"This isn't a book about Porsche restoration. It's about Wilkinson's colorful life. That, along with elegant writing, is what makes this book so endearing-the tales are told without ego. This is less a tale about a machine than a tale about a man enjoying a machine."--Car and Driver Stephan Wilkinson was looking for something to do. So he bought an old, run-down Porsche and over the next two years tore it apart and rebuilt it in a garage behind his house. The project cost him a small fortune, and it started him thinking about many other things. Quirky, cool, entertaining, and opinionated, The Gold-Plated Porsche captures Wilkinson's inspired digressions on his various other careers and misadventures. As he recounts his own personal history, Wilkinson also waxes eloquent on the history of Porsche, American engineering and culture, status, and all things mechanical.