Porsche 356 Speedster

The Porsche 356 Speedster

is Porsche's first production model. It was based on the Porsche No. 1 developed and built under the direction of Ferry Porsche, a two-seater mid-engined roadster with a tubular frame and a 1.1-litre engine that produced 26 kW or 35 hp at 4000 rpm (power rating according to the individual approval of the Carinthian provincial government of 8 June 1948) and was similar in design to the air-cooled four-cylinder boxer engine of the VW Type 1. The type designation 356 for the car is the consecutive number of this Porsche design. The engine had the design number 369. The birthday of the Porsche 356 is 7 July 1948, the date on which the first test report on a Porsche coupé appeared. Production of the 356 series ended in April 1965, 76,302 cars were built. The Porsche 356 went into series production with a modified frame and a rear engine instead of the original mid-engine concept. The first 50 cars with aluminium bodies were built by hand in Gmünd in Carinthia, where Porsche had relocated towards the end of the Second World War.1950 Porsche moved back to Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen.Production began on the premises of Karosseriewerke Reutter, which had already been commissioned to produce 500 steel bodies at the end of 1949. The design came from Erwin Komenda, who had already designed the body of the VW Beetle.  The first Porsche 356 incorporated many standard VW parts such as gearbox, brakes, front and rear suspension and steering. Duplex brakes at the front were added in 1950. During its production period, Porsche continued to improve the Type 356, but retained typical features such as the front crank axle, patented for Porsche and known from the VW Beetle, and the rear swing axle with torsion bar springs guided by longitudinal push rods. Although the engines were always based on the VW original, they were constantly developed further. All Porsche 356 variants had a 4-cylinder rear engine and rear-wheel drive. At the same time, in 1953 Ernst Fuhrmann designed the completely new 1.5-litre king-shaft engine (Fuhrmann engine) with four overhead camshafts and an output in the Porsche 356 Carrera of initially 74 kW (100 hp), which was mainly used in the racing versions and later in the Type 904 GTS with 2-litre displacement produced up to 136 kW (185 hp).

The Porsche 356 Speedster presented here has an impressive history in the world of motorsport. Delivered to the USA in 1955, the car was acquired in the early 1960s by the passionate collector and racing driver Gus Schumacher. He kept the car in his possession for more than 4 decades. Especially in the 60s, Schumacher used the Speedster in various races of the SCCA. According to the Porsche Register, this car won the SCCA Nationals. During this victory, a Fuhrmann engine was installed in the car. This unique detail in the motorsport history of the car is written by Gus Schumacher himself - in order to be even more competitive in Group C he decides to extract noticeably more performance from his car by installing a rare Carrera engine. After several years of regular racing, Gus Schumacher finally decides to install the original engine again. The Fuhrmann engine, however, remains in his possession and is stored together with the Speedster in his collection. During its active service life, this Porsche 356 Speedster raced on some of the most famous American racetracks, including Bridgehampton Racetrack, Lime Rock Racetrack, Thomson Racetrack, Marlboro Racetrack, Steel Cities Racetrack and Waterford Hills Racetrack. It was not until 2011 that Gus Schumacher parted with his vehicle and sold it, together with the 550 Spyder engine, to the English dealer Tom Miller. At the end of 2011, a German collector from Düsseldorf acquired the car before it was purchased by our company in November 2014. Shortly afterwards, a collector based in Germany also acquired the 356 Speedster, for which we are now offering this unique car. Included in the scope of delivery and purchase price is the aforementioned Porsche 550 Spyder engine. A Porsche Certificate of Authenticity is available.