Porsche 356 A 1600 Speedster

The vehicle in detail

As the saying goes, a car is only original once, and it’s this special car’s overwhelming originality that makes this Porsche 356 A 1600 Speedster stand out from the crowd. Never restored over the course of the past seven decades, the level of originality and preservation of this landmark Porsche sportscar is truly incredible, a testament to all of its prior owners.

Delivered new via Max Hoffman’s famed New York City distributorship, chassis number 83554 was completed by Porsche in July 1957 and originally finished in Rubinrot (Ruby Red), with U.S. bumpers, sealed beam headlamps, and instruments in English, according to a copy of its original Kardex.

While not much is known about the car’s early life in the United States, a previous title from the state of Oklahoma is on file, showing that it was owned by Ms. Anne Brackett of Tulsa as of May 1984, when the odometer was noted as reading 92,000 miles. The car remained with the Brackett family until 2011, when it was purchased by Dirk Layer of Solvang, California. Under his ownership, the car was invited to the 2011 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance to compete within the Postwar Preservation class, and the car also completed the Tour d’Elegance. Mr. Layer later sold the car to a German enthusiast, who repatriated the 356 to its native Germany, where it was acquired by the father of the current owner in 2015.