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Entering the world of historic racing in general is not something that can be terribly easily achieved, but when you start talking about historic Porsches the dollar signs start increasing rapidly. To race a historic 956 or 962, for example, one reputable Porsche shop quoted me on the order of $5,000 – $6,000 an hour once you factor in crew, tires, brakes, race fuel and rebuilds. That, of course, doesn’t include the purchase price of the car which can easily exceed a million dollars – even for a non-winning chassis. Okay, so not everyone races Group C cars, but even 911s, 912s and 914-6s can be expensive to run competitively – and are increasingly expensive to purchase. One way to step a bit outside of the normal Porsche mold, then, is to look for the many privateer special race cars that were built in the 1960s, such as this DKW/Porsche hybrid “TM Special”:
We’ve shown quite a few 911 Speedsters over the past few months, either in the guise of the 3.2 Carrera or the 964 Carrera 2, but I cannot recall the last time we featured the original, the car those 911s were intended to recreate in spirit: the 356 Speedster. Here we have one of those rare examples: an Aquamarine Metallic 1955 Porsche 356 Pre-A Speedster. Released in 1954 the first Speedsters were quite a success, though the overall run would be short-lived as interest waned and the Speedster was replaced in 1958 with the Convertible D, followed by the 356 Roadster. With a spartan interior, minimalist top, and removable windscreen the Speedster was intended to appeal to weekend racers and those who wanted a no-frills, lower-cost, Porsche and during those initial years that’s exactly what it did, especially in the sunny environs of California. The short life the model lived has made the 356 Speedster a highly sought after collectible with the earliest examples being particularly noteworthy. Because we come across them so rarely they are almost always worth our attention.
I can’t even imagine the heads that would turn back in 1955 when this car rolled down the street. Now, I wasn’t alive in 1955 so perhaps I’m mistaken, but a bright orange convertible must have been a very rare sight. I know I haven’t seen many, if any, come across auctions of any marque, let alone a Porsche 356. Porsche has never shied away from producing cars in bright colors so that fact shouldn’t surprise me, yet here I am pretty surprised by this car. And before we wonder, this is the original color: a paint-to-sample Orange that Porsche specially had formulated to suit the original buyer’s desire. What better car to showcase on Halloween! This 1955 Porsche 356 Pre-A 1500 Continental Cabriolet is one of the most highly sought after models in the Porsche portfolio. While the 356 Cabriolet was produced for many years, those branded as the Continental Cabriolet were only produced for the 1955MY in the American market before Ford claimed naming rights to the Continental. While that may be a somewhat esoteric distinction, it is nonetheless a marker that separates these cars from other Cabriolets produced during this period. As a vintage piece of Porsche history this has it all!
While many of us deride the American car market for what it deems verboten to us, we have to remember that years ago, it was this very same market that helped shape some of the model lineups of post-war German automotive manufacturers. Such was the case with this car, the Porsche Speedster. Egged on by importer Max Hoffman, Porsche decided that a more basic, lower cost model would appeal to this market. The Speedster was quite successful by Porsche sales standards. Curiously, this more basic model has become one of the most prized models of the entire 356 range. This 1957 example for sale in California has been fully restored was formerly owned by actor Michael Parks.
In the world of home-brewed specials, there are plenty that scream “Run for the hills!” and even more that just look so flat they’re forgettable. Many of these are Volkswagen-derived specials, and while most of them try to copy more expensive cars there are precious few that achieve it. However, a few months back one started to circulate the halls of the Interweb; the Glockler-inspired handbuilt “Frankfurt Flyer”. Based on modest Volkswagen internals, the custom hand-hammered aluminum body managed to evoke images of unaffordable Porsches and even the Auto-Union high-speed record racers that the Porsche father and son team worked on. It was simply amazing to see this car take shape and how like some of the factory cars it appears. The fabricator has decided to continue to produce these gems, and has an unbuilt chassis ready to assemble of Ebay:
