Subject of a follow-up restoration commissioned by its exacting new owners to address imperfections as well as to prepare the car for Goodwood Revival, with more than 400 hours of labor invoiced by Prill Porsche Classics alone – Successfully raced in the Stirling Moss Memorial Trophy at Goodwood Revival in 2021 and 2024 – Accompanied by a pushrod race engine prepared by Prill Porsche Classics – Additionally accompanied by its Porsche Zertifikat and a digital copy of its factory Kardex warranty card – FIA Historic Technical Passport certification applied for and expected to be issued imminently, which would make it eligible for all global blue riband race events, including Le Mans Classic – U.K. road registered with a V5C registration document and license plate “95 HOT”
Chassis No. 115378
Engine No. P95112
Few engines can be credited with establishing a marque’s racing reputation the way the Fuhrmann four-cam engine put Porsche on the map in international sports car racing. The ingenious design by Dr. Ernst Fuhrmann paved the way from the long-running, Volkswagen-based four-cylinder pushrod engine towards an all-conquering, Le Mans-winning racing engine. First utilized in the fabled aluminum-bodied 550 Spyder, the Type 547 engine and its derivatives were characterized by two overhead camshafts per cylinder bank which were controlled via vertical shafts with angular gears. The new design produced an impressive 110 horsepower in its first iteration, powering the 550 Spyder to a one-two finish in the 1,500-cc class at the 1953 24 Hours of Le Mans, followed by a class win at the Carrera Panamericana later that year.
Dubbed the “Giant Killer,” the spectacular 550 Spyder had proven the Type 547 engine to be a mechanical masterpiece, so much so that Ferry Porsche was convinced to begin offering it in Porsche road cars. The 356 A was the first standard road-going Porsche to offer the four-cam engine as an option, bearing the prestigious “Carrera” lettering on its engine lid and front fenders, paying homage to the marque’s class victory at the final Carrera Panamericana race in 1954. Over the next several years, the Carrera nameplate would come to signify the most expensive and sporting production models to hail from Zuffenhausen, with a small number of these cars being prepared by the factory for racing.
In 1960 and 1961—after an initial run of T2 356 A competition Coupes, Cabriolets, and Speedsters—Porsche produced just 40 of these special 356 Bs with lightweight T5 bodies built by Reutter and bearing the now famous moniker “Carrera GT,” designed specifically for privateer racing teams. Among them was chassis number 115378, one of only three 356 B Carrera GTs manufactured in right-hand drive and believed to be the only one still in existence.
Completed on 23 March 1961, it featured extensive modifications over the standard road cars, including aluminum doors, engine lid, and hood, Plexiglas side windows, modified suspension, larger front brakes, twin front oil coolers, and distinctive aluminum-rimmed wheels with steel centers. The magnificent four-cam engine, evolved to its Type 692/3A 1,600-cc specification, delivered 135 horsepower.
The car was initially sold through Hong Kong importer Jebsen & Co to David Luk, though he is thought to have been a proxy buyer for Macau casino owner Teddy Yip, a prominent entrepreneur known as the “Grand Old Man of Macau.” Yip’s business empire encompassed casinos, hotels, hydrofoils, and in the 1970s, his own Formula One team, Theodore Racing. Naturally, the car made its competition debut at the November 1961 Macau Grand Prix on the Circuito da Guia street circuit, where Heinz Gosslar, an employee of the local Jebsen Porsche franchise, drove it to 3rd place wearing race number 16. Following its Macau debut, the car was purchased by Dr. Henry Lee, a Hong Kong-based friend and driving partner of Teddy Yip. Dr. Lee owned the car for four years and raced it in several local competitions before selling it in 1965. At that time, the car still retained its original Carrera engine; however, a digital copy of the car’s factory Kardex warranty card indicates that Jebsen installed a 1,600-cc 356 SC pushrod engine in July 1965, likely at the behest of its new owner.
Hong Kong registration records reportedly document that chassis 115378 changed hands several times during the mid-1980s before ultimately landing with Mr. Yeung Wai Kim, the owner of a small air-conditioning business. By this point, the rare Carrera existed in non-running, stripped condition. In 1993, when visiting the Jebsen Porsche dealership in Hong Kong, the future owner was told about some interesting old Porsches being stored in a backstreet repair shop. Upon investigating, he discovered 115378 beneath a pile of cardboard boxes, noticing that one of the wheels sitting on the back seat was a distinctive riveted alloy rim exclusive to Porsche’s factory race cars.
Despite being separated from its Carrera engine decades earlier and having been converted into a cabriolet, numerous telltale signs indicated that the Porsche was something truly special. After confirming its identity with Porsche in Germany as a genuine Carrera GT Coupe, he purchased the car and arranged for its transportation to his home in Austria. A comprehensive restoration began several years later in 2004 with Carrozzeria Tiziano Serratini of Bologna, Italy, who spent five years restoring the body to its original Coupe configuration—retaining much of its original internal structure, aluminum doors, and bonnet. Arno Reinbacher of Oldtimergarage in Austria completed the final restoration by 2016, returning the car to its exact Macau Grand Prix appearance in its original Silbermetallic (Silver Metallic) finish and Kunstleder Schwarz (Black leatherette) interior.
Crucially, this work also included sourcing a Type 692/3 four-cam engine which was entrusted to Karl Hloch, regarded as the world’s foremost Porsche four-cam engine specialist, to make proper 692/3A specification upgrades. These included Solex 44 carburetors, larger main bearings, higher-lift cams, and external camshaft flywheels. The car changed hands again in 2020, prompting further race preparation and refinement of the prior restoration work by specialists Prill Porsche Classics. This work also included sourcing and installation of correct bumpers, carried out by renowned restorers Sportwagen.
These efforts included supplying, building, and installing a secondary pushrod race engine for competition use. In this configuration, the Carrera GT competed in the Kinrara Trophy at the 2021 Goodwood Revival, as well as the Stirling Moss Memorial Trophy in 2021 and 2024. In total, the current owners reportedly invested over £100,000 in the additional restoration work and race preparation for these events that was carried out over a period of approximately one year. In preparation for the sale, the correct four-cam engine was re-installed in the car; however, the pushrod competition engine is also included in the sale should the next owner wish to safeguard the valuable four-cam engine. Likewise, the racing seats, steering wheel and other changes are all very easily reversible, as the original race seats, steering wheel and tachometer have naturally been kept and can easily be re-installed. The engine is currently mated to the correct Type 741 gearbox equipped in the car when it was discovered in Hong Kong, although it is not stamped.
Now wearing its correct Silbermetallic finish with race number 95 in white roundels, Carrera GT chassis number 115378 offers a thrilling driving experience thanks to its race-bred engine and lightweight components. Additionally, its application for an FIA Historic Technical Passport certification has been submitted and is expected to be issued imminently, which would make it eligible to all global blue riband race events, including Le Mans Classic. With its documented period competition history, exceptional rarity, and meticulous restoration, this Carrera GT is ideally suited to grace the world’s most exclusive concours d’elegance and Porsche gatherings, where it would surely receive a warm welcome. Currently U.K. road registered with V5C documentation and bearing the license plate “95 HOT,” this magnificent Carrera represents an opportunity to own one of the most authentic examples of Porsche’s iconic early racing heritage—an opportunity that should not be missed.
1953 
