This Is What It’s Like To Drive A Porsche 356 Race Car

Photography by Nathan Leland

When Nathan Leland was out at Rennsport, he captured a few shots of Gregor Magnusson’s beautiful Porsche 356. The car was found in Connecticut nearly a decade ago, after a life spent on-track (including an appearance at the first Rennsport Reunion in 2001). Ever since, Magnusson has worked to maintain it, working with the 356 community to “bring it back to as period correct as possible,” as he says.

Note that its modern safety equipment has been “visually suppressed,” he says, no doubt to enjoy the full effect of screaming down the front straight at Laguna Seca, hitting almost 90 mph. The patina of a race car is still here, thanks to years of being driven at—or near—the limit. As the hard-driving companion to a road-going 356 in near-concours condition, Magnusson definitely has the right idea with these two early Porsches split between road and track.
“I now feel that the 356 is just waiting for me to become a better driver,” he says.

For more on Leland, you can visit his website, nathanleland.com and follow him on Instagram.