An original pre-series Speedster — one of just 200, preserved and numbers-matching.

VIN 80121 is the 121st Speedster built — one of only about 200 pre-series 1954 cars, each effectively a hand-built prototype on a Cabriolet shell modified at the Porsche/Reutter works and distinct from the later production Speedsters. It was completed on 23 November 1954 — the very same day as James Dean’s Speedster — and remains exceptionally original, keeping its numbers-matching 1.5-litre engine (no. P33817) and transaxle, its factory wheels and every numbered body panel, along with rare early-build details such as the flat-sided top frame and the under-dash heater knob — the last Speedster built fitted with it.

Its floors and longitudinals are original and the car has never known rust. After decades of careful, preservation-minded ownership across California and Utah, it received a comprehensive 500-plus-hour restoration and later joined Michael Schudroff’s Carriage House Motorcars collection. It was acquired at RM Sotheby’s Monterey in August 2024 — its originality personally vetted on the morning of the sale by Cam Ingram of Road Scholars — and has since returned to the road on the 2025 Mille Miglia, Modena Cento Ore and Tour Auto.