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Its career was brief and many many years ago, but it’s story is still being told thanks to Ed Foster.
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Films:
Porsche 356 Carrera Speedster Zagato: Sanction Lost
For some compare and contrast here is a set of photographs of a 356A Speedster also in silver. [URL below]. Working back and forth between the two sets of photos it is easier to see how complete Zagato’s re-imagining of the car actually was. In period the shape of the original Speedster was not universally admired. Now the speedster is an icon. At the time it was too distinctive for some. Zagato re-introduces some of the silhouette of a conventional barcetta or roadster of the 1950s into their design. Notably there is the dip in the belt line, that isolates the rear fender into a shape approaching a ‘cycle’ fender, and there is the long curve of the front fender that starts at the rear of the door, and reaches forward with ever decreasing radius, until it ends in front of the head light. This inflection point in the belt line at the rear of the door, on a tiny open top car, says “roadster’ to us, and pulls the shape in a familiar direction, while the front and the rear treatments remain completely and utterly ‘Porsche’. The 550 Spyder had that dip, and the little saddle shape in the front of the rear fender that makes it happen, but Zagato arguably does it better. For me it is the mild dissonance between the more conventional barcetta belt line with the hints of the cycle fender in back, and fore and aft panels that say ‘Porsche’ to me, that makes the design work; that bring my eye back again and again to the lines of the car. https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/porsche/356a/2169298.html
There is something ethereal about a truly beautiful motor car. The heart and soul of those wonderful artisans who imagine, design, shape and assemble these works of true art remains with each car. Unlike most art they are then brought to life when the engine starts.
I so much admire your passion Afshin and the heartfelt way you present and promote this wonderful experience, whether it is a ‘Zagato’ or a ‘Fiat Bambino’. The romance is real.
This Porsche is absolutely beautiful. I do wonder two things though: I’d think it deserves something like an upgraded Polo engine or similar, and the Zagato badges on the door look like modern badges and in an awkward location. Why not use the classic ‘Z’ or a script ‘Zagato’ on the fenders?
Zagato is so practiced at this kind of prototyping and small volume production that this may have been just another day in the shop for most of the crew. These pannello-battitore are such masters. And it would have been wonderful if a step by step video of the effort could have made made. Or perhaps one was. Part of the elegance of the car is its simplicity. Getting a green light for the effort; sourcing the donor cars; and working with potential collectors would have been a different story altogether.
Not to lower the tone, but that quote about simplicity seems to be attributed to Leonardo DaVinci for the first time in a multipage, color Campari advertising insert in the July 31, 2000 edition of the New Yorker magazine. I mean it is a fine idea, and Campari & soda is a lovely drink, but . . . https://quoteinvestigator.com/2015/04/02/simple/#note-10911-14
Lovely car and great videography. Personally, I find that this car resurrects a storied past while also pointing the way forward. Contemporary sports cars now substantially out perform the roads on which they are driven. This Speedster reminds us all how much fun can be had in a feather-weight roadster with modest power. Realized in contemporary engineering composites a 21st century Speedster would be far lighter still.
As of this writing some tickets are still available for Luftgekuhlt 6. Afshin, will you be showing this car there? This is the perfect venue for your Porsche Carrera Zagato. https://luftgekuhlt.com/event-info
Wait a minute! No serpent and cross on this car? Afshin has gone over to the Dark Side! Well, for this car I would too! The beauty is the absolute simplicity of the lines. And what a great sound coming out of that little engine! My sympathies for having to drive it in Italy with foggy weather! At 14:09 not long enough. Afshin, I hate you… congratulations and have fun!
The simplicity of the car is remarkable. The side windows do not even have tracks and cranks. Years ago I was working in Seferian’s restoration shop in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and we restored a Speedster rather completely. The spareness of the car, even by the standards of the time, was remarkable.
