Transcript of Porsche in America: The Type 540 Roadster | Full Documentary
Hagerty Drivers Foundation
0:00I often talk to collectors and they ask0:02me, "The America Roadster, how important0:05is it in the Porsche storyline and the0:07hierarchy?" I say, "Well, the America0:10Roadster is the beginning of the Porsche0:12success story." The America Roadster is0:14a deep cut into Porsche history because0:17Porsche never formally cataloged the0:19car. There's not much known about it.0:22It's considered by historians to be an0:24enigma. Such a small number of them were0:26made, only 17. And it was at a time when0:29Porsche was trying to figure out racing.0:31The 540 is a celebration of Porsche's0:35first attempt at build a competition0:37car. And what competition has meant for0:39the automobile is0:40[Music]0:43immense. This car really had an impact0:46for Porsche as a brand. Without the0:48America Roadster, you obviously don't0:50get to the Speedster and ultimately in0:53conjunction the 550 RS Spider.0:58The Porsche brand is one that engenders1:00more1:03excitement, more1:05loyalty, more personal1:09enthusiasm than maybe any brand in the1:11world.1:24I think it's important to remember the1:26beginning of every story so we have1:28context of where we came from and where1:30we're going. Porsche really started out1:32as an engineering firm. It evolved from1:35a design shop started in 1930 that grew1:39out of Ferdinand Porsche's experience in1:42the first 30 years of the 20th century1:44working for all the major German1:46manufacturers. Porsche was such a genius1:49as an engineer and he did things for1:51auto union, Mercedes-Benz, Grand Prix1:54cars prior to the outbreak of World War1:56II. He took many of his design concepts2:00over the last decade and applied them to2:03a practical, affordable people's car2:06known as the Volkswagen.2:10The war came along. He became part of2:12the German war machine. After the war2:15and he was imprisoned by the French.2:17That's when his son Fairy Porsche steps2:19in and leads the company with his sister2:22and they decide to put their name on a2:24car. And that's when Ferry started with2:27his first series of Porsches, taking the2:29Volkswagen concept of the engine behind2:32the rear axle and aerodynamics and2:35simple production procedures. And those2:37cars are made in a sawmill in Austria.2:39And those cars are typically called a2:40Porsche 356 Gmud. It really was the2:44transition and cross-pollination of2:46Volkswagen into Porsche's now own family2:52product. From the onset, you could tell2:55that Porsche was something different.2:57These brilliant marketers, Johnny von2:59Newman, Max Hoffman, knew the American3:02market would want exotic European luxury3:06and sports cars. Max Hoffman was an3:09Austrian who had been in the car3:11business in Europe before the war. As a3:13Jewish person, he decided to leave3:15Germany in the late 30s, came to the3:17United States. He consigns all these3:20famous automobile personalities and3:22manufacturers to give him the rights for3:25distributorship. his initial meetings of3:27him becoming a distributor for the3:28United States. Dr. Porsche feels him out3:31to say, "How many cars, just 356 split3:33window, do you think you can sell?" And3:35he goes, "I think I can sell six of3:37these a month." And Dr. Porsche is blown3:38away cuz he's thinking, I thought you'd3:40only sell 6 to8 a year. And he goes, if3:42I only sell 6 to8 a year, I'm not3:44interested. So he convinces Porsche that3:46he'll sell six to eight of these a3:48month. And he does. And so their whole3:50cash inflection and beginning of being3:53successful starts with Hoffman and the3:56relationship they have selling these3:57first production model, the split window4:00coupe and cabernets in4:03[Music]4:06America. John Newman was the equivalent4:09of Max Hoffman in California, a4:11distributor, a dealership. He owned4:12Competition Motors. He became the West4:14Coast distributor while Max became East4:16Coast distributor. And between the two4:18of them, they cultivated the market. Got4:20to take your hat off to them for doing4:22what they did back then when none of4:23this was proven. They're an important4:25part of the history of the brand in4:27[Music]4:29America. American market after the war4:31was flushed with cash and racing was4:34growing exponentially. Hot rodding and4:36racing was all in the American blood4:39from the get- go. guys that are at the4:41track that were not aware of Porsche are4:43all of a sudden seeing these cars show4:45up to races and even the ones aren't4:47winning, they're seeing the guys having4:49a good time and they're driving home.4:50The Porsche brand stood out for quality4:54and racing helped with reputation and it4:57created a lot of momentum.5:00[Music]5:0249. So it's really pertinent because5:05John von Newman takes a GM coupe at the5:07time and it's an aluminum body car and5:10he sees the potential of it being even5:12more competitive. And so he takes and5:15completely saws off the roof line of the5:18car, taking it from a cabriolet to a5:20completely roadster format, not even5:22with the windshield. It was all