Vehicle Description
1957 Porsche 356A/1500 Carrera GS/GT Reutter Coup�
Year 1957
Make Porsche
Model 356A
Type Carrera 1500GS/GT Reutter Coupe
Chassis No. 100136
Original Engine No. P90791
Current Engine No. P90514
Engine Internal No. 110
Case Nos. 48 / 48
Gearbox No. 14208
Gearbox Date Code April, 1957
Gearbox P/N 644.20.101
Gearbox Ratio "B A A A"
Completed May 2nd, 1957
Warranty Start Date May 2nd, 1957
Warranty End Date November 2nd, 1957
Exterior Color Special Order Lemon Yellow "51-1012"
Interior Color Special Order Green Leatherette and Cloth
Selling Dealer H�lpert & Co., Dortmund, Germany
Original Owner Kurt R�ttger, Hagen, Germany
Kurt R�ttger GmbH & Co. KG Automobiles, Iserlohn, Germany
Current Mileage 21,611 Kilometers / 13,428 Miles (Mileage Since
Restoration)
KARDEX Options:
-Special request Exterior Paint in Lemon Yellow
-Special request green leatherette and vinyl Interior
-Body-Side Trim Strips Deleted
-Special Paint Work Body Striping
-Special Rear Illuminated "D" (Deutschland) Plate for NIght Racing
/ Rallies
-1 Set of Rudge-Type Knock-Off Wheels
This is one of just 141 356A/1500 Carrera GS or Carrera GS/GT
Reutter Coup�s built. The original assembly details have been
provided by the Porsche Factory in the form of the original KARDEX.
The Porsche Factory has also provide a Certificate of Authenticity
that further confirms the original assembly details for this rare
machine. (A copy of the KARDEX and Certificate of Authenticity is
attached to this email.)
From the Porsche records, it is know that this Porsche was ordered
by the official Porsche agent in Dortmund, Germany. That company
was H�lpert & Company. The order was done as a "Special Request /
Special Wish" with a variety of unique and "one-off" features. The
car was ordered new by Mr. Kurt R�ttger of Hagen, Germany. The
vehicle was completed on May 2nd, 1957 and less than a month later
on May 25th, 1957 Mr. R�ttger was granted an official Porsche
dealership of his own in Hagen, Germany.
Mr. R�ttger's dealership was formally named, Kurt R�ttger GmbH &
Co. KG Automobiles which was incorporated initially in Hagen and
later, nearby in Iserlohn, Germany. His original company remained
in business in Iserlohn for many years before being closed
permanently in 2003.
The Porsche records show the car to have been extremely uniquely
configured starting with the high performance Type 547 "Four-Cam"
1,500cc engine and four-speed gearbox fitted with close ratio,
"hill-climb" gears with "B A A A" ratios. This type of gearing
would have been completely unsuitable for road use as top speed
would have been limited to just 95mph / 150kph. Such gearing was
used only for racing in hill climbs and for ice racing. The
exterior color was a special order of "Lemon Yellow" and the
interior was finished in a two-tone color of green cloth and vinyl.
Additional special requests had the body side trim strips deleted
and special striping paintwork added to the vehicle. A special
night-racing / rally illuminated letter "D" for "Deutschland" or
Germany plate was added to the rear of the car. The final option
was a set of five "Rudge-Type" chrome "knock-off" rims.
The only additional information from the Porsche records was a
series of ten different services and repairs done under warranty.
These include initial warranty work completed at the Porsche
Factory on May 6th, 1957. Thereafter the remaining warranty work
was completed by R�ttger at his own Hagen / Iserlohn dealership
until June 18th, 1958. This final work was completed more than six
months after the warranty officially expired. Recorded warranty
mileage on that date was an astounding 26,779 kilometers which
would indicate the car was heavily driven in just the first 16
month of its life. The internal Porsche records have no additional
information on this vehicle after September 22nd, 1958 when the
last of the warranty work was closed out with the payment of the
final invoice.
Very little is know during the next ten years but it is assumed the
car was at least initially used in hill climb and or ice racing
events. This Porsche eventually resurfaced sometime late in 1968
when it was being driven across the States by a German or possibly
Scandinavian owner. During his journey, he had a catastrophic
engine failure in Tulsa, Oklahoma and the car was traded in shortly
thereafter at East Side Motors on Admiral Avenue in Tulsa. The car
was traded for a used Ford Falcon and he continued on his way to
California. At some point the car had been painted poorly a dark
metallic green. The two-tone green interior remained and the car
was still fitted with the original chrome "Rudge-Type" knock-off
wheels.
The next owner was George Starch, owner of Fame Automotive an
import car parts speciality store also located in Tulsa. Starch was
a well known car collector but did little with his new Porsche
until it was sold late in 1969 to the well known Tulsa Porsche
collector and racer, Howard de Haven. He purchased the car while it
was still fitted with the damaged engine. de Haven was also able to
acquire at the same time another Carrera Four Cam engine that was
removed from a damaged Carrera Speedster. de Haven sent both
engines to Four-Cam guru, Jim Wellington in California. Wellington
used the Carrera Speedster engine case and some of the internals
from the original engine to compete a fully rebuilt bottom end
engine which was then sent by de Haven to Al Larger who ran Bill
Randell's Autohouse in Denver, Colorado. Lager assisted with
completing the engine with heads and parts provided by Vasek
Polak.
de Haven fitted the rebuilt engine and repainted the car back to
the original "Lemon Yellow." He also had the interior redone to a
more standard, solid black vinyl. de Haven removed the knock-off
wheels and had them fitted to a Speedster he had acquired. He then
fitted a set of standard steel KPZ wheels to this Porsche Carrera.
Work was completed in 1978 at which time, total mileage was now
34,000 kilometers. Sometime in 1979, de Haven sold this Porsche to
Ralf Lackner, owner of J. Rambo Cabinets in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Lackner drove the car very rarely and then sold it in the famous
Leake Tulsa, Oklahoma auction in 1980. The car was purchased by a
well know West Coast collector, Jon Tipenyay from Monterey,
California. This Porsche was then next seen in an early Rick Cole
Classic Car Auction, possibly in Newport Beach California in the
early 1980s. It was purchased by Pratt Development Corporation in
nearby Costa Mesa, California. In December of 1985 this Porsche was
purchased by Isao "Sam" Yagi who then imported it to Japan and
offered it for sale.
Over the next 33 years, this Porsche remained in Japan passing
through several private museum collections and corporate owners. It
was at some point fully restored and fitted with an incredible
assortment of original Porsche Factory "GT" components. The car was
updated fully and comprehensively with "GT" brakes, backing plates,
hubs, splines and spacers. An original September of 1955 date coded
80-liter fuel tank was installed as was an original Factory roll
bar. A complete set of rare original "Plexiglass 233" light-weight
"Perspex" windows were installed as was...for more information
please contact the seller.
