1939 Porsche Type 64

The early automotive career of Prof. Dr. Ferdinand Porsche included work with Austro-Daimler and Mercedes-Benz before engineering the interwar era's rear-engine creations, including the Auto Union race cars and the Volkswagen Type 1 Beetle. In September of 1938, while working as a consultant for the state-run Volkswagen, Prof. Dr. Porsche proposed a sports car version of the Beetle, then known as the KdF-Wagen. Porsche design drawings included room for three different displacements, with the engine placed in a mid/rear position within the car, just ahead of the rear axle. Porsche's sports car, dubbed the Type 114, was rejected by the Deutsche Arbeitsfront board, and the idea was placed on a back burner.

Several versions of the KdF had been built, including the military-grade Kübelwagen and Schwimmwagen. Porsche was commissioned once again, this time to design a similar solution that would address the Beetle's poorly performing narrow tires. The proposed sports car was to be the tenth different body design fitted to the KdF's Type 60 chassis. Thus, it received the Type 60K10 designation, though Porsche internally classified the project as the Type 64.

Erwin Komenda was a designer who would contribute to the design of the bodies for the Beetle and later, various Porsche sports cars. Under Komenda's supervision, Karl Froelich drafted formal plans that were then developed into a wooden scale model. The design was sent to the Stuttgart University where it was wind-tunnel tested by Josef Mickl.

The Type 64 was the design precursor to the post-war production model. The profile for the Type 115 and Type 64 are similar and recognizable as the basis of the Gmünd 356 coupe that followed in the post-War era. Both drawings, however, remained design ideas until the announcement in the spring of 1939 of a 940-mile road race from Berlin to Rome.

Dr. Porsche was received an order from the National Socialist Motor Corps (NSKK) to produce three Sport KdF-Wagen examples to contest the race.

Work began on the Type 64, using many mechanical sourced from the 38 prototype series. Although not known for sure, it is believed the Reutter Karosserie provided the alloy coachwork. Design features included a split windshield, sliding-door windows, a dual spare-wheel compartment under the front trunk lid, and wheels spats over all four wheels. Inside there was a narrow two-seat cockpit that was positioned ahead of the 985cc Volkswagen engine.

The chassis used the KdF-Wagen's basic layout of a steel-pressed back, then further modified by using rectangular tubular frames made of aircraft-gauge duralumin. A floor pan and underbody comprised of lightweight alloy was welded to these frames. The lightweight was then fastened to the outer skin using rivets.

The engine was fitted with dual Solex carburetors, higher compression, and larger valves, helping to produce upwards of 40 horsepower, which was nearly double the standard factory output.

The first example was completed by August of 1939, just a month before the outbreak of World War II. The first completed Type 64, chassis number 38/41, was appropriated by Dr. Bodo Lafferentz, the head of the German Labour Front. Unfortunately, he was involved in an accident with the car a short time later. Despite the race's cancellation, Ferry Porsche insisted on building the other two vehicles, primarily for testing and experimentation purposes. Three months later, the second of the proposed three examples was complete. Near the end of the war, this car was commandeered by members of the U.S. Seventh Army's 'Rainbow' division, who cut off the roof and drove it as a cabriolet until its engine blew. It was then abandoned and left as scrap.

The third body was completed in June of 1940 but was not fitted onto a chassis. After Lafferentz's accident in the first car, 38/41 was repaired at Porsche and may have received the third body. Either way, 38/41 was repaired and remains at the only remaining example of the three planned cars.

by Dan Vaughan

Coupe
Chassis number: 38/41
Engine number: 38/43

Prof. Dr. Ferdinand Porsche used this Type 64, chassis number 38/41, during the war as he traveled around Germany where he was often chauffeured by his driver, Josef Goldinger. When Dr. Porsche's workshop was moved to Gmünd, Austria to avoid the Allied bombing campaign, the Type 64 moved with it.

After World War II, Prof. Dr. Ferdinand Porsche was imprisoned by French authorities and his son, Ferrary Porsche, assumed control of the company and the use of the Type 64. In 1949, Porsche sold the Type 64 to a well-known Austrian private racing driver and lubricant producer named Otto Mathe. An accident in 1934 left Mr. Mathe without the use of his right arm. To accommodate shifting the Type 64 with his left hand, the privateer converted the Porsche to right-hand drive. The engine's displacement was also increased to allow him to race in the 1,100cc class. Additional modifications and tuning followed, including the replacement of the Volkswagen-based cable-braking components with a hydraulic system sourced from a Fiat.

The car was raced in 1949 in a two-day rally of 800 miles called the Austrian Alpenfahrt. The car retired early but returned the following year where it won its class. Mathe returned in 1951 but was less successful, prompting him to install a 1.3-liter engine in 1952. The larger engine led to several impressive finished during the 1952 season, including the Strassenrennen and the Gmündner-Berg-Rennen. During the 1952 season, Mathe earned 22 victories.

From 1953, Mathe turned his attention to a Carrera-powered special called the Fetzenflieger. The Type 64 received some restoration work before being put on display in Mathe's personal museum at Innsbruck. Over the years, the Porsche Company attempted to buy back the Type 64 for heritage purposes, but Mathe never sold the car. It would remain in his ownership for over four decades. In 1983 it was brought to Monterey for exhibition at Pebble Beach and a run with the Porsche Parade at Laguna Seca.

Mathe passed away in 1995, and after two years of estate settlement, the car passed into the care of its second private owner, Dr. Thomas Gruber of Vienna. Dr. Gruber commissioned a sympathetic restoration that stressed originality, and the aged finish was gently preserved with all its shades of original silver accented with hues of blue and green patina. With the work complete and the mechanicals refreshed, the car participated in the Austrian Ennstal Classic in 1999 and 2001, the Kaiserstrasse and Kottingbrunn rallies in 1999, and the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 1998 and 2003.

The current German owner acquired the car in 2008. In August of 2019, the car was brought to auction in Monterey, California where it achieved a high bid - albeit with some controversy - for $17 million, which was not enough to satisfy the car's reserve. It was left unsold.

by Dan Vaughan