The Outlaw Way

Rod Emory broke all the rules when he customized the classic Porsche 356

- Dan Carney

Outlaw. It was meant as a joking epithet by Rod Emory’s friends, imagining the horror of Porsche purists at what they saw as Emory’s uncouth modifications to the precious Porsche 356. He embraced the diss, branding his custom vintage Porsche the 356 Outlaw and spawning a widely used, all-encompassing term that’s now applied to any classic Porsche modified from the way it left Stuttgart decades ago.

The 356 was Porsche’s first production model, and it shared many of the design themes founder Ferdinand Porsche used on the Volkswagen Beetle, including a rear-mounted engine derived from the Bug’s air-cooled four-cylinder power plant. This left ample opportunity for Emory to make improvements in the car’s performance and appearance.

Between 1948 and 1965, Porsche built 77,361 units of its pioneering sports car, a machine that established lightness and responsiveness as Porsche hallmarks. The 356 frequently defeated bigger, more powerful cars on racetracks worldwide. It was hot enough to attract the attention of Steve McQueen, who bought an open-top 356 Speedster in 1958. The Porsche was McQueen’s first racecar, and though it briefly passed into the hands of a classic car collector, McQueen bought it back in 1974, and it still belongs to his son, Chad.

Emory Motorsports officially opened its doors in 1996, though Emory himself had already spent a few years customizing Porsches for clients before formally making it his business. The restomodder’s car-customizing roots run deep, as does his connection with Porsche.