Type 64 (1939)

Year of production: 1939
Engine: flat-four
Displacement: 1.131 cc
Power output: 33 HP (24 kW)
Top speed: 140 km/h (87 mph)

It was beautiful, sporty and fast – and it became the object of Ferdinand Porsche’s passion. Although the sports car designed for the Berlin-Rome endurance race was given the unprepossessing designation “Body Type 64”, it today ranks as the very first Porsche. The pioneering traits of all subsequent Porsche sports cars can be identified in and beneath its aluminium streamliner body. The coupé was way ahead of its time in terms of design and aerodynamics, too. The way it reconciled motor racing requirements with the use of production elements made it ideal for touring. On public roads, it achieved an impressive speed for its time of 130 km/h (81 mph). Ferdinand Porsche often used the Type 64 himself. The professor’s satisfaction with his creation was suitably reflected in the fact that he had the Porsche surname emblazoned on the car.