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Tom Fitzsimmons has owned countlessPorsches in a career spent closely workingwith the brand. But, ten years after it wasimported from Canada, this characterful Pre-Astill has a special place in his collection

TTHHEE NNEEWWOOUUTTLLAAWW

Porsche was a fledgling carmaker when Scottishdealer Jock McBain launched Border Reiversonto the early-1950s motorsport stage. In theMiddle Ages, the Reivers had been guerrillaclans, raidingtowns along the

war-torn Anglo-Scottish border. McBainʼs racing syndicate

proved just as capable ofbringing home silverware as itsnamesake, launching thecareer of Jim Clark and rackingup countless victories beforedisbanding in the 1960s. Butthe name lives on, and todayʼsReivers are an all-new breedof outlaw – of which this Pre-Ais the first.

Nestled among pine trees not far from Loch Lomond,the Border Reivers workshop couldnʼt feel further fromSouthern Californiaʼs sun-soaked landscape where the

outlaw movement was born. But Tom Fitzsimmons, theCEO of now globally-renowned specialist in restoring,trading and transporting classic cars, Border Reivers, isbringing West Coast Porsche culture across the Atlantic.

ʻAs a kid, thereʼs theMini, thereʼs the E-type,and thereʼs the 911…youjust know what they are,ʼhe says. ʻThere was ablack Belgian-registered911 which was always atthe cricket park acrossfrom my mumʼs house,where I lived, and thatʼsprobably where myinterest started. Sinceowning my first Porsches

as soon as I could afford one, which would have been in1985 or ʼ86, Iʼve never been without one. Iʼve ownedhundreds, both privately and through the business.ʼ

This has never just been a hobby. Tom spent the early

Words: Alex Grant Photos: Andy Tipping

“TODAY’S REIVERSARE AN ALL-NEW

BREED OFOUTLAW…”

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years of his working life at high-end repairers in Glasgowand, for a year, repaired Porsches in Australia beforereturning to Scotland to establish his own bodyshop in 1988.With an eye for quality and a love of the brand, the businessexpanded rapidly and, by 1992, it had become a PorscheApproved repairer, employing 65 factory-trained staff –Europeʼs largest, other than the manufacturerʼs own sites.

That reputation opened doors and built some usefulrelationships. While the business flourished, Tom was puttingin frequent trips to the United States, seeking out rot-freecars to bring back to Europe. So, at the start of theMillennium, when he parted ways with the business heʼdstarted to pursue other interests, he had the contacts to getfirst call on some of North Americaʼs most desirablemachinery. As a collector himself, it was also an opportunityto have his pick of what came up for sale.

ʻTen years ago, a Canadian connection called saying heknew someone selling this Pre-A, because he needed themoney to buy another Porsche,ʼ he says. ʻWhen he sent methe pictures, I knew it was one for me. So I committed to buy,then went over to Canada to touch it and have a closer lookbefore organising transport back to the UK. Itʼs never beenfor sale, as it wasnʼt bought to turn over.ʼ

The 356 landed in Scotland shortly afterwards and, withthe paperwork in hand, Tom set about tracing the historybehind his new purchase. And, although most of its outlaw-style restoration had been carried out under its previousowner, Canadian collector Dario Calandra, it turns out hehadnʼt started from scratch.

ʻI managed to find a piece of paper with the name of theguy who sold it to him. He wanted an early Porsche, and hiswife found this car a couple of blocks from their house. It was

Above: Louvred engine lidand bumper deco areCarrera touches – what youcan’t see here are theCarrera GT drum brakes

Below: A famous name, notonly in Scottish but alsomotor sport history –Formula One worldchampion Jim Clark beganhis racing career with theBorder Reivers team

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Above: Carrera bumper trimalways looks good on anearly 356, as do the periodyellow-lensed Bosch lamps

Below, left to right: Interiormay be minimalist in stylebut that doesn’t mean it isn’ttrimmed to the higheststandards. California roadmap might come in handy ifyou take a wrong turncrossing the border…

Above, left to right: Pegasusdecals, long-range Carrerafuel tank and drilled bonnethinges all smack of ‘outlaw’ –and we love it!

Below: The ‘bored out’(1800cc) Super 90 enginenow pumps out a reputed125bhp, which is enough toallow the Pre-A to hold itshead up in modern traffic

different shocks and arms to get right – indeed, itʼs marginallyhigher than it once was. Brake upgrades comprise a set of60mm Carrera GT-specdrums, rather thanstepping up to later discs.

