The Porsche Type 540

America Roadster

If a Madison Avenue type asked Ferry Porsche in 1950 who his target buyer was, my guess is that Ferry might have replied something like this.

He is a knowledgeable automobile enthusiast who recognizes quality, luxury and performance. He is interested in a car that can be used as a Grand Tourer on extended holidays or to drive to work daily. He is also somewhat affluent.

Initially quality and luxury took precedence over performance because Porsche needed a sufficiently large marketplace if the company was to sell enough cars to survive the early years. Nevertheless the original level of performance was such that it didn’t take long before died-in-the-wool sports car drivers recognized the potential.

One of the first serious efforts to turn Type 356/2 hardware into a dedicated thoroughbred was done by the Glöckler family. Their initial product built in 1950 incorporated an 1100 cc motor supplied by Porsche but the car otherwise used VW and custom built parts. Glöckler #1 was a success in its class during 1950, '51 and '52. Glöckler #2 used a Porsche Type 502 1488 cc motor and raced along side two Gmünd coupes in late 1951 setting three new international efforts. Glöckler #3 was based on 1952 Cabriolet chassis no 10447 and it was reportedly a more civilized car with a better cockpit, windshield wipers and a full lighting system. It also bore a Porsche script across its rear lid.

Another effort that was occurring at about the same time as the Glöckler-Porsche projects was the endeavor of racing enthusiast Heinrich Sauter. In a shop near Stuttgart, Sauter had a steel-bodied roadster built that bears a strong resemblance to the Porsche model featured in this article. And like the America Roadster, the Sauter Roadster also used a Porsche motor that had been enlarged to 1500 cc. Ray Knight, the current owner of the Sauter Roadster, has conducted extensive research and relates that there was a close relationship between Enrich Sauter and the Porsche factory. Ray said that same close relationship also extended to Hans Klenk, the craftsman that bodied the Sauter Roadster. Quite possibly, the Sauter Roadster was based on the same early drawing associated with the America Roadster.

It should also be kept in mind that Porsche's first car, 356-001 was a roadster. Therefore, right from the start, Ferry was probably interested in a more performance oriented product and it was only realistic sales goals that necessitated 2+2 seating and other utilitarian features in their 356/2 product line.

In addition to the inspiration of 356-001 and racers like Glöckler and Sauter, three other factors played a role in bringing the America Roadster into production. First of all Porsche had a new engine that was just completing testing, the 1500. Work on this engine had begun under the designation Type 502 in mid 1950 and was possibly first used in the Sauter Roadster. Design improvements continued and resulted in the Type 528 1500 Super that became available in mid 1952 (although not officially until October). Secondly, due to production limitations at Reutter, Porsche signed a contract in 1950 with Gläser-Heuer to build a couple hundred Cabriolets. This gave Porsche the expansion capability to produce a new model.

Finally, in 1950, U.S. automobile importer Max Hoffman, whose primary marque at the time was Jaguar, purchased two Porsches. He was exceptionally pleased with the cars and met with Professor Porsche in the fall of the same year. The idea that Hoffman influenced Porsche to build a sports car for road and track seems to be well recognized. And the fact that Hoffman appreciated the Jaguar XK120 styling is also well established. Max’s powers of persuasion are legendary and he may have been the final motivating force for Porsche’s first Sport – Roadster drawing, which is dated only a few weeks after Hoffman and Porsche’s first meeting.

With all of these parallel development efforts, it is uncertain who influenced whom the most. Nevertheless, Erwin Komenda produced drawing 356.00.320 on October 25 1950, which formalized factory plans for a production roadster. Heuer was given the task of providing aluminum bodies built on Cabriolet chassis and because roadster production was intermixed with Gläser's cabriolet production, much confusion on chassis numbers has resulted over the years. Originally, Porsche could not help with this confusion and in a letter to an AR owner in March 1968 they stated, “During the before mentioned years (1950-1952) the company Erich Heuer former Gläser… delivered us 36 and 87 Roadster bodies,… These were marked with chassis No. 10 433 – 10 469 (aluminum body) and chassis 12 301 – 12 387 (aluminum and steel body, cannot be determined any more)." And in 1971, a representative of Erich Heuer Karosseriefabrik said, “…that 20 bodies of this Porsche roadster series were manufactured at our plant in the year 1952. To the best of our knowledge these were made of aluminum. In November 1952 we discontinued production of this particular Porsche.” So you can see how the confusion as to how many America Roadsters were made and what their chassis numbers were.

