What would you do with one of just 10 Porsche 356 Pre-A roadsters imported into your country as new? Hopefully, the answer isn’t “leave it sitting in a field for two decades with the roof open.” That was the fate that befell this beautiful early Porsche, a car that certainly seemed doomed until its current owner found it.

Thankfully, the current owner is Porsche collector Bernard Moix. When he located the 1955 Porsche — believed to be one of just 10 examples imported to France that year — he knew he had to resurrect it. Now, after a full restoration and a couple hundred shakedown miles, Moix and his co-pilot, , are about to rack up the miles during .

Tire maker Vredestein is a sponsor of this year’s 1000 Miglia, as well as this car, so naturally it’s riding on . These are actually pretty nifty tires — Vredestein makes them in vintage tall-and-skinny sizes with historically accurate sidewall design and tread patterns, but they’re constructed using modern tire engineering and rubber compounds. The result is a thoroughly modern tire that grips, turns and stops way better than any original rubber ever could, but perfectly fits the aesthetic of a painstakingly restored classic car. Vredestein even if you really wanna get wild with your vintage machine.

You can read the full story of how this gorgeous Porsche was discovered, identified, restored, and prepared for vintage road-rallying . Porsche 356s of any variety command insane money these days, so we’re happy to see this exceedingly rare, gorgeously restored example about to launch into a five-day road rally around Italy. Jealous doesn’t begin to describe how we feel.