You don’t have to drive a ’32 Deuce Coupe, a ’49 Merc, or a ’57 Bel Air to be living the hot rod dream. In fact, many enthusiasts’ dream rods are not even “American made,” like Jack Griffin’s ride. Griffin drives a ’55 Porsche 356 Continental “Outlaw”. Check out this awesome little piece of “art on wheels” in the Petrolicious video above.

The 356, or what may be better known as the Bathtub Porsche (sorry purists, but even Porsche clubs and registries are using this term for all 356 models rather than for just the Speedsters), was Porsche’s first production model.

In 1955, looking to export the car to the United States under a defining moniker, Porsche opted to attach the Continental name to the 356 models headed for the states. Ford, however, had a different opinion of this decision and put a stop to the extra name due to their use of it in the form of the Lincoln Continental. Because of this, the Porsche 356 Continental nameplate only stuck around for a single model year.

Jack Griffin owns one of these rare-named cars and considers it to be a “beauty queen” and a “piece of art on wheels.” It is, after all, his ultimate hot rod. But before you start thinking that we’re bragging up a factory Porsche on a hot rod publication, you should know this. Griffin’s Porsche is not your standard 356. After all, it is an “Outlaw.”

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While the 356 Outlaw craze may be gaining more and more popularity, with individuals reworking their 356 models to appear mostly factory but handle and perform better than what the factory was capable of designing cars to do back in the day, Griffin reworked his Porsche in the 1990s, long before the pro-touring era for every kind of car imaginable came into play.

In doing so, Griffin equipped his car with a 115 hp 1720 cc engine from a 1965 Porsche 356, nearly doubling the horsepower of the original 1500 cc engine, a gearbox from a 1962 model, four-wheel disc brakes and a 12-volt electrical system.

It still looks about the same (except for the necessary wheel change and “race car upgrades”), but Griffin’s Porsche certainly performs at a higher standard than your factory model.

Naysayers may scoff and point to the fact that Griffin’s Porsche still maintains many handling characteristics of the original 356 model, but Griffin seems to like it that way. It keeps him more involved, which will allow him to never get bored. And any hot rod that can do that, be it American made or German, is okay in our book!