Bonhams Quail Motorcar Auction, Los Angeles, CA, 14 August 2020
1964 Porsche 2.0L 901 Coupe
VIN: 300024
Engine: 900128
Trans: -
Color: Red/Black
Mileage: 44,260 km (indicated)
Auction Estimate: US$250,000 - 350,000/£190,000 - 270,000
Sold for: US$340,500 (including premium)
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Auction Description:
Previewing in South Carolina by appointment. Please contact gordan.mandich@bonhams.com for scheduling.
- 1,991 SOHC Flat 6-Cylinder Engine
- 2 Solex Carburetors
- 170bhp at 7,100rpm (see text)
- 5-Speed Manual Racing Transaxle (see text)
- 4-Wheel Independent Suspension
- 4-Wheel Disc Brakes
* The 25th 901 built and 7th oldest surviving example
* Actively raced since new—first 911 to be tracked
* Competitive entrant in numerous desirable race events worldwide
* The very beginning of the legend that is the Porsche 911
Previewing in Greenville, South Carolina by appointment.
THE MOTORCAR OFFERED
The 901 prototype would be introduced at the September 1963 Frankfurt Motor Show, though it would be towards the end of 1964 before Porsche was ready to put the new model into production at Zuffenhausen. The release of the production car at the 1964 Paris Auto Salon in October prompted an objection from Peugeot as to the name of the car, asserting its ownership of the naming rights of vehicles identified by three digits with a zero in the middle. In advance of the show, from September 14 to November 16 of 1964, Porsche had already begun producing the 901 with 82 examples rolling off the line before the name was officially changed to the now iconic 911 designation.
This 901 is one of the earliest surviving examples of what has since become Porsche's most iconic model. On October 6, 1964, chassis 300024 rolled off the assembly line, the 25th 901 to be assembled and the second one built on that day (300027 preceded it in production). According to the Kardex, a copy of which is on file, it was finished in Signal Red over black leatherette with pepita inserts and fitted with an optional Blaupunkt Stuttgart-type radio, speaker, and antenna. On November 23rd it was invoiced and delivered to its first owner, the Swedish Porsche distributor AB Scania-Vabis of Södertälje, Sweden. A photo on file shows a Mr. Lennart Öjesten collecting the 901 from a sea of new 356s for AB Scania-Vabis from the Stuttgart factory. Interestingly, the car was in Berlin for service the next day at Fa. Eduard Winter with no mileage recorded in the ledger. By January the car was in Sweden and recorded as having been certified by AB Scania-Vabis and serviced by them the next day on January 14th, 1965 with 6,980km indicated. Likely a dealer demonstrator (as none of the 901s were originally intended to be sold directly to consumers), it appears the car was likely collected in Berlin and driven up to and around Sweden for six weeks before the usual dealer checks.
The Porsche remained with AB Scania-Vabis being actively used to promote the new 911 model. Four subsequent service records indicated on the Kardex reveal that by the end of September 1965 an enthusiastic 22,864 kilometers had been covered. A copy of an invoice indicates the 901 was sold on October 12, 1965 to Stockholm dealership group Kaiser Bil AB/Kaiser Car Stockholm. Kaiser was an active participant in motorsport having raced a 356 Carrera in the 1950s and the only 550 Spyder to have come to Sweden, so it goes without saying Kaiser was quick to get the new 901 (now called a 911) on the track. A copy of the December 1965 FIA Passport details the early efforts to race this car, the first 911 see active track time. From this second dealer, the car was acquired in 1967 by fellow Swede Bo Strandell. A dedicated racer, Le Mans privateer, and Porsche dealer, Strandell would continue racing the car. In 1967 it was crashed while racing with damage to the front nose, which was then replaced with a 1965 911 front clip. Raced by Bo throughout Sweden and later the UK until the late 1970s, 300024 was then acquired by Josh Sadler. Sadler, a Porsche specialist who started the shop noted Porsche restoration shop Autofarm also would help instigate the start of a successful production Porsche racing series—the Porsche Club GB Championship—in which this 901 would participate. Over the course of its life as a racer, the car was crashed backwards at Snetterton in the 1984. After this incident, the car was laid up for the next fifteen years.
In 1999 the Porsche was acquired by Adam Richardson, also of the UK. Acquired as a project with evidence of past repairs, the original chassis numbering and engine were present but past racing shunts had left the chassis and body beyond in rough shape. Porsche specialist Bruce Cooper of Sportwagen in Essex was entrusted with properly rebuilding the car. A donor chassis was sourced and surgically refitted but with care taken to ensure the original chassis stampings were retained while the bodywork was commensurately replaced with panels from another car.
This Porsche was the first 901/911 to be accepted to the Goodwood Revival shortly after it was completed. Richardson applied for and received a FIA Historic Technical Passport from the Motor Sports Association (MSA) of the United Kingdom in 2007. Besides racing at Goodwood, the Porsche also made appearances at the Classic Le Mans race two times—winning its class in 2012. In 2013 the original engine was rebuilt by Buckinghamshire, UK based specialist Neil Bainbridge at dyno tested with a peak output of a whopping 170.6hp at 7,100rpm and 141.5 lb-ft of torque at 5,700rpm with power going through a correct-type racing gearbox (the original still exists but is not presently accompanying the car).
The current owner acquired the car two years ago. Quickly entered and accepted to the Rennsport Reunion VI in Laguna Seca in September 2018, it was chosen by Porsche to win the prestigious Eifel Trophy for the best car among a group that included numerous other deserving machines such as 911Rs, 911 T/Rs, 911 S/Ts, and 914/6 GTs. Most recently it was presented at the 2020 Amelia Island Concours In the present ownership it has been regularly maintained by the experts at Vintage Racing Co. in Cumming, Georgia with recent work including adjusting the valves and Solex carburetors, cam timing maintenance, fluid changes, and general set up work.
Complete with its original numbers matching engine, this Porsche is the 7th oldest 901/911 in existence and the first one to hit the racetrack—let alone do so continuously for the ensuing 56 years. Documented by a copy of its original Kardex, its Porsche Certificate of Authenticity, contemporary letters of provenance from Porsche Cars Great Britain, copies of its 1965 FIA Passport and 2007 MSA Historic Technical Passport, copies of dyno sheets and technical specs from Bainbridge's shop and more—this spectacularly early Porsche 901 would be a welcome and competitive entry at a number of racing events around the world from the Monterey Motorsports Reunion and Rennsport Reunion to the Le Mans Classic, Goodwood Revival, and Tour Auto. Plus, no matter which event you enter, you are guaranteed to have the oldest 911 on the track.
Footnotes
This Porsche is sold on a Bill of Sale.
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