1963 Porsche 356B 1600 Super 90 Cabriolet by Reutter
Sold for $143,000 Including Commission
RM Auction, Amelia Island 2013
Serial no. 158625
Engine no. 0800969
90 bhp, 1582 cc air-cooled flat four-cylinder engine with dual carburetors, four-speed manual transmission, parallel trailing arm front suspension with laminated torsion bars, swing axle rear suspension with transverse torsion bars, and four-wheel hydraulic drum brakes. Wheelbase: 82.7 in.
•Rare "Super 90" engine
•Three owners since new
•Recently restored to its original appearance
•Accompanied by a Porsche Certificate of Authenticity
One of the new features introduced for the 356B Porsche in 1960 was an uprated engine with higher compression, producing some 90 horsepower. The most powerful street engine yet for a Porsche, it made the Super model even more so, and, accordingly, it has always been known as the Super 90. It is especially desirable when installed in the cabriolet model, with its fully insulated top and roll-up windows, providing a fun automobile for fast travel, year-round.
The cabriolet offered here was delivered new in Denver, Colorado. It was sold by its original owner in 1966, and it remained in the care of the second owner's family until being sold to the present caretaker in autumn 2011, when it had recorded 110,021 actual miles, an average of 2,245 miles annually. Despite its use in the high mountains, it had never experienced any type of inclement weather, having been meticulously stored through the fall and winter for all those years. It was also regularly serviced and maintained.
After acquiring the car, the owner turned it over to Kundensport, of Camarillo, California, for complete refurbishment to original factory specifications. The entire interior, carpeting, and top were correctly replaced, and they are as fresh and new as depicted in the Porsche Certificate of Authenticity, which accompanies it, along with documentation of past ownership. Finished in Ivory with green leatherette and corduroy seats, and optioned with antenna, driver's headrest, tinted windshield, and vented chrome wheels, this is a wonderful little treasure to enjoy as a driver, show car, and investment. Sitting behind the wheel, one understands why Ken Purdy wrote in the pages of Playboy that the 356B "may be the most fun to drive of anything built in the world."
Robert Myrick Photography
