This Exceedingly Rare Porsche 356 Pre-A Is About to Tackle the 1000 Miglia

Photo: Vredestein

What would you do with one of just 10 Porsche 356 Pre-A roadsters imported into your country as new? Hopefully, the answer isn’t “leave it sitting in a field for two decades with the roof open.” That was the fate that befell this beautiful early Porsche, a car that certainly seemed doomed until its current owner found it.

Thankfully, the current owner is Porsche collector Bernard Moix. When he located the 1955 Porsche — believed to be one of just 10 examples imported to France that year — he knew he had to resurrect it. Now, after a full restoration and a couple hundred shakedown miles, Moix and his co-pilot, Instagram’s That Porsche Girl, are about to rack up the miles during the 40th running of the 1000 Miglia historic rally.

Tire maker Vredestein is a sponsor of this year’s 1000 Miglia, as well as this car, so naturally it’s riding on Vredestein Sprint Classic tires. These are actually pretty nifty tires — Vredestein makes them in vintage tall-and-skinny sizes with historically accurate sidewall design and tread patterns, but they’re constructed using modern tire engineering and rubber compounds. The result is a thoroughly modern tire that grips, turns and stops way better than any original rubber ever could, but perfectly fits the aesthetic of a painstakingly restored classic car. Vredestein even makes vintage-style snow tires if you really wanna get wild with your vintage machine.

Photo: Vredestein

You can read the full story of how this gorgeous Porsche was discovered, identified, restored, and prepared for vintage road-rallying here on Drives Today. Porsche 356s of any variety command insane money these days, so we’re happy to see this exceedingly rare, gorgeously restored example about to launch into a five-day road rally around Italy. Jealous doesn’t begin to describe how we feel.