about5:24getting weight off the cars. It was all5:25about lightweight. And it just shows you5:27that he was pushing the envelope in5:30California specifically of what these5:32small cars from Germany could do. And5:35everyone took notice that he was winning5:38races. In today's context, it's hard for5:41us to remember how big of a deal to make5:44headlines. You had to win on Sunday so5:46you could sell on Monday. That's what5:48ultimately led to Porsche sales.5:53Max Hoffen approaches Porsche and he5:55pitches them specifically on the need5:57and demand of a purposebuilt race car.6:00He wants it to be a roadster. He wants6:02to be able to take the bumpers and the6:04windshield off to eliminate, you know,6:06close to 150 lbs. And he wants this6:08thing to be able to be driven to the6:10track, easy maintenance, put the bumpers6:12and windshield back on and drive it6:14home. And that's this whole concept that6:16he proposes to Dr. Porsche. It was a6:19proposition that Porsche couldn't deny6:21or6:24refuse. Late October 1950, that's when6:27Irwin Kmena, headbody designer, clay6:30modeler, Hans Cle and then this other6:32guy, Carl Rab, who's the chief engineer,6:35pinned the America Roadster. Porsche6:38really starts producing the car in a6:39very quick manner. And I think it shows6:41the adaptitude and ability of Porsche to6:43make a very focused thing for a market6:47that was evolving so6:50quickly. The America Roadster is a6:53pivotal model and there's not much known6:55about it. Porsche never formally6:57cataloged the car. I studied about6:59America Roadsters and learned I didn't7:01really know about them before then. I'd7:02seen Cam's car and didn't realize that7:04such a small number of them were made.7:06From 1950, from that initial drawing to7:091952, only 17 cars were produced. So, it7:13is its own nomenclature. It is a type7:16540. Technically, it's an aluminum sport7:19roadster and its nickname was the7:21America Roadster because the majority of7:23them, if not all of them, came to North7:25America. The distinguishing feature is7:28this Roadster body. It's made out of7:30aluminum. The purpose of the design was7:32all about lightweight. One of the7:34features of the America Roadster and7:36also the Speedster is the detachable7:39windshield. With the A-pillar, you can7:41remove a Speedster and type 540 America7:44Roadster windshield off the car and the7:46A-pillar where in a cabriolet it's a7:49structural part of the body is all about7:51practicality. Again, going back to7:53Forsa's motto form and function. If you7:56took this whole beautiful body, this7:58coachu built aluminum body off, you8:00would have a 356 cabriolet chassis with8:04all 356 drivetrain, a very competitive8:06package cuz you took the success and the8:09formula of the 356 already a proven8:12thing, and you're just putting a bespoke8:15lighter body on it. So, combining two8:17good things, but with this special built8:20competition motor, the 528 engine. It's8:23a roller crank, a hearth roller crank,8:25and uh has bigger Solex carburetors8:28producing 70 horsepower with a higher8:31compression ratio. It's basically an8:34derivative, an evolution of that8:35Volkswagen unit of a aircooled engine,8:38swing axles, independent suspension. At8:40this time, they were using a special8:42Fitch and satchel shocks. They built 168:46aluminum cars and they built one last8:48steel body car. Porsche evidently was8:50very rigorous on its vendors. Gave Hoyer8:53Glazier a tight budget and to try to8:56reduce labor costs, they decided to make8:58a steel one. And right after that was9:01made, the company went bankrupt. So the9:0417th and only steel body became the last9:06America9:08Roadster. This is the ninth of the 16th9:11of Lunim cars build and it's the last of9:13the first series. And one of the9:15definitive features of these first9:17series cars is a higher rear end of a9:21boat tail. The fender lines have a more9:24round shape to them. You can see how9:25dramatic it is in the front. And they9:28have a lower bumper placement where the9:30series 2 cars were aluminum cars that9:33had a lower partial self back here.9:36Longer cockpit and more squared off9:38edges on the fender lines and a higher9:41bumpers. The first four cars had a9:43single grill. The next five cars9:45featured the double grills to create9:47more cooling in the engine compartment.9:49And in the series 2 cars by lowering9:52this rear section of the car a little9:54bit lower and squaring it off that also9:56allowed air flow to come into. So9:58they're making adjustments in production10:00to aid in the cooling of the engine. And10:02then the third series is that one and10:04lonely steel body car. So in effect10:07three series within the America Roadster10:09production. It's this lovely10:11presentation of coach work. You have10:13this beautiful boat tail. You have this10:15sweeping design down the sides and yet10:18it's a competition car. It's just like10:20elegant competition car. And then they10:22go straight from this to the 550 Spider10:25and of course the uh Speedster which are10:28two different avenues to go. But this is10:32the archetype for the Porsche