The Porsche marque was founded in 1948 "celebrating its 50th anniversary this year" and the first sports racing spyder bearing the name appeared in 1950. It was, however, a private initiative, launched by Walter Glockler, the VW dealer in Frankfurt. The first works Porsche appeared at Le Mans in 1951, paving the way for the 550, the 1500 RSK and the RS series. Beautifully engineered, very light, with an excellent power-to-weight ratio, and generally extremely reliable, they were immensely successful. Not only were they regular class winners in races like the 1000 Miglia, the 1000 Km of the Nurburgring, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Carrera Panamericana, they even managed to defeat such powerful teams as Ferrari and Maserati overall, as when Umberto Maglioli won the Targa Florio in 1956 and when Barth/Seidel won the same race in 1959.

The Porsche engines had first been a tuned version of the 1100-cc VW units. In 1954, a new power plant was introduced. The work of Dr. Ernst Fuhrmann, it was an air-cooled flat four of 1498cc, with twin overhead camshafts and two plugs per cylinder. When it first ran, it developed 110 horsepower. Over the years, its capacity was increased in steps to 1996 cc, as would be tried on an RS61 and later fitted to the 904, with an output reaching 180 horsepower.

The RS61 model, basically similar to the RS60 but with a refined suspension design, was for the first time fitted with a 2-liter version of the flat four which appeared at the 1961 Targa Florio. This would be the ultimate development for this marvelous piece of engineering which, by now, had reached its limits and would be replaced by new six- and eight-cylinder units.

Since the early days, it had been a custom at Porsche to build a small series of racing cars for private clients (remember James Dean). The RS60 and 61 were no exceptions. Of the less than 30 spyders that are believed to have been assembled, 718077, which is shown here, is the last example produced. It was delivered new in Canada. It is said to have come into Switzerland in 1963 and was displayed for many years in a well-known museum. It retains its 5-speed gearbox, with a ZF limited-slip differential and is presently fitted with a 904 2-liter engine of the same construction as the original 1600-cc unit. The car appears to be in good condition, as if history had stopped after a race in the early ’60s. It has not been restored and not been used for many years.

This 1961 Porsche RS61 Spyder Review and Buyer's Guide appeared in the August, 1998 Issue of Sports Car Market Magazine.