How much can one simple word be worth?
In the case of a 356 Porsche Speedster from 1956 it is $1million. Yes one little word, added to the Speedster. A word that begins with C. The C in this case stands for ‘Carrera’. Let us explain.
The car above looks like normal 356 Porsche Speedster.
In fact you cannot tell from the outside that this car is slightly different. Except for the small sign below the ‘Speedster’ sign on the side of the car. The sign below reads Carrera.
While most Porsche’s today carry the Carrera badge, back then Carrera (Carrera comes from the famous Mexican endurance race Carrera Panamerica where Porsche won important victories) stood for something very rare. Exclusive. Special. The car above is not a normal 356 Speedster. It is a ‘Carrera’ Speedster.
What is the difference? Try $1 million. Yes we will write it again.
Today Carrera Speedsters are worth $1m more than a normal speedster. So what are the differences beside price? Firstly rarity. Only 75 Carrera speedsters were made whereas thousands of T1 and T2 speedsters were produced.
Secondly, as is often the case, the main differences lies in the engine. Whereas a normal 356 speedster would offer the driver 60hp or 75hp, the Carrera version was capable of 110hp and was powered by the legendary air cooled -4 cam, 4 cylinder engine with two dual throat carburettors developed by Fuhrman.
The Carrera engine was essentially a race inspired engine. It was very powerful, very reliable and robust. As a result the Carrera engine (type 547) developed by Fuhrman became the benchmark version to have for collectors. In two weeks RM Auctions will be auctioning a very rare Porsche 356 Carrera Speedster from 1956 (main picture above). Estimated at €780′ooo – €9oo’ooo, this Carrera Speedster carries its original Fuhrman type 547 engine matching the chassis Nr. The car additionally carries a number of special features such as original Rudge wheels and the speedometer which correctly has a RPM level of 8′ooo.
What will this car sell for?
Well the last time a Carrera Speedster got sold, it fetched $1.48m at Pebble Beach with Gooding in 2013 (see here). For more on the car above please click here.
(Main picture credit – Sports Car Digest. For readers interesting in learning more about the Porsche 356 series we highly recommend the book by Dirk Michael Conradt ‘Porsche 356: Driving in its purest Form’)