design10:34race car language, right? But it's10:36different than anything they ever did10:38before or10:42[Music]10:44after this particular car. Von Newman10:47takes delivery and sells it to John10:48Crane and it instantly goes racing. This10:51car only has one year where it just10:54races everywhere in the California10:56scene. John Green, he's always in second10:58place or third place to John von Newman,11:01who's driving that GMO special. But at11:03the same time, he's loaning the car to11:05John's stepdaughter, Josie Von Newman,11:08who was a natural and really gifted race11:11car11:15driver. In the four races that she does11:18in this car, she wins. She ended up11:20being so good, she was allowed to race11:21in some of the men's races.11:25There were a cadre of women racers back11:27in the day. You got to admire them.11:29Josie von Newman and others folks who11:31had a need for speed, wanted to mix it11:32up and go wheel the wheel. She was11:34really a fem fatal. She proved herself11:37in categories and every leader11:39displacement, but showed early on that11:41this little competition America Roadster11:44was a powerful package.11:48We have great pictures of that car11:50racing at Tory Pines, but Josie von11:52Newman and then John11:55[Music]11:57Green. And so it's documented that John12:00Green blows the engine like twice. And12:02on the last time, he tells John von12:04Newman, "Sell the Roadster. I'm done12:05with racing." And so John von Newman's12:08prepping this specific car for this12:10really talented driver, Jack McCaffy.12:12And Jack takes this thing and just12:13starts winning. And the one thing he12:15says is that was the first car that he12:18ever drove with real brakes. He said he12:21could outbreak anybody in that car. So I12:24think that illustrates why Porsche was12:27something different in the early 50s in12:29the early racing scene. This Jack12:30McCaffy is just12:36dominating already with the success of12:39the America Roadster and not commercial12:42success cuz it's just a small handful of12:44cars, but the success that oh, this12:47works as an idea come to fruition12:51winning races. We need to up the Annie12:53and build a real serious competition12:55car. Hence the 550R Spider. The 550 is a12:59breakthrough product for them. They win13:00class at every major endurance race13:03around the world. Porsche understands13:06that competition winning is the best13:09form of advertising. And so this is13:11really the genesis of this cycle for13:14Porsche as the company we know now. And13:17ultimately there's so much attention to13:19the 550 which is their first race car.13:21But if you look at it from a technical13:23standpoint, the 356 Type 540 truly is13:28their first race car. It's a competition13:34car. The Type 540 America Roadster. It's13:37an experiment to see, are Americans13:39really going to buy a car for13:41$4,600 that's purpose-built for13:44competition? And so they refined this13:46and again working with Max Hoffman, they13:48pin the Speedsters13:52It's a much more attractive price point13:54at13:55$3,200 and it's a steel production car,13:58so a lot less labor intensive. They were14:00on the way to thinking about production14:03volume, lightweight, stripped down car14:06that could be produced in larger14:08quantities like the Speedster.14:13The America Roadster was the startup14:15seed and then ultimately led to this14:17commercial success with the Speedster14:19which broke it open for14:23Porsche from Jack McCaffy. This America14:26Roadster goes to this guy named Paul14:27Dillard who was a college student and14:29then a half-hazard way ends up in this14:31guy named Sam Yagi in Japan. And then14:33the first America Porsche collector, a14:35gentleman named Bill Jackson buys the14:38car. And in 2009, my father and I flew14:41to Denver, Colorado to meet Mr. Jackson.14:44And he was interviewing us to see if we14:47would be good stewards for the car and14:49sells it to my father and I. Dr. Jackson14:52would become a mentor about collecting,14:54about connoisseurship. I'd like to say,14:57and I know Jeannie would join me, that14:58this car is really a tribute to our dear15:00friend Dr. Bill Jackson uh who p who15:04pioneered the art of collecting15:05Porsches. We're now the proud caretakers15:07of several of Bill's collection. As we15:10became stewards and caretakers of the15:12America Roadster, we realized this car15:15is repainted the wrong shade of red.15:17Then in that time, the interior at some15:19point in its life was recovered in15:21black. And so we're sitting there going,15:23what is really better for the car? And15:25one of the key was Jack McCaffy's son15:28reaching out to us and saying, hey, I've15:30got these photographs of when my dad15:32owned the car. As a restorer, when you15:34have a moment where you find a15:36photograph and you know from a data15:38point that here's the car and there15:40clearly is the interior color. I mean15:42that's just gold. That was the decision15:45point for us to say let's restore15:48it. The goal was Pebble Beach. My father15:52really wanted to have a moment for the15:54America Roadster for its time and