Gläser-Heuer's initial batch of America Roadsters have been given the designation Series I by previous authors and are distinguishable by the use of a single grill on the engine lid. Two single grill roadsters were completed. The Series II nomenclature has been associated with 14 twin grill, aluminum-bodied roadsters. Series II cars consist of two different bodies styles that can be distinguished by cockpit, rear fender line, engine deck and bumper height. Seven cars were built in each style. For the purposes of this article, the two Series II body styles will be referred to as IIA and IIB. Lastly, previous authors refer to one unique steel-bodied roadster as the final Series III America Roadster.

Another point of confusion is the Porsche drawings commonly considered America Roadster designs. Drawing 356.000.20, labeled Sport – Roadster, seems to be the basis for the early AR cars but differs significantly from the one remaining Series I AR in the width of the rear chassis. Another drawing 540.00.202 was produced in July of 1952 and it would be expected to be associated with the last half-dozen roadsters. However it bears closest resemblance only to the single Series III car. Another drawing, 540.00.062 dated February 1952 shows a rear fender well line that closely traces that of the Series II cars. Actual roadster production cannot be directly mapped to complete drawings, nor do production dates seem to closely tie to drawing dates.

The goal in my America Roadster project was to identify what happened to each and every AR. In the end, a lot of interesting facts were obtained on all cars but the current status could only be found on eleven cars, which are still around today. As for the four missing cars, several reasonable stories and a few urban-legend tales surfaced but no hard facts were found to establish their ultimate fate. Perhaps there is still one or more hiding in a barn waiting to be discovered.

Including on this website all of the information uncovered by my research would be impossible. Therefore I have only included a brief introduction to the cars, several of the more interesting photographs and a table summarizing information on each of the individual cars. Additional information can be found in 356 Registry magazine Vol 27 Nos 3 and 5.

In researching the America Roadster, information was checked from at least two independent sources before transcribing the information as a statement of fact.  In some cases, the data was sufficiently logical or well documented to realize it was more than a supposition.  Furthermore many owners, former owners and knowledgeable Porsche enthusiasts reviewed the information for accuracy and their comments have been incorporated.  When assumption was necessary, the text reflects the uncertainty.

Many feel that the America Roadster died because of production costs and Heuer's bankruptcy.  This is an oversimplification and not the only factors at play.  The America Roadster tried to fill two niche markets at the same time.  One of these markets was the "professional" racer and this role was filled much better by the Spyder series of roadsters that began to appear in 1953.  The other market was the sporting enthusiast who wanted to use his daily driver on the track over the weekend.  The Speedster met this role much better than the AR because of its lower cost.

Porsche (and Max Hoffman) were in business to make money.  The America Roadster, filled its intended purpose wonderfully for a bit over a year.  But when the company found a better way to make money in the market place, the America Roadster lost its raison d'etre.  It was an interesting step in sports car history but better engineering and better business approaches quickly resulted in the AR being replaced by better products.

Most of the books that address Porsche cars of the 1950s deal with America Roadsters to only a limited extent.  Perhaps the best place to find additional information, if you are interested, is in two noteworthy Panorama articles.  Betty Jo Turner wrote a story entitled Sweet Sixteen based on Chuck Stoddard research and it was printed in the April 1981 issue.  Ray Knight, the present owner of the Sauter Roadster, wrote the article The Sauter Roadster Understood at Last that was published in the February 1987 issue.

Interesting Type 540 America Roadster features

Two-seat roadster configuration

Hand-hammered aluminum body on all cars except last

Side beltline sweeps lower as it crosses door

High, arched rear wheel well except last

Interior wraps around top of passenger compartment, XK120 style

Removable, split windshield on all cars except last

Racing windscreen included as option

Leather front hood straps

Headlight grills

Tonneau with spring-loaded, center-divide support rod as option

Minimal canvas top, removable frame hides under rear deck

Removable, plastic side curtains

Earliest use of 75 bhp Type 528 1500 Super engine

Large 15" brakes, last few cars used Alfin brake drums

5.00 x 16 tires with turbo ring wheels

Early cars used VW "crash box" transmission, synchromesh on final 7

Maximum speed 110 mph

$4,600 price delivered in New York

Summary of America Roadsters      (click on VIN for more information)

Other chassis numbers sometimes associated with America Roadsters:

          10359 - Sauter Roadster (built in winter of 50-51)

          10445 - The notation "Roadster" was found in Production Book during search by Don Zingg in September 2002.

          10447 - Glockler Special #3

          12213 - Glockler Special #6

          12313 - The notation "Roadster" was found in Production Book during search by Don Zingg in September 2002. However Kardex shows radio installed and Body Ledger shows glove box door key issued. Conclusion is that notation in Production Book was incorrect and should have been made against 12312.

          12360 - Originally reported as the AR delivered in Germany in '81 Panorama article. Production log, Body Ledger and Production Book do not support this conclusion.

          12372 - "Suspected" second Series III car but Production Book did not show "roadster" notation during search by Don Zingg in September 2002.