1938 Porsche Type 64 – on display at "The Allure of the Automobile" exhibition

Porsche 1939 Type 64 Walkthrough 1938 Porsche Type 64 Berlin Rome Car.... The Porsche Museum in Germany has sent its legendary Type 64 Berlin Rome Car on a long journey to Atlanta where it will be on display at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta for the "The Allure of the Automobile" exhibition from March 21st until June 20th, 2010 to celebrate the brand’s 60th Anniversary in America. “Type 64 is of very special significance to the history of the Porsche brand: Built in 1938/39 under the guidance of Ferdinand Porsche... It was beautiful, dynamic and fast – and it quickly became Ferdinand Porsche’s great passion: Although this unique sports car built for the Berlin-Rome long-distance race bore nothing but the simple model designation “Type 64”, it is acknowledged as the “original Porsche”, the“great-grandfather” of all Porsches to follow. Within and beneath its streamlined aluminum body, Type 64 boasts the trendsetting concepts so characteristic of all Porsche sports cars following in the years to come. In terms of design and aerodynamics this unique Coupé was far ahead of its time, the symbiosis of motorsport qualities and production features creating an ideal grand touring car. On public roads Type 64 reached a top speed of no less than 130 km/h or 81 mph. Ferdinand Porsche often drove this car himself, showing his deep satisfaction by presenting the Porsche family name on the car itself. Story by Porsche AG Driving the 1938 Porsche Type 64K10

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The Porsche 64, also known as the VW Aerocoupe, Type 64 and Type 60K10, is considered by many to be the first automobile from what was to become the Porsche company, as a true design precursor to the production model of after the war. The model number comes from the fact that it was built mainly from design drawings for the Type-64 "record car". Most mechanical parts came from the 38 prototype series. The chassis was heavily reinforced and the engine also reworked to produce around 45-50 brake horse power. The Type-64 was only a drawing until the three racers were built. The body was also a compromise in that the cab had to look like a KdF car, but the rest was 'record' car. The VW beetle was the Type-60, and the name the "60K10" means body design 10 for the Type-60 Beetle. Its flat-four engine produced 50 bhp and gave a top speed of around 160 km/h (99 mph). The body design was made by the Porsche Büro after wind tunnel tests for a planned V10 sports car that never came into existence, the Type 114. Dr. Porsche promoted the idea to enter the car into the 1939 Berlin-Rome race as a public relations ploy. Three cars were made in hand shaped aluminum by the bodywork company Reutter. One was destroyed early in World War II. The two remaining were used by the Porsche family.[citation needed] Eventually they only used one of them and put the other in storage.[citation needed] In May 1945 American troops discovered the one put in storage, cut the roof off and used it for joyriding for a few weeks until the engine gave up and it was scrapped. The last remaining Porsche 64 was owned by Ferry Porsche who had it restored by Battista Farina in 1947. In 1949 it was sold to the Austrian motorcycle racer Otto Mathé and with it he won the Alpine Rally in 1950. The last time he drove it in a race was at the Monterey Historic Races in Monterey, California, in 1982.

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