Doylestown Auto Repair

1939 Porsche Type 64, the precursor to the 356, is going to auction

Audi Repair Shop Doylestown
Call 267 279 9477 to schedule a appointment

If you’re a die-hard

Porsche

fan of some means, you may want to start liquidating some assets, because one of the most significant cars in the brand’s history is going up for

auction

. It’s the 1939 Porsche Type 64, and that year is not a typo. This is a Porsche

sports car

from before the end of World War II and before the official

formation of the Porsche car company after the war 70 years ago

and the production of

the 356

.

The car has a truly fascinating history. According to RM Sotheby’s, Ferdinand Porsche and

Volkswagen

planned to build and race three Type 64s in a 1,500-kilometer race from Berlin to Rome in September 1939. It was based on the KdF-Wagen, the early version of the postwar

Beetle

, and used the same drivetrain, but the engine output was increased to 32 horsepower, and an aerodynamic, riveted aluminum body was fitted. Only one was built before the race was canceled because of the war, with the other two being spearheaded by Ferdinand’s son

Ferry Porsche

a little bit later. One of those was used as a personal car by the

Porsches

, and it was the only one to survive the war.

After the war, Ferry Porsche brought it with him to Austria when he started his eponymous sports car company, and he had it restored by Pinin Farina, the founder of the

Pininfarina

design house. The Type 64 was later sold to an Austrian racing driver who held onto it until his death in 1995. The car then went on to its third owner in 1997, and is now being offered for auction. It will cross the block at the

Monterey

, Calif., auction Aug. 15-17.

from Autoblog http://bit.ly/2LINDcO