Clark Gable & 1954 Porsche 356 Speedster, 1st Speedster ever raced!!!

Description: Clark Gable & 1954 Porsche 356 Speedster 1st Speedster ever raced!!! 8 x 10 (20x25cm) BW glossy photo on heavy “Kodak Professional Paper” stock, processed 15 years ago at a professional lab in Santa Monica, CA. My friend’s uncle took the original photo in 1954. This Rare photo was made from the original 3 ½ X 5, black and white photo.. This is a very nice and very rare photo that reflects a wonderful era of Porsche ‘s automotive history, and Hollywood’s most famous star. The real beauty of this picture is that it contains two of history’s all-time greats - 2 titans, Clark Gable, and the extraordinary 356 Porsche Speedster no. 80002. Gable’s movie “Betrayed” co-starring the beautiful Lana Turner had just been released on September 7, 1954 and he was just about to start work on his next film “Soldier of Fortune” co-staring Susan Hayward. Being an adventurer, he decided it was time to have some fun and he looks completely at home in this gorgeous Speedster. The special Speedster in the photo was one of the 3 hand-built Porsche Speedsters completed on August 18, 1954. It was painted red with black interior. Even when beginning production of a new model, Porsche rarely built cars on the line. As Porsche introduced a new series (A, B, C) or model (Convertible D, Roadster), the first of these cars simply went through normal production. This was even true for the special 4-cam Carrera Speedsters. However, this speedster pre-series car was hand-built!!! Just seven weeks later, the first production Speedster car was completed in October 1954. The First Speedster ever raced was this 1954 Porsche 356 Speedster Chassis no. 80002. Upon completion, the car was quickly shipped to Hoffman Motors in New York. Hoffman then introduced it at Watkins Glen where it won the Concourse Award. Speedster number 80002 was the first Porsche Speedster documented to have been raced. Owned by West Coast distributor John von Neumann, it was raced by Erich Buecklers at Torrey Pines, California. However, it was already no stranger to a racetrack, as Clark Gable drove it in his role as Course Marshall at a race event held at the Palm Springs California Airport. Porsche Speedster, chassis 80002 was also used as the brochure car and appears on all of the very early advertising material to support the introduction of this new model. Most all of the rare Speedster paper memorabilia items found today feature an image of this car, # 80002.

Price: 14.5 USD

Location: Newbury Park, California

End Time: 2024-12-19T23:59:04.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD