One to Buy: Three owner 57,000km 1954 Porsche 356 1500 Super Coupe
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Prior to the arrival of Ernst Fuhrmann’s exceedingly complex four cam Carrera motor which was offered in the 356 from late 1955, the ultimate engine for Porsche’s little flyer was the 1500cc pushrod ‘Super’ unit.
Introduced in late 1951 for the 1952 model year, the first generation Super engine was designated Type 527 and produced 60bhp. Twelve months later (for the 1953 model year), the Type 527 engine made way for a higher compression Type 528 unit which pumped out 70bhp. At the same time, the old Volkswagen non-synchromesh gearbox was dropped in favour of a new Getrag assembly with patented split-ring synchromesh.
One of the most interesting examples of an early ‘bent windscreen’ 356 Super Coupe we’ve seen recently is this incredible machine currently on offer at the Motorlegenden showroom in Utting, Germany.
Remarkably, the matching numbers three owner car (which has resided in Germany all its life) comes with documentation back to day one confirming the remarkably low mileage of just 57,000km.
The story starts on April 28th 1954 when the 356 was delivered to dealer Hulpert & Co. in Dortmund. On May 5th the car was registered by the city of Dortmund to industrialist Emil Handtke. Owing to a change of address, on October 21st 1957 Handtke re-registered the car in the city of Witten.
On April 7th 1964, the vehicle was temporarily de-registered. It was noted in the Porsche records that on March 11th 1965, at a mileage of 7697km, a replacement transmission was installed by Hulpert & Co.
March 15th 1974 saw the 356 again temporarily de-registered with the city of Witten.
During 1983, the Handtke family sold the still highly original Porsche to Hartmut Post who planned to carry out a sympathetic restoration. However, this work was repeatedly postponed and the car was forgotten about for almost three decades.
Finally, in 2008, a descendant of the second owner decided to offer the car for sale. The third and current custodian discovered the long-forgotten vehicle at auction with a mileage of just over 56,000km.
At that time, the bodywork was still in very good condition, with only a few parts missing. The interior had been replaced with leather, and the rib cord, headliner and carpets were all replaced with identical pieces of the same type and quality.
All the car's mechanical components were subsequently removed, inspected, and where necessary, overhauled or replaced. All welding work on the car is said to be invisible, and spot welding was performed on all original surfaces.
The car was completed in 2014 and is today described by Motorlegenden as in “a very solid condition with consistent panel gaps, no signs of a previous accident repair, no corrosion to be seen and no discernible alterations to the bodywork. The engine and transmission run flawlessly and precisely. The current owner had the vehicle serviced at a Porsche Center until 2022 and, most recently, at a specialist workshop in 2025.”
This amazing little 356 Super, which comes with a twelve month warranty, is accompanied by its original vehicle registration document from 1954 together with the Reutter delivery certificate and Porsche birth certificate.
