For 1:43 models I try (really hard) to stick to Porsche race cars. I have a quest to fulfill (at least one model of every type of Porsche race car), and I need to stay on track to do it. But sometimes an exception comes along that you can’t ignore. And that exception this time took the form of the Typ 356/1, the Urporsche, the Gmünd jewel, the one that started it all, Ferry Porsche’s first car.
This car, as you can clearly see, is the prototype of what became the 356. Its aluminum shape was designed by Porsche employee Erwin Komenda, who also designed the 901 (first gen 911), 550 Spyder, and the 904. Running gear came from the Beetle, in the form of a mid-mounted 1,131 cc flat-4 making all of 40hp.
This car doesn’t see the light of day very often, living out its old age at the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, but, amazingly, it was in the US this year, stopping at both Pebble Beach and Rennsport Reunion, where Enginerrrrrrrrrrrrrrr was able to snag a few photos of it.
(Both photos above are from Enginerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr’s Rennsport Photodump over on Oppo.)
It even saw some track time there, with none other than Wolfgang Porsche, Ferry’s youngest son, behind the wheel. Insane.
The model is a Minichamps 1:43. Excellent details and proportions, as always, and I got it for a great deal on ebay mounted on its plinth, but sans outer cover.
I’ll have to take some better shots soon, but I felt like I had to share it on Teutonic Tuesday!