Slipstream - March 2017

Kruder’s Cars & Conversations
By Bill Kruder, Region Advertising Chair
Photos courtesy of the Author
ob and I first met about five years ago at the
B
Classic BMW Cars & Coffee in Plano. Our
next meeting was at the annual Autos in the
Park Concours, where we’d exchange hellos
and move on our separate ways. Time passed and we
would see each other again at Porsche Cars & Coffee
or one of our “impromptu” Saturday coffee gatherings.
Then not long ago Jack Griffin and Bob invited me,
along with a bunch of car people, over to the “garages”
for pizza. It was that Wednesday that I thought, “I
bet there are a lot of people that have no idea who
this guy really is.” So here is the next in my series of
“conversations” to share with you…
12 March
Bob Aines, owner 1965 356SC and
several others, member since 1977
Bill Kruder: So are you originally from Dallas?
Bob Aines: No, though I have lived here I think four
different times over the years and think it’s probably
where I’ve lived the longest.
BK: Where do you call home then?
BA: I was born in Virginia -- Fort Lee actually. Home
is hard to pin down as my dad was in the military. I
think I’ve moved like thirty three times and we moved
every year up until I was in high school.
BK: What might be your favorite or biggest move you remember
as a kid?
BA: Think that might be in 1957 when we were sent
to Germany. My dad had this 1955 Dodge Red Ram
Hemi that he took over with us. This car was massive;
well, it seemed like it on the roads there, as it took up
about one and half lanes.
BK: Anywhere else that left a lasting impression?
BA: Think it was the next move in 1958. My dad had
bought a VW in Germany and brought it back with
us to Fort Ord in California. As things would have it,
that was the year Laguna Seca opened, and we would
take the VW and watch races there. Think that’s when
I caught the sports car racing “virus.” I just couldn’t get
enough of it, and hell, I was only like ten years old.
BK: So your dad was into cars then?
BA: He was, but really as a spectator. He did enjoy
his British cars. We had a couple MGs. I actually took
my drivers test in his MGB; made the parallel parking
test a cinch with the top down (laughing). I did get to
drive them quite a bit, despite wrecking the second one
twice, but the first wasn’t my fault. I was the victim.
BK: Tell me about college and your career.
BA: I graduated from Clemson, then went into the
Army like so many others back in the day. In about 1971
I was getting out of the service and EDS was hiring a lot
of Junior Officers, so I started with them in Atlanta. I
was there until about 1975, and spent lots of time spent
at Road Atlanta. Then they moved me to Dallas. I then
spent the next 26 years moving around with them from
Paris, France to Detroit, Michigan. I took an early retirement
package in 1999.
BK: So how did you get started driving and collecting
Porsches?
BA: That goes back to the MGs actually. We lived in
Virginia and the dealer in D.C. was called Manhattan
Motors; they handled both Porsche and British Leyland
cars. And if you know anything about British cars
in the 60s and 70s, you were in the dealership a lot for
repairs. Well every time we went in I would check out
the Porsches.
BK: And what was the first one you bought?
BA: Well the first one I “almost” bought was a 1968
911S Targa in Irish Green . . . damn, I regret never buying
it. But the first one was a 1965 Dolphin Grey 356SC.
It was 1977 and I had been living here a couple years.
I was driving on US 75 and stopped in Town North
Porsche (later known as Boardwalk in Plano) and just
bought it.
BK: And how long did you have it?
BA: Oh I still have it! It’s at the house. I actually met
Zim and Mayo at that time; they know the car well.
BK: Now I’ve heard stories that you led kind of a double
life: white collar job by day and sports car racing by night, so
to speak. When did this begin?
BA: I got to know Don Istook and a couple of other
guys and we help him build a 1967 911 SCCA D-Production
car, which
had the short
wheelbase. After
the first season we
converted it to a
LWB S/T (1972),
as allowed by the
SCCA rules.
BK: What ever
happened to it?
BA: We built
a Targa and sold
it. Funny story
though -- in 2006,
I’m a member of
R Gruppe and we
were at an event
where another
member and I are
Bob in his garage;
the ultimate man cave