Type 7

An Heirloom Like No Other

An Heirloom Like No Other

Author: Nat Twiss

Photographer: Jonathan Harper

How Aidan de Cadenet keeps the memory of his father alive in the Porsche they shared together

For Aidan de Cadenet, there was simply no choice but to love cars; he’s the son of the late, great racing driver and presenter Alain de Cadenet, perhaps one of the greatest ever evangelists for automobiles in all of their speed and elegance, his high-octane pursuits on-track and off helping to inspire a generation of enthusiasts.

Naturally, the collection that surrounded Aidan has left a lasting imprint on him, and they remain on the road today. We joined him in Los Angeles with one of those cars, a 1965 356 SC.

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“It found its way to us through a friend and longtime Porsche mechanic Richard Dick,” Aidan explains, “something like 20 or so years ago. It’s a lovely matching numbers example, although personally - I could care less about that. It’s been bored out to give a little pinch of extra power. It will always reside in the sunny state of California so long as I’m still above the ground. I will simply never let it go.

As with all the things I take care of now, I will always still consider them to be my dad’s. I’ve mentioned this before but I am just the living entity that will cherish and look after them until the next person is tasked to do so after I’m dead. When I say “we” throughout this story, I use it to refer to him and me as that’s how it’s always been and nothing has changed nor will it ever.”

Naturally, the lifetime of memories in this car have leaked far beyond the metal itself. Aidan’s time in LA, and his emotional connection to it, is just as informed by the roads. “I do recall going up to Pebble Beach car week almost every year in it with my dad stretching that 6 hour drive out in the little thing,” he continues.

“We would roll the windows down and drive Highway 1 along the coastline through Big Sur to Carmel. It’s a fabulous drive that is every bit exciting as it is scenic. Some years we would take the back route into Carmel. My dad often described it as reminding him of the Targa Florio, which he drove a few times back in the golden years of racing. It was just a magic road filled with lovely nature and curves. I believe it’s still a little kept secret in the area, and I can see why.  

Driving Angeles Crest Highway was always so fun as well. We would creep along up to Newcomb’s Ranch, have a nice lunch, then tear on back home. We even got to drive it in the snow up there a couple of times which was endlessly thrilling.

Mulholland Drive is my backyard racetrack. I know every crack, pothole, overtake spot, corner and line in that little stretch of road that I could most likely do it blindfolded if I had to. It means so much to me. Every single day, I would pull out and turn west and just be free to have a fun run. With the 356, this was a natural stretch of road to exercise the car to the limits but to also cruise if I didn’t feel like playing the death lottery that day.

As most people know there is at times a 1000 foot drop on either side of the cliff-like road...I remember driving with dad in the car and just timing how quickly we could do one end to the other. We used to get the thing sideways most times but always had fun in the process. The only time I ever felt really nervous was when we took it out in the rain one day after adjusting the engine belt. My dad got that thing more sideways than how a crab walks and it really made me realize how capable the car is if you know how to drive it properly. 

"As with all the things I take care of now, I will always still consider them to be my dad’s."


Many people look down on the performance of a 356 in comparison to the 911, but they haven’t experienced driving one to its true limits. It’s a whole different ball game driving a slow car fast, and much more fun.”

Sentimentality hasn’t kept Aidan from pushing his 356 - if anything, it’s even more reason to. We asked him if he ever worries about the car;

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"My dad got that thing more sideways than how a crab walks and it really made me realize how capable the car is if you know how to drive it properly. "


“Never,” he says. “Cars are meant to be driven and fate is fate. If you obsess over these details that may or may not happen to you or your cars then you are largely missing the point about having them. The more scars the better, it tells your story and not someone else’s like with an overdone restoration like I see all too often with these cars. I wake up looking forward to what stone chips I can collect that day. It was something my dad and I both loved doing. When you drive for happiness you soon realize that the car turns into an extra limb of yourself and you become less worried about it than if you accidentally scratched your arm that day. Throw a Band-Aid on it, you will be fine.”

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