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celebrate the just-signed Italian-German Fascist agreement and
showcase Deutschland engineering. But the race was canceled
when war broke out, so Porsche—a member of the Nazi Party
and the SS who later spent time in prison for war crimes—used
it as his daily driver.
Along with its tiny two-seat
interior, split-window wind-
shield, and wide black steering
wheel, the car originally con-
sisted of VW parts and special
components made by Porsche
himself. It was built on a modified
VW chassis, using a body made
by German fabricator Reutter,
with a VW engine customized to
enhance power. In 1948 it under-
went styling modifications at the
coachbuilder Pininfarina. Later,
parts added from Fiat and the
Austrian conglomerate Steyr altered it further.
RM Sotheby’s is calling it a Porsche nonetheless, even
though the Type 64 was born years before the company was
founded in 1948. The Porsche DNA is there—the round head-
lights, gently curved roofline, and smooth sides that define
the brand’s modern cars were evident even then. In his later
years, Porsche referred to the Type 64 as “die Ahnherr” (“the
Ancestor”); when he started his company, he added his own
surname to the car’s grille. “If Mr. Porsche thought it was good
enough to carry the Porsche badge,” says Alexander Weaver, a
August 5, 2019
carspecialistforRMSotheby’s,“thenyes,I’dcallit a Porsche.”
Mostobserversconsiderthefirstcapital-PPorschetobe
the 1948356 Gmündcoupe.“Peoplesaythe 356 No.1 is the
firstPorsche,”Weaversays.“WesayType64 is the oldest
car to wear a Porsche badge. If you take it exactly as I say
it, that’s correct.” He even used the Gmünd car to arrive at
the $20 million auction estimate. “My initial thoughts were,
Whatisa Gmündworth,andhowmanyGmündsdidthey
build?”hesays.“Theyarevaluedanywherebetween$4mil-
lionand$8million.Andtheybuilt 50 ofthem.”TheType 64
is the predecessor. “Is it worth three times that of the Gmünd?
Probably,” says Weaver. “Is it worth twice? Surely.”
Over its eight decades, the car has undergone changes
that would disqualify anything else from “original” status. It
started life with left-hand-drive but was converted to right-
hand by its second owner, the eccentric German racer Otto
Mathé, then changed back to left-hand years later.
At various points, Mathé added Fiat brakes, new rear lights,
and a new steering rack, and he adjusted the fuel tank and
transmission.It wasoriginallyblack,buthepaintedit tur-
quoise.(It’snowsilver.)ManyoftheoriginalpartsMathé
swappedoutduringhis 46 years of ownership (1949-95) will
be included in next month’s sale; few are currently installed.
Although it shouldn’t be called a Porsche per se, Prill says,
the Type 64’s history of alterations contributes to its signifi-
cance. “If you think of the world’s great car companies, how
many of them could lay a hand on the first car they built in
their factory?” he asks. “I don’t think there’s another one.”
The party that could settle this debate—Porsche—has
taken a hands-off approach. Dave Engelman, a spokesman
for Brand Heritage at Porsche, declined to comment on the
nomenclature debate but noted
in an email: “You can truly see
the ‘shape of Porsche’ for the
first time in the Type 64, and it’s
proven to be timeless.”
The Porsche Museum, which
displays a replica of the Type 64’s
body shell in Stuttgart, Germany,
hasn’t officially commented on
the car; the brand has discour-
aged employees from posting
about it online. (This after the
company tried to buy the car
from Mathé during the 1950s and
’60s.) A spokeswoman for RM Sotheby’s says, “We’ve had
some conversations,” but the museum “hasn’t been directly
involved” with the sale. Whatever it’s called, Prill says the
brand should embrace it. “If we dropped it on their heads,
they wouldn’t recognize it,” he says. “Porsche is full of corpo-
rate men from top to bottom afraid to make a mistake.”
Then again, it could just be part of a genius master plan:
Keep quiet so as not to bolster the hype and price tag, then
quietly buy the car back to keep it in the vaults of the Porsche
empire once and for all. <BW>