The Shocking Secret
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Porsche 901 was the name originally intended for the Porsche 911.Prior to the 901 was the 356.
The name 901 would not last due to the French company Peugeot,Peugeot used the naming scheme where the numbers were on the outside with the zero in the center.The 901 name infringing on Peugeot claim to the name,so the vehicle was designated as 911. The 901 first introduced at the Frankfurt Auto Show in September 1963,the silhouette body as it went missing after the German auto show. The Holy Grail of Porsche's disappeared in 1963 and notably publish in July 28 2008 "Hunt for 901". "Hunt for 901" is the debut fiction novel by gourmet chef and automotive writer Kevin Gosselin and Fasten Hanks car historian,and automotive archeologist known for his ability to find lost automotive Treasures.Fasten Hanks hunt's for the holy grail of Porsche's all over Europe for clues that will lead them to the missing 901 Prototype. The advertisement "Hunt for 901" on You-Tube non-fiction also mysteriously not available for viewing. In the early 1960's Porsche replaced the 356 with the 901,the question as to whether an open car should be offered,since Karmann had historically built all 356 cabriolets for Porsche,the decision was made to commission an open 901 prototype in June 1964. Type 901 had existed since 1959,Porsche allotted ten serial numbers {replacement chassis} numbers for pre-production,{some sources indicate 13} for test prototypes.Porsche started the prototype series number's with "13".No one knows why they began with "13" unless they were optimistic about the cars success.Exactly how many were made, and where they went is also unknown.There is little documentation of what changes they did make and why. Records indicate that only four numbers were actually assigned to bodies 13326~13327~13328 and 13330. The only one is still known to exist chassis # 13327. It seems 13321-13325 and 13329 were never applied to actual cars,or applied to dead end design forays which never reached culmination. Chassis #13326 described as Disguised with false fins and radiator,louvered quarter windows and divided rear window,was photographed at the race track of Nurburgring by the German automotive press during the summer prior to the Frankfurt Auto Show.Porsche records indicate was owned by Ferdinand Peich utilized for development of the six cylinder boxer engine.It was certainly the same 901 painted yellow which debuted in 1963 Frankfurt auto show. {Two years later Peich sold #13326 in 1967,having been sold again,it Vanished into history} The remaining two 13328 and 13330 still to this date,has never been found! Vanished! Chassis # 13326 Porsche records indicate the first of the 901's "Disguised with false fins and radiator" {boxer engine air cooled no radiator however the top of my front fenders each louver design shape is exact to a single radiator fin} "Louvered quarter windows" My quarter panels are louvered "Divided rear windows" My Convertible open top It is most certainly the same 901 painted yellow! My original color Yellow! The Truth First or The Fake First The Fabrication of chassis #13327 Nickname "Barbarossa" "Secret Preparation" Operation Barbarossa or case Barbarossa, was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during the second world war.The largest invasion in the history of warfare.Operation Barbarossa was named after Frederick Barbarossa,the medieval German ruler who,as a Myth had it,would rescue Germany in her time of need."The Secret preparations" Porsche had to learn most of the 901's original design and details; however the task ahead seemed impossible! The bad news was that with a prototype, they had no other example to base their efforts or obtain parts. The Porsche Company used vintage photos of chassis # 13326. 13327 was given the nickname "Barbarossa" described as hand cranked backwards sunroof "vent roof" retracts only partway and retracts forward. Rear engine lid opens by coil spring, the fuel filler circular, fuel mechanism to open fuel lid on drivers door jam, fuel tank welded from over 20 pieces of hand formed steel. Perhaps the most curious item is the attempted defroster arrangement.A chromed tube,aimed at the vent window to allow hot air to flow,this did not work and Porsche decided the idea was not worth continuing,so they covered it up.They in fact went to great lenghts to do so. Some oddities illustrated on this car may have been an attempt to improve something since the loss of production data. Porsche records indicate in a Gesture,typical of a factory's relationship with it's favored drivers,13327 was sold to renowned Porsche racer,PR man and Christophorus editor Richard VonFrankenburg.In 1973,however von Frankenburg {who since joining Porsche in 1950 had survived any number of mishaps including a famous flying somersault in a Porsche 550A on the banking at Berlin's Avus circuit in 1956} was killed in a unrelated car accident.Not long afterward 13327 went to Italy,and followed it's brethren into obscurity. In December 1984 Pennsylvania auto dealer,Porsche racer and PCA chapter president Don Meluzio miraculously found this 911 with unknown history and in deplorable condition abandoned in a New York garage 13327 "Barbarossa" the special 901 is stored not in the Porsche Museum but in a secret specially built Hidden garage.Why? Blog topic 901 on my Ebay ad "I sent the article to my friend D Frick who did extensive research on the 901 when he restored the earliest one known to exist.He has all the factory documentation from when he restored that car.I'm now anxious to see what he says" D Fricks reply: Yes,I've seen it before.He has a couple very early parts (pedal cluster and heat exchangers) and is trying to turn them into a car.The split-window car he is referring to is on pg. 400 of LEWE (first edition). The heat exchangers are on pg. 396.The best description of the prototype is in Aichele's "Forever Young" and no one has been able to improve his work as far as I know,although Wolfgang Blaube has added confirming information to it in his articles about Don's 13327 (some published in English,some in German) Some day I'll try to learn how many cars had those fancy pedals.The Ebay guy's description of the pedals is accurate-"mechanical power braking"-referring to the additional leverage obtained by the configuration. The lost Holy Grail of Porsche's has finally been found The 901 2353000 Series Occam's Razor-"thereof,that the simplest explanation tends to be the best one" "The act of shaving away unnecessary assumptions" "I shall indeed interpret all that I can,but I cannot interpret all that I should like" Jacob Grim |
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Microfilm Microfiche Microform Found in Vehicle
The Microfiche discovered in car is a two page scroll
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Use simple image viewer and photo software to view
{find edges} ect.
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