What's it like to drive the very first Porsche? From a company that stemmed out of Volkswagen to now one of the most illustrious car company, which built one of the most iconic and coveted cars in history. It won't be far-fetched to know the feeling of being behind the wheel of the car that started it all, right?
We're pretty sure it would be surreal. It's like riding in the very first airplane or using the very first camera, or as Chris Harris has put it, it's like knowing the ingredients to make the very first Coca-Cola, which would be illegal, by the way.
In this video, Chris Harris gets to drive the Porsche Type 64 – the rarest of the rarest, and ultimately the first Porsche that has ever been made.
The Porsche Type 64 is indeed the very first Porsche that Ferdinand Porsche has made, even before the Gmünd-built 356. It was made in 1939, designed after the Volkswagen Beetle, but on a different chassis and made to be lighter, faster, and more aerodynamic.
As such, it also has the same engine as the People's Car – a 1.0-Liter flat-four that produces 32 horsepower and has a top speed of 88 miles per hour. Not much, really, but which car in 1939 can produce the same? Besides, using aircraft technology, the Type 64 was made to be really light, which offsets both lack of power and budget to develop bigger and more powerful engines.
The specific Porsche Type 64 that Chris Harris drove on the video was the exact sample that will be auctioned off at RM Sotheby's Monterey Auction this coming week. It has a chassis number 38/41 with an engine number 38/43, and the first and sole remainder of the three examples believed completed.
