LESS IS MORE

The story of Porsche’s Speedster is surely among the most romantic in the automotive realm, familiar even to casual enthusiasts: At the request of influential North American importer Max Hoffman, Porsche—still a young and unproven company, particularly on Hoffman’s side of the Atlantic—developed a simple open-top sports car with racing clearly in mind. It was stripped of most luxuries, but as Hoffman correctly intuited, that was exactly its allure. Highly capable on-track, offered at an attainable price of $2,995, and beautifully styled to boot, the Speedster was a hit following its introduction in 1954. It planted the seeds of success for Porsche in the United States, which would quickly become a crucial market for the company.

Yet without the 356 America Roadster, it could be argued, there would have been no Speedster, and Porsche’s history might have unfolded very differently. Built in limited quantities in 1952 and 1953, and featuring distinctive hand-formed aluminum bodywork, the America Roadster was an even purer implementation of Hoffman’s original sports-racer vision. Despite this, few beyond the Porsche faithful know of these very special cars.

Designated internally as the Type 540, the America Roadster was built by Heuer-Gläser of Ullersricht (though the karosserie tags bore only the name Gläser). The firm would produce a limited number of bodies for Porsche before shuttering: approximately 250 cabriolets and the 16 aluminum-bodied America Roadsters. Save for the first Type 540 example produced, power for the model came from the 70-horsepower 1500 Super engine, which was paired with a four-speed gearbox. The cars rode on wheels with ventilated “turbo” trim rings, behind which sat big drum brakes.

The America Roadsters differed in their details, but the winning “less is more” formula was carried across all chassis. A removable cloth roof and side curtains offered only basic weather protection and were intended for expedient use only. The split, flat-glass windshields were simple and easily removable. One example, built for West Coast importer John von Neumann, was completed without windshield wipers or provisions for a top, and did not even have exterior door handles.

So early in the Stuttgart automaker’s legend was the America Roadster that some even lacked a Porsche crest on the horn button. The famous emblem had only been penned in 1952, incidentally also at the suggestion of the marketing-savvy Hoffman, and it was not quite ready to adorn the initial examples. The few optional features that were fitted to many America Roadsters, including leather hood straps and mesh headlamp protector grilles, underscored their competition intent.

Thanks to this spartan specification, as well as their aluminum bodies, America Roadsters packed substantially less mass than the subsequent Speedsters. Racer John Bentley determined in a 1953 test that, by stripping out everything that was not bolted down (plus a good many things that were), he could get his roadster down to a trim, race-ready 1,410 pounds, yielding a respectable-for-the-era 18.8 pounds/horsepower weight/power ratio.

AMERICA ROADSTER NUMBER 12353

Thanks in part to a formidable price tag of $4,600, just 16 aluminum-bodied America Roadsters were constructed, plus a final, cabriolet-based steel-bodied fixed-windshield example. These cars were not advertised in Porsche’s home market and were delivered, with one exception, to buyers in America. Just as intended, they were raced by their owners, and because of mishaps both on and off the track a number are known to have been destroyed in period. Only surviving 10 aluminum-body roadsters, plus the final steel example, are accounted for today.

Chassis number 12353, the America Roadster offered here, is one of these rare survivors; fortuitously, it also made it through its early racing career without any known major incidents and with its bodywork intact. Its accompanying Kardex copy states that it was delivered on 20 October 1952 to Hoffman of New York and records its original color as Elfenbein/Ivory. No options are noted, though further ledger information confirms that its original interior was Green leather. It is understood to be the only America Roadster fitted from new with a racing-style fuel filler on the hood, though at least one other example had a similar filler fitted post-delivery.

This America Roadster’s first owner was Lawrence Kulok, who entered it in the 1953 12 Hours of Sebring. Despite being the first America Roadster fitted with a synchromesh, the car experienced transmission problems during practice and did not start the race. The gearbox was subsequently replaced. He is said to have retained, and raced, the car for the following two years, after which it passed to Bill Woodbury of Long Island.

The next recorded caretaker was Don McComb of New York. In extensive correspondence on file with Robert Hicks of Seattle, who was to be its next owner, McComb states that while he never raced his America Roadster, he drove it in all seasons and considered it to be “one of the finest sports cars ever produced.” After some complicated transcontinental negotiations carried out by letter and telegram, Hicks agreed to buy the car; McComb had it driven to Chicago, and Hicks proceeded to drive it from there to his home in the Pacific Northwest.

Hicks did press the car into competition use, and it was likely during his tenure that a roll bar was installed. Notably, he achieved 1st in Class at the SCCA Northwest Region Maryhill Loops Hillclimb held on 5 June 1960. Perhaps more memorable than any race result, however, was Hicks’ habit of entering races with his small dog as co-driver—reportedly making itself comfortable in the passenger door storage compartment during heats!

Hicks would retain chassis 12353 for decades, taking it with him as he relocated to Oregon. Correspondence on file between Hicks and fellow America Roadster owners, and even legendary Road & Track editor Dean Batchelor, show his desire to learn more about this rare and special Porsche model and deepen the general knowledge base about the histories and dispositions of each known chassis.

In 2001, chassis 12353 was acquired by an owner in the UK and fully restored by DK Engineering. Invoices and photos on file document the work performed, including rebuilds of the engine and all mechanical components. The coat of silver paint applied during Hick’s ownership was stripped, and the body was returned to its original Ivory; however, at this stage, the interior was trimmed in brown at its new owner’s request. Following the completion of the work in September 2003, the America Roadster was featured in the February 2004 issue of Classic Cars, and also included in the January/February 356 Registry magazine.

In 2021, DK Engineering fitted the car with a green interior, returning it to its attractive, as-delivered color combination. It returned to America in September 2021 and joined the collection of its current owner, where it has been well cared for during his tenure.

Fascinating but little known, the 356 America Roadster truly is a connoisseur’s Porsche. Brilliantly restored in its original colors, retaining its numbers-matching 1500 Super engine, and with a well-documented history, chassis 12353 is a very attractive example of a model hailing from a foundational era in Porsche’s history. Seldom seen, and even more infrequently trading hands, it is for good reason that these special cars are cherished by their caretakers.

With two decades having passed since an America Roadster last emerged for public auction, this truly is a compelling opportunity for the serious Porsche collector.