Chassis 53456 - 1955
About Me
After nearly 3 years of work, I am glad to introduce a very special 356 to all of you PORSCHE enthusiasts.
This 356 PreA is the first Carrera produced by Porsche, the earliest example of all the Carreras.
In 1955 only 5 PreA Carrera Coupé (named RS because of the implementation of the Spyder engine) were produced. This is the first example delivered to Eng. Reinhard Schmidt, who is an external collaborator of Porsche AG, a friend of Mr Kommenda and a developer at Albert Teves Gmbh (ATE) for security systems and air-conditioning.
The chassis was inspected on 1st January 1955 and delivered to Porsche AG by Reutter in March 1955 featuring new changes made to fit the engine Spyder 547 P*90020 (previously used on the 550-0029 e 550-0030) as well as other internal and external modifications requested by Eng. Schmidt. The first vehicle commissioning and testing on the road was done in July 1955 (the car was not registered until it was sold in 1958 and was driven with test plate BN 33-0331 and then H-04200).
The particular optional extras are: sunroof Golde, rear window defroster (added on the all the Porsche only since 1959), Radio Becker Mexico with Hirschmann electric antenna, HECO speaker, electric window cleaner, Bosch fog lights, rear lights in an upright position, Hella rear reverse light, Hella interior lighting and additional 6V sockets on the dashboard, support for extra relays, modified electrical system and Acella Antik interior.
Eng. Reinhard Schmidt was surely a peculiar man: in a memorandum he wrote in the late 60’s he claimed that he owned more than 20 VW Beetles and 7 Porsches (2 were Carreras), that he was holder of patents in the automotive field and that he had obtained the plate n°145 for testing on the road in the early 50’s (Porsche owned n°141).
All Eng. Schmidt’s cars were very similar. The 53456 is absolutely one of the most original we have received; every detail has been restored to the original and supplied with photos and contemporaneous documents. Also the test plates that Schmidt used on his cars have been reproduced.
Thanks to the passion of the last owner, who has treasured any document, photo and life moment of the car for 56 years (1958/2014), the documentation available today is unbelievable.
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The research made on Eng. Schmidt (Reinahd Schmidt 1910-1970) lead us to his children, who provided us with additional documents and information useful to the achievement of the restoration.
Due to some issues, in 1957/58 Eng. Schmidt replaced the original engine with a 1500S P*40305 engine (from one of his cars). In 1958 the car was sold to an American soldier in Stuttgard, then in the same year it was sold to another American soldier (Leroy Spanjol president of PCA 66/67) and in 1959 it was sold to soldier John Pepperdene (Wester Motors in Monterey). The car remained with the same family until 2014, when the restoration started.
Unfortunately, the P*90020 engine got lost. It has probably been used by Mr Schmidt during the following years or it has been destroyed after several tests and today it is untraceable.
To bring the 53456 back to its 1955 configuration, a correct engine type 547 series number P*90076 has been installed (one of the 99 produced); the transmission is original as well as every panel of the car, the keys set and the interior in Acella Antik.
For this restoration I need to thank many people, among them are Reinhold Plank, a real expert and a friend, Stefano Gatti for the assistance in purchasing, Marco Marinello for the support in searching the Schmidt family and the Spyder engine, and many many others that I will manage to thank and name later on.
These photos have been taken by Pietro Bianchi and published for the first time especially for you enthusiasts and for those who participated in this wonderful project.
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A flash to you all
Eng. Reinhard Schmidt (1910-1970) standing on the right, during testing in Stuttgard 1962
