Porsche 356 chassis #10713 was completed on the 3rd July 1951 and is one of the first thousand cars made by the Porsche company. Today these earliest of Porsches are revered not solely for their historical significance but also for their beauty, engineering and craftsmanship.

The car was delivered via the Belgian dealer D’Ieteren in Brussels and was specified with the more powerful 1300cc Type 506 engine option. After spending much of its life in the US, the car was returned to Europe towards the end of the 90s. It resided for several years with a famous German museum and then entered one of Europe’s best Porsche collections. The current owners have spent the last 8 years restoring it.

Only recently completed, the car has been returned to its factory specification and colour scheme. The metal work was done by 356 experts Nostalgicar of Neuss, Germany, and authentic nitro-cellulose paint was completed by Beerten in The Netherlands. The engine and gearbox were overhauled by the current owners’ own mechanics. The car was trimmed and built up by the Porsche Classic facility at Porsche Gelderland in The Netherlands and was finished to the highest standards in 2020.

The car has completed only shakedown mileage since the restoration was completed and is in unmarked and fully operational condition.

The very first examples of the Porsche 356 are widely regarded as one of the 20th century’s most beautiful examples of industrial design. An organic shape that is perfectly resolved no matter which angle you view it from. Distinguished from the more common later cars by their split windscreens and body contoured bumpers, they have a purity of form that is uncorrupted from the designer’s original vision.

However, it is the historical significance of this car that draws us in. The defining feature of Porsche’s design has always been its evolutionary nature and you can see echoes of this car in much of what the company produced after it. That surely makes it a truly historical artefact, as well as a thing of rare beauty.

Please note this car is currently residing in Holland.