metal and fitted with a 550 Spyder-inspired nose with vented oiler-cooler grille. The decklid louvers were inverted, a competition-style fuel filler was added to the front bonnet, and the car received Pre-A-style rolled rocker panels and raised wheel arches before being painted in a custom shade of Metallic Blue.

On the inside, the car is trimmed in Hydes Cognac leather with basket-weave inserts over fixed-back bucket seats with oatmeal square-weave carpeting. It has been fitted with a Classic Retrofit electric air conditioner, an Emory-branded wooden shift knob, a Derrington-style steering wheel, and a hidden Bluetooth sound system.

Powering the car is a 2.6-liter flat-four designed by Jeff Gamroth of Rothsport Racing and features a sand-cast aluminum case, 6061 billet camshaft housings, Elgin billet camshafts, and a stroker crankshaft putting out around 260 horsepower. Additional features include a hand-built 15-gallon aluminum fuel tank, a front-mounted electric oil-cooling fan, custom stainless-steel exhaust headers, and a sport muffler.

There are plenty of custom 356s that hit the auction block with average prices just shy of $250,000. But an Emory build is not your average build, with the top two custom 356 sales of the last five years being Emory Outlaws. The highest price paid was $858,000 for a 1960 MOMO 356 RSR Emory Outlaw in August 2020 followed by $747,500 for a 1957 356A Emory Outlaw just last month.

Our Spotlight car hammered down at a final bid of $802,000, right in the range of the other top-of-the-market Emory sales. Personally, this Speedster would have been the one for me. Lucky bidder.

TOGETHER WITH PORSCHE SALT LAKE CITY

There are many Porsche Centers here in the US, and then there are PORSCHE Centers. Those who have a deep-rooted passion for the history of the marque that shows through everything they do, especially their choice of inventory. And Porsche Salt Lake City is one such PORSCHE Center. Serving the Salt Lake Valley since 1958 as one of the first Porsche dealers in the United States, a quick browse of their inventory lets one know just how dedicated to the brand this group of Porsche enthusiasts is.

Take for example this 1993 964 Carrera RS 3.8. Produced as the base to homologate Porsche’s legendary 3.8 RSR race car, the Carrera RS 3.8 was the ultimate evolution of the standard RS as it shed around 600 lbs of weight while increasing horsepower to 300 for a most visceral driving experience. And with only 55 units produced, you’ll be hard-pressed to find another for sale on the showroom floor of another Porsche Center.

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