Auction preview: Broad Arrow celebrates 75 years of Porsche

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Every old-car enthusiast must be aware by now that 2023 marks 75 years since Porsche's first production car, the 356, hit the roads for the first time. That, combined with another landmark anniversary, 60 years of the Porsche 911, is surely some cause for celebration. Broad Arrow seems to agree, and will be honouring the anniversary with a special Porsche sale on 10th June, with no fewer than 65 cars set to go under the hammer in America.

The venue is the Porsche Experience Center in Atlanta, Georgia, which is an interesting place to visit at any time. Needless to say, every significant Porsche model is accounted for, and there'll be a number of rare breeds and cars with special provenance, too.

We've selected some particular highlights:

1953 Porsche 356 1500 coupé - $225,000-275,000 (£180,000-220,000)

One of the earliest Porsches in the sale has been in the same family for 60 years and benefits from a recent concours-quality restoration. Leaving the factory in Azure Blue, its history begins when it was bought by the owner's father from just outside Baltimore, Maryland. He used it for commuting to his job at Bethlehem Steel and his wife ran their children around with it, until an accident with a police car in the late 1960s took it off the road. I was repaired, but spent 30 years in storage before restoration began in 2003. The work was completed just in time for it and it to win the Post-War Sports Class at the 2019 St. Michael's Concours d'Elegance and also star at the 2019 Boca Raton Concours d'Elegance and the 2020 Greenbrier Concours d'Elegance. With two AACA awards to its name since 2018, it must be one of the best and most interesting early 356s one can buy.

1964 Porsche 904 Carrera GTS - $2,400,000-2,800,000 (£1,940,000-2,270,000)

One of the great sports-car racers of the 1960s, the 904 GTS was something of a landmark model, being the first of the 'plastic Porsches' with its fibreglass body mated to a steel box frame, and the first racing application of the Type 901 six-cylinder engine. It was enormously successful, winning the 1964 Targa Florio outright and taking class wins in the 12 Hours of Sebring, Nürburgring 1000 Kms and 24 Hours of Le Mans, to say nothing of its appearances in regional races and hill-climbs.

Originally Silver Metallic with Blue velour upholstery, this particular car was new to Italian entrepreneur and racer Ernesto Prinoth, who entered it in the Bolzano-Mendola Hill Climb and other regional competitions. After changing hands, it was exported to southern California in 1968 and bought by Leslie Gunnarson, who restored it and kept it until his death in 2020. Beautifully presented, it would be a wonderful car to see at Goodwood, the Le Mans Classic and other historic race meetings.

1966 Porsche 911 - $180,000-220,000 (£145,000-180,000)

Some enthusiasts are of the opinion that the 911 was never better-looking than when it was in its earliest incarnation, with its clean and elegant profile, and this 1966 example is certainly a thing of beauty. A matching-numbers car restored to a high standard in its original colours of Gulf Blue with a Black leather interior, it was first owned by Dennis E. Vaught of Dahlgren, Virginia, who relinquished his 1965 Austin-Healey in part-exchange. Mr. Vaught specified lots of appealing extras, including a Webasto gas heater, ventilated chrome wheels, a driver's side mirror and a Blaupunkt Frankfurt radio, all of which makes his 911 a very attractive prospect for the enthusiast today.

1967 Porsche 910 - $2,800,000-3,400,000 (£2,270,000-2,750,000)

If you've been feeling tempted by the 904 GTS but fancy something even faster and even more successful still, you're in luck; this 910 is one of the most historic racing Porsches in existence and raced with great success in the late 1960s. One of 27 910s built for the 1967 season, its credentials as a first-class racer were never in doubt - 910s managed to win the 1967 Nürburgring 1000 Kms, 1967 Targa Florio and 1967 and 1968 European Hill Climb Championships. As a prototype, they were soon superseded by the Porsche 907, but the 910 remained very popular with privateers.

This car, 910 020, was used by Porsche for test purposes and sold to British privateer William 'Bill' Bradley and his William Bradley Racing Team for the 1968 season. Its first race was the 1968 Barcelona Six Hours at Montjuïc Park, where it was driven by John Fitzpatrick and Allan Rollinson while on loan to Escuderia Montjuich. The duo managed a superb second overall, just behind a Ford GT40, and first in their class. Bradley then raced it with Vic Elford in the 1968 Monza 1000 Kms, finishing ninth overall among various GT40s and other 910s. Elford then completed a solo drive at the Norisring for a 200-mile race, then took a class win in the Solituderennen at Hockenheim. After a DNS and DNF, Rollinson took the wheel to win outright the Coupes du Salon at Montlhéry in October. Further class wins followed as 020 was campaigned extensively throughout 1969 and 1970, and in recent years it has continued to race, with appearances at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, Goodwood Revival and Le Mans Classic.

If that's whet your appetite, take a look at some of the other cars being offered here.
 

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