1957 Porsche 356A Carrera GS Reutter Coupé

1957 Porsche 356A/1500 Carrera GS/GT Reutter Coupé

• 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 Hülpert & Co., Dortmund, Germany
• Original Owner Kurt Röttger, Hagen, Germany
• Kurt Röttger 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 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.

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 completed and fitted with special gear ratios “B A A A.”
May 2nd 1957 Officially recorded completion date by Porsche and sale date by official Porsche agency; Hülpert & Co., Dortmund, Germany.
Warranty initiated for new owner, Kurt Röttger of Hagen, Germany.
May 25th, 1957 Kurt Röttger is granted an official Porsche Agency initially in Hagen and later Iserlohn, Germany. The company was incorporate as Kurt Röttger GmbH & Co. KG
Automobiles. (The company remained in business for many, many years until it closed in 2003 when it was broken up after going into receivership.)
July, 1957 to June 1958 Warranty work completed by Kurt Röttger GmbH & Co. KG Automobiles.
November 2nd, 1957 Warranty officially expires.
June 6th, 1958 Final warranty work completed at Kurt Röttger GmbH & Co. KG Automobiles. (26,779 kilometers recorded at this time.)
September 22nd, 1958 Final warranty payment received, official Porsche internal records end on this date.
1958-1968 Unknown at this time but may have then been shipped to Sweden and possibly used in night races, rallies, hill climbs and ice racing.
1968/1969 A subsequent German or Scandinavian owner brought the car to the States and was driving across country and had an engine failure when motor threw a rod.
The vehicle was traded on the spot at East Side Motors on Admiral Avenue in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
It was traded for a Ford Falcon and the former owner continued on his way to California. At the time it was traded in, the car was a faded metallic green.
The interior was still the original two-tone green cloth and vinyl. Wheels were still chrome knock-offs.
It remained at East Side Motors for sometime before it was acquire by George Starch, owner of Fame Automotive an import car parts speciality store in Tulsa.
Starch had several interesting machines including a Lotus 11. He stored the car but did little with it.
Late 1968 Purchased by Starch’s friend and noted Porsche racer and enthusiast, Howard De Haven also of Tulsa, Oklahoma for $1,500. De Haven was the owner of Rennsport Werkstatt Ltd.
De Haven and his Partner, Charles W. Grimes also had a 906, 908 and an original 914/6GT that they bought new. At the time of purchase it came with two mostly complete Type 547 “Four-Cam” engines.
De Haven had the car delivered to German Motors in Tulsa where according to him he began working on evenings and weekends to disassemble the car for restoration.
It was stripped to bare metal by hand, top to bottom, front to back. In a recent letter, De Haven still recalls how incredibly rust and totally accident free the Porsche was after it was completely stripped.
De Haven restored the car returning it to the original yellow but changed the interior to black. He sent the damaged engines and parts to Jim Wellington, noted four-cam expert in California.
De Haven also sent another early four-cam engine case, believed now to be engine number P90514. De Haven believes this engine may have belonged to an engineless Carrera Speedster
that had been in Tulsa, Oklahoma. That engine originally belonged to a 1956 Carrera Speedster, s/n 80995 which was the fourth Carrera Speedster built.
January 1st, 1977 Jim Wellington rebuilt the lower end engine using engine case, s/n “P90514″ with internal number “110” and case numbers “48”.
Wellington shipped the engine back to De Haven and he brought it to Al Larger who ran Bill Randell’s Autohouse in Denver. Lager assisted with completing the engine with heads and parts provided by Vasek Polak.
De Haven removed the original chrome knock-off wheels and installed new chrome KPZ wheels and hub caps sourced by Stoddards. De Haven then fitted the knock-off wheels to his Speedster.
1978/79 Sold by De Haven 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.
1980 Purchased from the Leake Auction by French expatriate, Jon Tipenyay (sic). The new owner was a collector in the Monterey, California area that had imported several vehicles including a Ferrari 275 GTB from France.
Later Purchased by Pratt Development Corp in Costa Mesa, California possibly from one of the early Rick Cole auctions.
August 1983 Offered for sale in the classified section of the August 1983 Panorama Magazine. Described as:
“1957 356 Carrera 1500GS Coupe #100136. 4-cam, yellow/blk, 37,000 orig mi, 1000 mi since compl restoration. Very rare. $23,500.
Pratt Development Corp, 1011 Brioso Dr., Suite 104, Costa Mesa, CA 92627. 714/631-3121, 675-1791
December 1985 While still located in southern California, it was purchased by Isao “Sam” Yagi who exported and imported it to Japan.
March 1986 Imported to Japan and sold by Yagi to Mauchi Tetsuro. Tetsuro registered this Porsche on Tokyo, Japan plates “59A 6684.”
October 1990 Registered by Mr. Takano on same Tokyo, Japan plates “59A 6684.”
March 2005 Re-registered by Mr. Takano on new Tokyo, Japan plates “530 1957.”
June 2005 Sold corporately to TECNOS Co. Ltd., and issued new plates “500 6445.”
January 2007 Registration renewed by TECNOS Co. Ltd.
June 2007 Registration renewed by TECNOS Co. Ltd., company owner, Mr. Nashimura’s name added.
February 2010 Sold to Mr. Sosouri and registered on Yokohama plates “530 547.”
March 2011 Registration renewed.
February 2018 Sold corporately and issued back original registration “59A 6684.”
March 2018 Sold to Corporately on registration “530 547.”
At some time while still in Japan, this Porsche was extensively restored and updated to full “GT” specifications including the fitting of all original components as follows:

-80-liter Fuel Tank (Date Coded September 1955)
-Complete set of five “GT” steel/alloy riveted KPZ rims, all with May 1958 date codes
-GT Alloy Seats
-GT Brakes, backing plates, spacers etc…
-GT suspension / shocks / sway bar
-SEBRING Stinger Exhaust System
-Fog Lights
-Stone Guards
-Stabli Pronto Mirrors (L & R)
-Deluxe Steering Wheel / Horn Button
-Alloy rear “Louvered” deck lid.

April 2018 Purchased by Symbolic International for export and formal import to the United States. Completely serviced and safety checked, engine resealed and installed, sorted and dialed in for any manner of show, rally or race use.

The current engine in this Porsche is originally from a 1955 356 Porsche Carrera Speedster with chassis number, 80995. This was the fourth Carrera Speedster built. Here are some details on this Speedster:

VIN: 80995
(4th Carrera Speedster built)
Color: red/black
Built: ?
Delivered: 1956
Dealer: Brundage Motors, Miami FL
Owner: This car ran in the 1956 Nassau Speed Week Races held in the Bahamas in late 1956 and possibly Sebring and other Florida / SouthEast races circa 1956/1959.