Is this real or a replica?

[MasterMario]

I was looking through real estate listings and noticed a Porsche 356 body in one of the listings. I'm going to assume it's a replica, but is it?

[flatisflat]

@MasterMario I haven't a clue on how to tell the difference.

That said, it's not like the originals were engineering marvels, so replicas I'm sure are likely just as good or better than the OG.

[Brickman]

@MasterMario Hard to tell without a close inspection. Although I wish I had my own garage forklift

[Vondon302]

@Brickman said in Is this real or a replica?:

@MasterMario Hard to tell without a close inspection. Although I wish I had my own garage forklift

The garage skylight is a nice touch too.

[MasterMario]

@Vondon302 good catch...I didn't even notice that.

[415s30]

@MasterMario Yeah the trim on the front doesn't look real to me, the whole front edge there is perfect. Looks like a replica to me, there are two 356s in my family and they are in great original shape but they don't look perfect like that.

[phenotyp]

@MasterMario Sure looks like fiberglass pulled off a mold, at the inner edge.

[RallyWrench]

@MasterMario That's a rep, and not a very good one.

[EssExTee]

@MasterMario quick way to tell is the handbrake location. Most replicas are Beetle-based and have it on the center tunnel. Real 356s don't.

Of course that doesn't help if you're just looking at a bare body...

[ash78]

I heard Jimmy Dean died driving one of these. Heart attack. Too much sausage.

[Huzer]

@MasterMario I can't possibly believe the unfinished front of a real 356 was that square.

[WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAthenGTInowA4]

@ash78 said in Is this real or a replica?:

I heard Jimmy Dean died driving one of these. Heart attack. Too much sausage.

I think you're confusing him with Paul "Italian" Newman the inventor of salad dressing.

[Roadkilled]

@MasterMario
It's almost certainly a replica. There is a lot of structure that the front clip is attached to. I haven't seen a restoration where the front body is attached to the rest of the body without any structure underneath. I'm not sure if I'm looking at a firewall on that body, but I don't think it should be there. I may be wrong and I encourage any experts here to set me right if I'm mistaken.

[ash78]

@WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAthenGTInowA4 said in Is this real or a replica?:

@ash78 said in Is this real or a replica?:

I heard Jimmy Dean died driving one of these. Heart attack. Too much sausage.

I think you're confusing him with Paul "Italian" Newman the inventor of salad dressing.

You mean the white salsa guy? Isn't that Trader José?

[Italia]

@MasterMario headlight buckets look light a shitty fiberglass.

[SantaBarbarian]

@MasterMario

With the rough fibreglass exposed on the front fascia? Almost certainly a replica-- likely a Beck, since Chuck did the most volume in those over the years.

IIRC, wasn't the original Top Gun 356 a Beck?

[SantaBarbarian]

@MasterMario
Bonus points for the Four Pinnochios hand-printed sign on the ceiling. I like the cut of his jib.

[SantaBarbarian]

@MasterMario

Wait. Dueling Yodas on the shelves? Wow.

[zipfuel]

Also definitely one big chonk of plastic. Look at the choice fibreglass moulding back here.

[john norris]

@zipfuel