Oldest surviving Porsche prototype to be auctioned off

[True Dough]

Take a gander at this baby:

Possibly the most significant Porsche sports car ever built, a 1939 race car known as the Type 64, built for the Berlin-Rome race, is set to go up for auction this August.

Before the Second World War, while Ferdinand Porsche was tasked by the Nazis with building an economical “people’s car,” his son, “Ferry” Porsche, took it upon himself to design a race car Germany could use in competition.

What he came up with was the Type 64, an aluminum-bodied sports car utilizing aircraft engineering and aerodynamics, but based on the KdF-Wagen, the prototype car that would become the Beetle.

Powering the Type 64 was the same flat-four found in the KdF-Wagen, but with compression bumped up so it could make 32 horsepower; and with the rear axle ratios changed to allow for a top speed of 173.5 km/h.

https://driving.ca/porsche/auto-news/news/oldest-surviving-porsche-prototype-from-1939-set-to-be-auctioned-off

[democratisphere]

1. Wonder if the bidding will reach the $14,000,000.00 price of

Steve McQueen's Porsche 917K in 2017.

[House of Roberts]

2. I would expect the factory to bid on it for the museum.

I'll have to get out my copy of Ludvigsen's and re-read what was known about it when that was published.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

3. Mama likes!

[ProudLib72]

4. 32 horsepower!?!?!

Surely that's at the flywheel and not at the rear wheels.

[BootinUp]

6. But it still got up to 107 mph. Impressive for

The hp number.

[ProudLib72]

7. Well, I put it down to aerodynamics gleaned from the aircraft industry

It's very interesting that they could make a fast car with very little power way back then simply by studiously sculpting it into aerodynamic shape. We left that behind when we figured out how to manufacture powerful engines. Think of what it might mean to focus on aerodynamics again. We could certainly get along with cars that only produce 60-70 hp. The Prius makes 121 hp. Halve that engine, focus on aerodynamics and a lightweight body, and all of a sudden you have a car that gets over 100 mpg.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

5. Looks like a Beetle in need of a nose job.

Or, a Beetle that told way too many lies.........

[Hotler]

8. Speaking of Porsche.....

the beautiful sound of a flat-12 at full song. The beginning minute and a half and the last minute and a half are the best.
https://www.topspeed.com/cars/car-news/porsche-917-gets-ready-for-rennsport-reunion-video-ar171286/pictures.html#648315

From the 1939 type 64 to the 917

[True Dough]

9. Beautiful sound, indeed!

I don't find the aesthetics pleasing though. Those headlights remind me of...