MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA (July 28, 2009) – Russo and Steele’s much anticipated 9th Annual ‘Sports & Muscle at the Marriott’ auction event is held this August 13th -15th, 2009 at the Marriott Hotel in historic downtown Monterey. Its reputation for providing unparalleled quality automobiles is represented in this absolutely one-off example of a 1961 Carrera 2 Cabriolet that began its life as the personal car for none other than ‘der Chef’, Ferdinand ‘Ferry’ Porsche.
This unusual 356 started out as a 1961 production cabriolet, serial #154626, engine #93021, and transmission #300/1; it was delivered to Dr. Porsche on March 10, 1961. He owned the car for almost four years. Its unique heritage has been well documented through Porsche certificate of authenticity and Porsche factory letters that assist in establishing the automobiles authenticity.
Restored just over 15 years ago this unique automobile still features many of docs personal design changes such the first Carrera II 4-cam engine type 587/1 #97001 was installed at his request (so he would not get passed on the autobahn according to records), non-standard locations of many instrument panel switches and controls, an under dash ashtray on the passenger side, leather seats with houndstooth inserts, a special 7-relay fuse block and much more.
Additionally, this rare 356 Cabriolet has been featured by the media in a variety of publications: prominently in the well-known book published by Sports Car Market magazine’s Keith Martin “On Collecting Porsche” in the first few pages, in Excellence Magazine, the 356 Registry, and in European Car Magazine. A magnificent piece of history and truly one-off in every sense of the word, not only does this car’s celebrity provenance speak volumes about its history, but its prototype mechanical, bodywork and interior features, though odd, do nothing but confirm its top-tier collectible status.