Can you imagine the feeling? It is the stuff of which dreams are made… Think about it for a moment: you’re driving through the countryside, minding your own business, when an old building catches your eye. Peeking out from behind a clump of trees, what looks like a derelict building beckons to you, as if to say ‘Come here! Look what secrets I’m hiding!’ And, when you fight your way through the undergrowth, there’s an old barn with the rusting remains of a Porsche inside it…
Of course, what normally happens is that you wake up and discover it was all just a dream but, for Jonas Uhland, the dream turned into reality – except that the barn turned out to be an old aircraft hangar. Not just any hangar, you understand, but a hangar on the site of a long-abandoned former Luftwaffe airfield.
The story begins about four or five years ago. Jonas – one of the most hard-core VW and Porsche enthusiasts you could ever wish to meet – spends many of his waking hours scouring the Scandinavian countryside for long-lost relics. He has probably turned up more treasures than anyone else we know, ranging from rare accessories to complete cars with racing history. You see, Jonas is the sort of person who, once he gets his teeth into a lead, won’t let go until he finds his pot of gold. Only, this time, the pot of gold turned out to be a very special old Porsche.
Sitting in a bar one night, Jonas fell into conversation with an old German guy who told him the tale of an early Porsche 356 which had been built for use by the German Air Force – the Luftwaffe. At first, Jonas thought the old guy had drunk a few too many glasses of schnapps but, the more he listened, the more he started to believe it. Eventually, after many further meetings, the old man began giving Jonas a few clues to the car’s whereabouts. Yes, unbelievably, the ancient Porsche – clearly a very early Pre-A model – still existed.
Following the trail laid by his informant, Jonas set off to find his Holy Grail. The journey took him to the northern reaches of – well, we’ve been sworn to secrecy about the exact location. Let’s just say, the sun doesn’t shine for very long in these parts… Sure enough, just as the old man described, there were the tell-tale signs of an old airfield – broken concrete runways, an overgrown control tower and a very rickety old hangar.
After hacking though the undergrowth, Jonas made his way to the building and prised open the doors. There, almost hidden behind piles of old, rusting farm equipment, was the unmistakable shape of an early Porsche. Jonas was dumbfounded! Closer examination showed that it was, indeed, a Pre-A model, and one which appeared to be complete in every detail – except for a missing engine.