the15:57limelight to be reintroduced of its16:00significance to the American market.16:04My16:05father enjoyed the competition of16:07concourse, but he was more concerned16:09that we had done the restoration the16:12right way. There's an expression that16:13some restoers have, which is good16:15enough, and those words don't exist here16:18at Road Scholars.16:22We're a Porsche specific independent16:24company that focuses on automotive16:26restoration as well as rare vehicle16:29sales. Cam does the highest quality16:32restorations in the world. And Bob16:34always had the benefit of Cam helping16:37him bring his cars up to this amazing16:39quality level. And he'll search the16:42world for that small piece that's needed16:46to make the car as original as it can16:48be. And that's one of the things that16:49makes it such a magical thing to see the16:52work that comes out of this shop.16:57We had been faithful to recreating17:00everything from red lead primer to every17:02nuance detail of maintaining those17:05uneven rivets where the body was17:07attached to the chassis to having really17:11accurate undercoating in the car. And17:13that's us scraping off original17:14undercoating, saving it, and reapplying17:17it to the car. It was a crazy year. I17:20had to call a lot of favors. It has to17:22be perfect. And perfect means not17:25necessarily perfect in today's uh17:28conception, but it needs to be as17:30perfect a representation of what it was17:32when it was created by the factory. The17:35most difficult part of the restoration17:36was preserving and keeping the original17:38aluminum body, which were thin from the17:40get- go. And so when we were able to17:42media blast it very carefully, we17:45realized that the chassis was near17:47perfect, which in any 356 is rare, but17:50we were shocked by the condition of the17:52chassis and the rivets and the original17:55construction methods were all preserved17:57perfectly. So we were able to preserve17:59the car as it was18:02manufactured. When Hoyer Glazer built18:04these cars, they gas welded the18:07aluminum. And this is all the original18:10gas welds from 1952 that we left in the18:14restoration. And you can just see how18:17beautifully they finished the cars. And18:18there's photographic evidence of again18:21these classic and overromanticized 3 to18:252 mm gaps. They obviously delivered on18:28that. But you can see once you open18:30these panels, you can see the18:31construction methods. You can see the18:33rivets of the aluminum body attached to18:35the steel subframe. And again, these18:38wonderful construction details of gas18:40welding aluminum. This is one of the few18:43America roaders that still retains its18:45original18:50body. My father always considered a win18:53just to be on the lawn at Pebble to be18:55recognized among the best shops. Just18:58leaving the ramp now is third in 0319:00postwar sports. It's the 1952 Porsche19:03Type19:04540. This was Porsche's first production19:07race19:10car. All of us in the hobby, you know,19:13look up to Bob and look up to Cam and19:15look up to the Ingram collection is the19:16pinnacle. A collection that no doubt is19:19one of the top Porsche collections in19:21the world. He took a lot of pride in19:23sharing and saving history.19:26[Music]19:28I think the most poignant lesson that my19:30family has learned this year is every19:32family goes through these journeys.19:34Life's journey of losing loved ones and19:36we certainly lost the patriarch of our19:38family, my dad. Bob touched a lot of19:41people. One of the things that I admired19:44about Bob was as successful as he was in19:47business. He always made conversation19:50about the people and the cars, not19:52himself. when he would go to a car show,19:54he'd be happy to tell you about his car,19:55but he also wanted to know about your19:57car. Tell me the story of your car. He19:59was that kind of guy. So, the footprints20:01are everywhere around the hobby, the20:03Porsche world that Bob left behind. Now,20:06it's about keeping up my father's values20:08about life. Inclusiveness, passion,20:11respect. That's what life's about. And20:13the best part of this hobby, business20:17journey is sharing the cars and the20:19people.20:23The Type 540 is the triumph of the human20:25spirit. It's a triumph of engineering.20:27It's something that shouldn't work like20:29the engine behind the rear axles. But20:32the determination of the company, the20:33perseverance of it, it's an inspiring20:35story. The family, all these key20:38designers, race car drivers, everyone20:40that made Porsche the brand that it is20:42today. We all can share this commonality20:44and passion for the brand.20:48We're just a small part of the wheel20:50that keeps rolling and now we're into20:52this new generation. I think that20:54there's a really bright future for old20:56cars in America. The appeal of these20:58cars is universal. So I think they have,21:01you know, 50 to 100 years more ahead of21:03them to to be enjoyed by future21:06generations. I know that Bob would be21:10smiling down thinking about that idea.21:16[Music]
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