Porsche – There Is No Substitute
How Much Would You Pay for the Oldest Porsche You Can Find
If you have some extra cash laying around, you might want to consider buying the oldest surviving Porsche. However, you’ll need a lot to compete — as much as $20 million.
In a recent RM Sotheby’s press release, the auction house announced the sale of “the oldest-surviving Porsche.” In fact, according to the release, “it’s so old, it actually predates the company by nearly a decade.” As you might guess, this isn’t just any old relic of a vehicle. This one is expected to go for around $20 million at an auction in August.
But it isn’t just because the car is super old. The Type 64 was designed by Ferdinand Porsche specifically for a 1500-kilometer race to promote Germany’s autobahn. The race was planned for September 1939 between Berlin and Rome. The design was based on the Volkswagen Beetle but was different with “a riveted alloy body utilize WWII aircraft technology, while the original air-cooled flat-four engine was tuned to 32 bhp.”
Because of Nazi Germany’s invasion of Poland, the race never took place, and the project was canceled, except for the sole car that was built and became the property of the German government. Ferdinand’s son Ferry built two more versions of the Type 64 -chassis #2 and chassis #3, with #3 being the only one to survive the war.
It’s Type 64 #3 that is the multi-million-dollar car up for auction at RM Sotheby’s in August. According to the release, it’s entirely original, and for your $20 mil, you also get a bunch of spare parts in the deal.
“Without the Type 64, there would be no Porsche 356, no 550, no 911,” says Marcus Görig, Car Specialist, RM Sotheby’s in the press release. “This is Porsche’s origin story, the car that birthed the company’s legend, and it offers collectors what is likely an unrepeatable opportunity to sit in the seat of Ferdinand and Ferry Porsche. With this car, the new owner will not only be invited to the first row of every Porsche event worldwide – they will be the first row!”
Not sure it’s worth $20 million? According to Andy Prill, a marque specialist who recently inspected the Type 64, “I’ve seen countless special Porsches in my career, but nothing like this. I was very careful in examining the authenticity of the Type 64, no. 3 and its chassis,” Prill said. “After spending many days with the car, I have found evidence that all key components of the cars are original as built in 1939/1940. This is the most historically significant of all Porsche cars and it is simply incredible to find the very first Porsche in this original condition.”
While $20 million seems like it would be far and above the highest price ever paid for a Porsche, there was one sold that was almost as expensive. In 2018, the 1970 Porsche 917K used in the Steve McQueen’s racing film Le Mans went for $14 million. However, there’s no doubt that the Type 64 #3 will break records, simply because of its history, it’s the only one left of its kind, and it’s the oldest Porsche left.
