It is a special treat for car lovers, which comes under the hammer in August. The famous auction house Sotheby’s is auctioning off the “original Porsche”. From the sports car three pieces were manufactured starting from 1939, only one still exists. Once in Austrian possession, the car will now probably be sold to a rich collector.
Fast cars and fast victories were popular with the Nazis. In this respect, the Porsche 64 was to set new standards in 1939 and clearly show Europe the power of German engineers and highways – with a record run from Berlin to Rome. Around 1,700 kilometers of full throttle were planned, as a counter-program to the then-popular Liège-Rome-Liege rally.
The basis for the extremely wind-slippery one-and-a-half seater was the KdF car designed by Ferdinand Porsche, from which the VW Beetle was to emerge after the end of the war. The chassis was an aluminum body missed and initially planted a 35 hp, later 40 hp four-cylinder boxer with 0.98 liter capacity in the rear. Together with the elaborately aerodynamically optimized body made the four-stroke a theoretical top speed of 160 km / h possible. However, the coupe was unable to prove its extreme pace for its time: The rally planned for the fall was called off because the war broke out on 1 September.
Only three copies were built until then. One was soon destroyed in an accident, the second was destroyed after the war by US soldiers but later restored by experts of the Hamburg Auto museum. The third model is now for sale in mid-August in Monterey, California. From the original trio, it has the most moving story. Initially, it acted as a private family car of Ferry and Ferdinand Porsche, which took it to Zell am See, where it also received the existing Porsche logo. After the war, the Type 64 started in car racing and liked the then pilot Otto Mathé so much that he then bought it and kept almost 50 years. After his death, it went to the collector and Porsche expert Thomas Gruber, until it was sold in 2009 to a Munich-based group of companies.
Now the classic is waiting for its fifth owner – someone who knows how to appreciate origins and history. “Without the Type 64 there would be no Porsche 356, no 550 and no 911”, says Marcus Görig, Car Specialist at RM Sotheby’s, the auction house that is auctioning the vehicle. A price idea does not name the company. But another reason not to be stingy: With this car, the new owner will not only be invited to every Porsche event worldwide, but will also be there in the front row.
The auction at Sotheby’s in Monterey, California is now scheduled for 17 August. The auctioneers expect that the car could achieve a record price of 18 million euros.