1961 Porsche 356B Carrera GT

Chassis 115378 is one of 40 T5 Carrera GTs made by Porsche and left the factory in March 1961. It is one of only three made in RHD. The car was sold by Hong Kong importer Jebsen & Co to its first owner Mr. David Luk. 

The car was raced at the 1961 Macau Grand Prix, which at the time was a three-hour Formula Libre event that allowed a wide range of cars to compete. It was driven by Heinz Gosslar, a Jebsen employee, to 3rd place behind a Lotus 15 and a Jaguar E-Type. 

After the Macau GP, the car was purchased by Dr. Henry Lee, a Hong Kong resident, who owned the car for four years and competed with it in several local races. In 1965 he sold the car and the next owner had a new 1,600cc SC pushrod motor installed by Jebsen. 

Hong Kong registration records show the car changing hands several times in the mid-1980s until ending up with Mr. Yeung Wai Kim, the owner of a small air-conditioning business. By this time, it was in a stripped, non-running condition. 

The car was discovered by its last owner in 1993 quite by chance. While accompanying a friend who was having his Porsche’s air-conditioning repaired, he noticed a disassembled 356 cabriolet under a pile of cardboard boxes. 

A number of tell-tale signs indicated the chassis was something special. After checking with Porsche in Germany and confirming its identity as a Carrera GT coupe, a deal was struck and the car was disinterred and transported back to the owner’s home in Austria. 

The restoration of the car did not begin in earnest until 2004 when Carrozeria Tiziano Serratini of Bologna, famed for their work on 356s, were commissioned to return the body to its original form. The completed body was then sent to Arno Reinbacher in Austria who built the car up into its final restored state, to represent accurately the presentation as it raced at the Macau GP in 1961. The restoration was completed in 2016. 

Sports Purpose sold the car in 2020 to well-known historic collector and racer Tarek Mahmoud, who wished to use the car in special events with fellow racers Karsten le Blanc and James Turner. Rather than risk the extremely valuable 4-cam engine it was decided to build a second race engine. 

The car was entrusted to Prill Porsche Classics, where Andy Prill and his team are recognised experts in four-cylinder Porsche. Over a period of nearly a full year, and with input from both Goodwood and Peter Auto, Prill built up a competitive race engine, using an NOS ‘industrial’ push-rod donor. The chassis set-up was developed and tested and the car thoroughly prepared for racing and events at a total cost of £100,000. 

The car raced in the Kinrara Trophy at the 2021 Goodwood Revival Meeting and was a hugely popular, high-quality addition to the grid.