1957 Porsche 356A Carrera GS -

Description for Porsche 356 1957

957 Porsche 356A/1500 Carrera GS/GT Reutter CoupéYear 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 Hülpert & Co., Dortmund, Germany Original Owner Kurt Röttger, Hagen, Germany Kurt...Röttger GmbH & Co. KG Automobiles, Iserlohn, GermanyCurrent Mileage 21,619 Kilometers / 13,434 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 WheelsThis is one of just 141 356A/1500 Carrera GS or Carrera GS/GT Reutter Coupés 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 Hülpert & 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 Röttger of Hagen, Germany. The vehicle was completed on May 2nd, 1957 and less than a month later on May 25th, 1957 Mr. Röttger was granted an official Porsche dealership of his own in Hagen, Germany.Mr. Röttger's dealership was formally named, Kurt Röttger 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 Röttger 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 an original alloy “GT” rear deck-lid. An original “Sebring Singer” exhaust system originally used on “Winter Rally” and “Ice-Racing” 356 Carrera's was sourced and also installed.In January of 2017, this Porsche was brought to our attention and over the next 14 months we negotiated its eventual purchase. It was formally imported in March of 2018 at which time we began extensive services, repairs and safety checks that included the removal of the engine for a complete reseal and full services. A new clutch was also installed and the suspension and brakes rebuilt. Numerous other repairs and services were performed and this vehicle is now ready for any manner of road or track use as her next owner sees fit.Known Chronological History:April 1957 Gearbox co