The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts
When the artwork is more interesting than the chassis number.
By Pete Vack, photos by Jim Sitz and Allen R. Kuhn
VeloceToday originally ran this photo in September 2023, and in an effort to find the chassis number and owner of the 550 Spyder Richie Ginther drove one fine day at Santa Barbara, and perhaps the meaning of the Happy Face on the front, we asked our readers to help.
Santa's Spyder. Photograph by Hugues Vanhoolandt.
By Pete Vack
The following true story is based on the recollections of John Wiech, who bent my ear for a few hours at a car meet last year. Our apologies for a story about Porsches, but it’s the truth and it’s a sin to tell a lie, particularly at Christmas time. We originally published this in 2009 and it was one of our reader’s favorites. [Ed.]
The subject had started another family argument. Johnny had become enamored with a rare foreign car but it seemed no one knew exactly how to pronounce the name. It was German, or was it. “…It’s Austrian,” said his Dad. “But made in Stuttgart,” said Johnny, being careful to put the “sch” in. He reasoned that the sch in the car’s name might sound the same and the vowel at the end be pronounced. His older sister said otherwise. “It’s Porch, as in front porch or back porch, without the ‘e’.”
She always thought she was so smart.
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