ʻItʼs nothing dramatic,weʼve just made changesover a period of time tosuit me – that comes fromdriving it and using it. Iʼvegot a standard 356 and itʼsreally comfortable, but thisone is pretty stiff bycomparison. With itsstripped out interior, if youstart pushing hard, youinevitably hit bumps and feel every one through the car. But ithandles really well, with pinpoint accuracy – we didnʼt go

crazy with the engine because itʼs got such usable power.ʼUnsurprisingly, given Tomʼs background repairing

Porsches, the bodywork was alsorefreshed. The 356 was strippedand painted in the same silverpicked out by Dario, and theperiod-style Mobil Pegasus andTekefunken Radio graphics wereall replaced as they had beenwhen it left Canada. Of course,there was an opportunity here toadd a little Border Reivers liverywhile they were working on it.

This is a sympatheticrestoration. All of the originalstyling cues were retained, right

down to the Carrera GT drop-down door glass and low-dragmirror on the wing, yellow-tinted Bosch spotlamps and

just a shell, in black, and it needed to be fully restored. Shebought it and, on Christmas Day, tied a ribbon to the key andhad her husband follow it for two blocks to the car, which waswrapped up with a big bow. He started the restoration butwas never going to get it done, so he sold it to Dario.ʼ

Building an outlaw is open to interpretation, and this carhad its own unique sense of style clearly inspired byPorscheʼs 1950s racers. The body, a ʼ54 sunroof coupé, hadbeen treated to the works; lowered over its bare factory steelwheels, a louvred decklid and a Carrera-style fuel filler cutinto a bonnet firmly closed with leather straps. And Dario hadstripped the interior back to the essentials, pairing aSpeedster driverʼs seat with the meshed leather mechanicʼsseat for the passenger, and adding a half cage in the back.

Unfortunately it wasnʼt possible to uncover the entire buildprocess and, if anything, the gaps pose some of the mostinteresting questions about its past. Within the 356ʼs historyfile is a photograph of the car at Emory Motorsports inCalifornia, from which Dario might well recognise his former

project some ten years after signing over ownership. Butcurrent owner Tom bought this car to use, and the familiarityof spending plenty of time behind the wheel has highlightedfurther evolution over the last ten years. ʻWeʼve detailed it,and made it better, rather than altering the basics that mademe want it in the first place. I didnʼt want to change that.ʼ

Race styling might have been a tempting start point for atrack car, but the plan was to make an already addictive fast-road machine as reliable and usable as possible. The 356benefits from a newly-rebuilt Super 90 engine, bored out to1800cc and said to produce 125bhp, which is still paired withthe original four-speed transmission. Itʼs enough to keeppace with modern traffic, but doesnʼt make the car unrulywhen itʼs being used for commuting or taking Tomʼs son tofootball practice on the weekends.

Despite the low-slung stance, chassis upgrades aresimilarly compliant on Scottish roads. The suspension hadbeen a hybrid of Volkswagen and Porsche parts to get it aslow as possible, and todayʼs setup took years of trying

“WE’VE JUST MADECHANGES OVER A

PERIOD OF TIME TOSUIT ME…”

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Above: Border Reiverslettering and Mobil Pegasuslogos spell out the truecharacter of this outlaw Pre-A

Below left to right: Race-inspired period touchesabound, from the leatherbonnet straps to the Carrera-style mirrors and fuel filler

distinctive Pre-A bumpers. Tom made no changes to the mix-and-match interior, though heʼs added a fire extinguisher, andthereʼs a set of Plexiglas quarter windows as a lightweightalternative to the glass ones.

ʻI used it more when I bought it than I do now, because itwasnʼt as valuable then as is now,ʼ he says. ʻIʼm not over-careful with it – itʼs used regularly, and there are a couple ofscratches on it now – but using it only occasionally makes itfeel special. If youʼre out it in it for a few hours, when you getback thereʼs always a mega smile on your face.ʼ

The upshot is, while Tom has no plans to part ways withhis car, other owners are starting to benefit from thedevelopment work thatʼs gone into it. Border Reivers has justdelivered its first commission to Ireland, based on amatching-numbers right-hand drive 356, and you quickly geta sense that his factory-trained eye for detail is still just assharp as itʼs always been. The factory engine was rebuilt

and, instead of junking the body-numbered decklid for alouvred one, the workshop fabricated a new skin to put overthe original frame.

ʻWeʼve got a responsibility, I think. Weʼre custodians andwhere possible weʼve got to keep them matching numbers.This car has been great because you can see how peopledid things. In America, because early Porsches are readilyavailable in left-hand drive and still reasonably cheap, theycan take chances and cut them up whatever way they like.But if you get a UK RHD matching numbers car, youʼre veryreluctant to do that.ʼ

Quality talks, and thereʼs already another build underway.The Reivers might once have been feared in the lawlessborder country, but this UK-honed slice of SoCal car cultureis a very welcome kind of outlaw. One thatʼs just asunforgettable as those Tom saw when car spotting as a childwhich first ignited his interest in the brand. CP

Contact: Tom Fitzsimmons+44(0)7591 112581 www.borderreivers.co