FRIENDS OF AUBIN

THE STORY OF TROUBLE

Lawrence Todd

Our Founder Pete Williams spent an eye opening morning in the garage of Lawrence Todd, read the story below, you'll all want to go vintage after this!

I’ll open this piece with an honest confession. I’m just not that into cars. Some people are total petrolheads. Some people obsessively follow the Grand Prix. And some people can give you chapter on verse on the difference between a Big End and a Little End. I am not one of these good people.

However, I do love a bit of vintage. And when I met Lawrence and the love of his automotive life “Trouble”, I instantly fell head over heels for her.

Trouble is a 1962 Porsche 356 B T6 Super 90 which Lawrence and his sister bought on a whim in, what the Americans call, a ‘barn find’. A total rust bucket which spent most of its life in Maryland and hadn’t moved its ancient old wheels an inch for decades. But now somehow, this old lady with nearly two thirds of a century on her dilapidated old speedometer has found its way to Hampshire.

There are a small number of design classics from the 20th Century which are quite simply impossible not to respect and adore. To name a few - The Coca Cola bottle. Alec Issigonis’s Mini. Sir Giles Gilbert Scott’s red phone box. Literally every single thing designed by Ray & Charles Eames. And Ferdinand Porsche’s 356 Coupe.
Quite simply, you’d have to be an aesthetic philistine to not love how a Porsche from the 1960s looks.

But with Trouble, there’s an added bonus. As Lawrence got to know Trouble better, dismantling each nut, bolt and panel in a painstaking process, he discovered the most incredible history of the car told through discarded sweet wrappers, parking tickets and garage repair bills, all tucked inside the door panels and pockets, long since forgotten. A life story told without so much as a single word needing to be written on paper. (Just think about those Innocent smoothie cartons and Tangfastics squished into the seat folds of the family saloon. One day they may tell a rollocking good yarn....)

Lawrence bought Trouble on whim with the romantic but determined vision to restore her back to the condition of her prime. The time when the engine worked, there weren’t gaping rust holes in her side panels and footwells. And when you hit the indicator switch, the windscreen wipers didn’t come on. Born in a time of the Vietnam War, the Bay of Pigs, the assassination of JFK and of the first man on the moon.

Trouble very much has a story to tell.

So, what’s the big deal? Vintage cars get restored all the time. What’s cool about this one, is that it is being done by a guy who’s never done anything like this before. Proof that lack of knowledge and experience should never be a barrier....[er, shouldn’t apply to politicians and surgeons]. And it is all being done live in the world of social media – so much so that Trouble has her own fan club. In fact, nearly 100,000 people following her every move on Instagram.

Every nut, every bolt, every rusty panel removed, recorded, sanded, repaired and repainted. Each bearing, piston and cylinder lovingly eased, re-greased and re-bored. Willing her on for the day she rolls out of the garage gleaming and refreshed back to her former glory.

The re-birth of Trouble is a box set not to be missed. She is truly beautiful and intoxicating. Her wonderful historical patina told through Lawrence’s passion and commitment.

FOR ALL THOSE STATISTICIANS OUT THERE - HERE ARE THE NUMBERS......

- It took 30 days to completely strip Trouble down so 240 hours.

- 500 hours spent on her so far

- 1000 nuts and bolts which all need cleaning.

- Since Lawrence has owned her she's been on 5 road trips(all on a trailer)

- 6 cans of WD40 used trying to get her undone.

- 13 rusty fixing sheared.

- Lawrence nearly set the garage on fire removing the fuel tank which still had fuel in from the 1970's.

- She was used as a nest for Geckos as shown by the number of eggds found in the car.

Follow Lawrence and the Story of Trouble at www.thestoryoftrouble.co.uk

or on Instagram @thestoryoftrouble