Porsche 356 A 1600 GT/GS Carrera Speedster

It’s complicated

How many derivatives of the Porsche 911 currently exist is a question that not even the most experienced Porsche saleswoman in the corresponding centre would be able to answer. But that’s tradition with the Stuttgart-based company: even with the original 356, it soon became confusing: coupé, cabriolet, and from 1954 the Speedster, not to mention the different engines. From 1955, things got even more confusing with the 356 A: there were five different body styles, each with five different engines – and of course all of these were also available as sports versions. Almost any combination was possible, but we will look at what was probably the rarest one. First of all: 2910 units of the 356 A Speedster were built, of which just 151 were delivered as Speedster Carrera between 1955 and 1959. Of these, 90 were GS/GT (we will explain this in a moment), and probably only 56 of these were also given a ‘lightweight’ makeover with various aluminium parts. In 1959, the last year of production for the Porsche 356 A 1600 GT/GS Carrera Speedster, only 14 units were apparently built.

The Carrera was powered by the famous Fuhrmann engines (type 547), four cylinders, four overhead camshafts, four vertical shafts, dual ignition. It started with a displacement of 1.5 litres and 100 hp, but it was also possible to upgrade in five-step increments over the years, 105, 110, 115 hp, then there was a displacement of 1.6 litres and in the most powerful variants up to 135 hp. The problem was that the machine was really expensive to produce and then not particularly reliable. They were insanely fast, but also broke down insanely quickly. History is repeating itself here with the most powerful variants of the 911.

The vehicle we are showing here, one of those 14, is another one of those disastrous Porsche stories. The first buyer of the Porsche 356 A 1600 GT/GS Carrera Speedster was a certain William Lindner, a US Army lieutenant stationed in Germany in 1959. Chassis number 84939 was delivered via Glöckler in Frankfurt in May 1959, silver with a black interior. Lindner took part in a few races but then had an accident – the Kardex file contains the note ‘replacement body’. This is said to have been a coupé. However, it is believed that Lindner repaired the Speedster and sold it on; the ‘replacement body’ was probably put on another car. Then, well, right then there is a big gap in the history, because it was not until 1982 that #84939 reappeared. And in 1983 it came into the hands of the then president of the Ferrari Club of America, Fred Leydorf. The restoration becomes a never-ending project, at some point an unnumbered Type 692/3 engine is installed in the Speedster, it is also painted in a Ferrari colour, Rosso Chiaro – and auctioned at Gooding & Co. on Amelia Island in 2025. It is expected to fetch between 900,000 and 1,200,000 dollars.

Let’s put it this way: for a Porsche 356, that’s a lot of money. For a Porsche 356 in the wrong colour and without the original engine, that’s… well. For a Porsche 356 with a very dark history, it might still be important for Porsche’s classic car department to have something to say about it. But the people in Stuttgart consistently avoid that, unfortunately. That doesn’t exactly inspire confidence, for instance: R7, S/T. But we also have ‘good’ Porsches in our archives.