Now this is a rare car

[MHKflyer52]

Well a friend of mine whom I will not identify as he wants to stay low-key and inconspicuous but he is quite the craftsman and he has been lent this Porsche Spyder 1500 RS Serial Number 0088 one of 90 ever built and one of maybe 12 left in existence if even that many so that he can verify the wooden bucks that he has made to make the body parts.

My friend is working on reproducing an exact replica of this car and parts for them. He are some photos that he let me take from inside his shop. The wooden bucks that he has made are just incredible.

Edited July 12, 2009 by MHKflyer52
I incorectly identified the car as a Speedster when it is a Spyder.

[slngsht]

Moving it to OT, but damn, what an incredible car, and the wood bucks look absolutely amazing.

[lowflyer]

I think the car is actually a Porsche 550RS, otherwise known as a 550 Spyder.

 

The Speedster was a rear engined car, not a mid-engine car like this. Also the Spyder came with a twin overhead cam engine, the last of which was the 1500 cc version. All but the super rare Carrera (which used this engine) came with a pushrod 1500 cc engine and later a 1600 cc pushrod.

 

Sadly, the car pictured is powered by a VW engine and transaxle.

 

You are right about the rarity, the last one I saw sold at Barrett-Jackson about 8 or 9 years ago for something around $600K. And I believe the production of 90 is about right too.

 

These are reproduced by several kit car manufacturers, probably the most famous was Beck, which is now Thunder Roadsters.

 

Beautiful work.

[MHKflyer52]

Lowflyer you’re very correct about it being a Porsche Spyder I did not read what I had typed in my original post. You are also correct about the engine as the four cam engine is being overhauled and this is what the owner stuck into the car so that he can drive it when he wants. I don't know about the trans axle as I did not ask but I do not think any of the early VW transaxles have a breather in that location but who knows. This car is driven regularly on the streets around the area where I live and that really amasses me as it is rolling history. The owner has said that he knows of 5 other originals that are here in the Southern California area which I also fine very interesting.

[lowflyer]

The transmission could very well be Porsche, since there wasn't much difference between the two back in the '50's. The breather shown is an added piece since the stock one is just a small metal tube. The biggest difference was inside since there were lots of choices of gearing for the Porsche boxes.

 

What makes me think that it's VW, and I could easily be wrong, is the axle boots which are a later style split type which allows them to be installed without pulling the axle tube. You can make out the small nuts/bolts holding the boot together.

 

Once he's done, he may or may not want to drive it on the street, since it will be so valuable.

 

Sadly, I passed on a Porsche RS60 Spyder which was offered to me for $1500 back in the mid-60's. The engine had been blown up and it had some body damage, therefore, it was "too expensive" for me! Another one that got away.

 

I did end up with one of the 12-18 1961 Porsche S90 GT coupes that the factory built. I sold it for $1200 to a buddy, who rolled it into a small ball at the Reading Airport Road Races in Pennsylvania. It would be worth around 100K now!

Edited July 13, 2009 by lowflyer

[modernbeat]

...Sadly, the car pictured is powered by a VW engine and transaxle.

 

Not quite. That's a period Porsche engine. The easiest way to verify is to look at the valve covers. The other items like the oil filter and oil fill could potentially be adapted to a VW with minimal work, but the valve covers are hard to fake. The trans is also a Porsche unit. The mushroom vent is unique to Porsche.

 

Also, not all Spyders came with the Carrera, though I wouldn't doubt that this one is running a 356 or 912 engine.

[lowflyer]

You're right, I missed the valve covers.

 

The oil filter could have been added to a VW, but the larger valve covers are Porsche for sure.

 

Also, the oil filler is late model - more likely 1963 or later, and again Porsche.

 

Good catch!