1959 Porsche 356A - today's tempter

By: Unique Cars magazine

Date: 26.02.2024

1959 Porsche 356A - today's tempter

1959 Porsche 356A - today's tempter

Classic sports car

Given the depth of social and competition history behind what started out as a relatively simple and humble sports car, it comes as no surprise that early Porsches have become highly prized collectibles.

In a story about local Porsche identity Alan Hamilton, we noted: "Australia became Porsche’s first distributor country outside Europe and with it came both the Volkswagen and Borgward franchises."

That event occurred through a chance encounter: "It was 1951 and Melbourne businessman Norman Hamilton was in Europe familiarising himself with the latest technologies. While he was travelling from Austria to Switzerland a low-slung sports car whipped past him. Some time later he spotted the car outside a café and he went inside to find the owner. After introducing himself to Richard von Frankenberg, a German racer and Porsche test driver, Hamilton convinced von Frankenberg to let him follow him to the Porsche factory to meet his boss."

This 356A underwent an extensive rebuild some 30 years ago and has since been treated to a variety of work, all of which is well-documented.

It runs its original 1582cc flat four with four-speed manual transmission.

It’s with Oldtimer in Brisbane, priced at $259,950.

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