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Porsche has just finished an extensive three-year restoration of the oldest 911 in its collection, and the red sports car is now on display at the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart.
Technically, this car is a 901, not a 911. Porsche originally gave its replacement for the 356 the 901 name, but Peugeot objected, claiming it had copyright on all car names in a number-0-number format, and would Porsche mind very much coming up with something else? It obliged, added a 1, and the legend was born.
This red car is chassis number 300057 which not only makes it the 57th car built, but still technically a 901 - Porsche renamed the car in dealers, but the 901 name was still used internally until the autumn of 1964. This example was built in October.
Amazingly, Porsche did not actually have a 901-series 911 in its collection until now. The coupe was found in 2014 by a TV crew working on an antiques and collectibles programme. The crew stumbled across two dusty original 911s in a barn (yes, an actual barn-find) and it was soon realised that this car was one of the rarest of all. Porsche snapped up both cars for its collection, filling a 50-year gap in its history.
Critically, 300057 had not been restored or modified in any way in the 53 years since it was built, which meant that the Porsche classic experts at the factory could restore it to precisely its original condition. Many of the parts on the car, including the engine, transmission, electrics and interior, were restored and repaired rather than replaced. And where new parts were needed, Porsche tried to use transplants from another, similar vehicle, rather than make new parts.