Lot details
Registration No: YSU 660
Chassis No: 113711
Mot Expiry: Oct 2011

Though few would have realised it at the time, the 1948 launch of the Porsche 356 was a significant milestone in automotive history. It marked the commercial birth of what has become one of the world's greatest car manufacturers; a company that has many times won Le Mans on Sunday and inspired the rich of the road on Monday. Its achievements are unique. The 356 was a collaboration between `Ferry' Porsche, the son of the company's founder, and its chief body engineer Erwin Komenda. The first examples of the 356 were handcrafted from aluminium in Gmund, Austria. And, with parts in short supply following the war, the model initially employed the engine, transmission and suspension from the Volkswagen Beetle (the car famously designed by Porsche Senior). However, within two years the car had been considerably re-engineered and was less reliant on stock Volkswagen parts, while production had moved to Zuffenhausen in Germany. The bodies were now made of steel. The development of the 356 was charted by the suffixes A, B and C and, by the time production ceased in 1965, the cars had evolved in every respect - eg the last of the line were powered entirely by Porsche-designed engines. The total production run was 76,313 units.

The Porsche being sold is a 1960 356B Coupe finished in red with black leather/vinyl interior. A right-hand drive car supplied new to South Africa, the 2+2 seater was formerly owned by the racing driver and collector Nick Shrigley-Feigl who brought it to the UK in about 1991 - the vendor has the original South African registration number and import documents. Thereafter it passed to a Birmingham garage owner, who restored it for his wife. Some 600 hours are understood to have been lavished on the Porsche between 1993 and 2000; a refurbishment valued at £30,000 plus and for which there are £4,000 worth of receipts for parts. The work included a bare metal respray, prior to which very little welding was apparently required. Sadly, the wife died before the restoration was complete and the 356B was subsequently stored until the vendor purchased it in 2008. Since then it has been tended by marque specialist Francis Tuthill and reportedly provided its owner with enjoyable, trouble-free service. He has spent £2,500 installing a new clutch, brakes, dampers, tyres, and seat belts etc. He tells us the car currently "drives superbly with no known issues" and he's "heartbroken" to be selling it - a move resulting from his recent emigration to Australia.