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The perfect replica? Porsche 356 Speedster Zagato 'Sanction lost'
Coming to auction in Belgium is a Zagato Porsche replica that is faithful to a lost ’50s racer. Simon de Burton tells its story
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It’s widely accepted in today’s classic car world that there is no longer any stigma attached to recreations, replicas or continuations – so long as they are ‘done right’. There are few that have been ‘done’ quite so right as this superb follow-on of an originally unique car built for the French Porsche works racer Claude Storez in 1957.
Seeking something lighter and more competitive than the standard Porsche model, Parisian printer’s son Storez – who had become French rally champion racing a 356A Carrera and a 550RS Spyder in events such as the Reims 12 Hours and the Liège-Rome-Liège – commissioned Zagato to design and fabricate an aerodynamic alloy body for a factory-supplied 356 Carrera Speedster.
After leaving Zagato’s Milan workshops in late 1958, the car returned to Porsche for the completion of final mechanical touches and was then delivered to Storez who campaigned it for the remainder of the season, quickly racking up four wins and a string of other podium finishes.
It’s one of just nine Speedsters built at Zagato’s Classic wing
But in February 1959 Storez died at the age of 31 after crashing the Zagato on the Thillois hairpin at the Circuit de Reims during the Rallye des Routes du Nord – leaving the wreckage of the car to be cleared away and never seen again.
Indeed the Porsche Barchetta Zagato (to give it its official name) might have remained something of an enigma had not American collector Herb Wetanson researched its history and then approached Zagato to create a perfect replica, which would be named ‘Sanction Lost’ on account of the original having disappeared without trace.
Period drawings and photographs were found in Zagato’s archives, enabling the coachbuilder to use state-of-the-art scanning techniques to perfectly replicate the shape of the Storez car’s bodywork, which was instantly recognisable by its twin red-painted fins. Between 2015-17 Zagato’s Atelier Classic division built a further 17 cars in addition to Wetanson’s original – eight more Speedsters and nine coupés – all based on original 356s.
Simple dials and buttons are a minimalist’s dream
Although the car originally built for Storez was finished in Bianco Gardenia, this recreation wears a coat of Porsche silbermettel, albeit with the same red fins. The cockpit is deliciously spartan, with the aluminium dashboard housing just four essential gauges, three buttons and the ignition switch. An equally simple chromed rear-view mirror is perched on top, while poking up between the two lightweight red-trimmed seats stands the beautifully cranked gearlever.
And if that front-end treatment looks awfully familiar, so it should – according to Zagato, it was the nose of the Storez car that inspired that of the original 911.
1958 Porsche 356 Speedster Zagato ‘Sanction Lost’
On sale with Bonhams, Le Zoute, Belgium, October 9. Estimate: £250,000-£380,000
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