One (of Five) for the Road:
Beutler-Porsche Coupe #13069

by owner Henry Walker, Jr.

In March 1960, Bill Jones, associated with Porsche Southwest Cars Inc., the Porsche distributorship in San Antonio, Texas, was invited to Stuttgart for a two week meeting. After the events at the Porsche factory, Jones was asked to join a group to see the Geneva Auto Show. At the show he saw the latest version of the Beutler-Porsche four-seater sports cars and scribbled the prices of the options on the sales brochure (Image 1, left). In May of 1960 he wrote directly to Beutler to order a car.

In June of 1960 chassis #13069 (from the series of replacement and prototype chassis) was shipped complete with Köln Blaupunkt radio,1600 Super engine, and chrome wheels to Thün, Switzerland. Beutler Carroserie stretched the chassis 200mm (10 inches) and attached the hand-formed aluminum body. Unlike the Gmünd coupes and the Wendler Spyders, whose aluminum bodies were formed upon wooden ‘body bucks’ the artisans at Beutler formed the bodies free-hand! The battery and jack were moved to the engine compartment (Photo 1) to make room for an alloy gas tank (Photo 2 ) to fill the now vacant battery box.

Jones wanted an air-conditioner. However, the unit was not yet ready from Porsche before the chassis was shipped. Jones wanted a tinted windshield; however, it broke upon installation and the glass manufacturer was on holiday all month. Instead of delaying shipment a plain glass was fitted. The car was painted Cream with a Gray-Metallic top. The finished car was shipped from Switzerland back to Porsche for final inspection in September of 1960. From Stuttgart the car was shipped to the San Antonio distributorship with the usual “bulk shipment”.

The funnels that collect the rain off of the “rain tray” beneath the twin engine grills were overlooked (Photo 3 ). Beutler shipped them to Jones with installation instructions and apologetically reduced an appropriated amount off of the invoice.

Soon after receiving the car Jones installed a Super-90 from the first shipment of replacement engines, and mounted a Super-90 badge on the engine lid (Photo 4). The chrome wheels were replaced with chrome Rudge knock-offs and a wood Nardi steering wheel replaced the stock black steering wheel. Jones was installing “Porsche-Air” air conditioners at his dealership and had one installed into his Beutler.

The Previous Owners

After only a couple of years the car was traded to fellow Porsche dealer Vern Hagestad of Denver Colorado, who had it painted silver overall. Our family was living in Denver, and my father frequented Hagested’s. Ironically, he remembers seeing the car--the year 1965.

Evidently the car would not sell; again, it was traded to another Porsche dealer, Vasek Polak of Hermosa Beach, California. At the Laguna Seca Historic Races in 1998 we learned the car was purchased from Vasek’s showroom by Nancy Lee Batchelder of Palos Verde in 1967. During her ownership it received some damage to the aluminum skin and she had the problematic air conditioner removed. It ended up in Vermont owned by a Donald Oberstein of North Troy near the Canadian border. The car attended the 1970 Porsche Parade as the decal is still affixed to the rear window. It was sold by Oberstein to a William Hosea in September of 1978. Incidentally, if anyone knows of Oberstein or Hosea, I’d love to communicate with them.

From there the car’s history is lost until Don Britton of San Antonio, Texas brought the car to San Diego hoping it would sell at the Porsche Parade.

Beutler and Porsche

In 1949, the Beutler brothers built six 356/2 cabriolets while Porsche was still in Gmünd, Austria. Porsche moved to Stuttgart in 1950, renting a corner of Reutter Karosserie’s building. Although Reutter was contracted to built the 356 coupes, Porsche asked Beutler to produce all of the 356 cabriolets. Beutler was either unwilling or unable to produce that many cars and Reutter ended up producing cabriolets also. This (Photo 5 ) is a recent photo of Ernst Beutler sitting in 356/003 and that's Ernst's signature on the photo. This is the second-oldest Porsche in existence, after the prototype 356/001.

Porsche had the Beutler brothers design the body with the condition that it be recognizably Porsche--unlike the previous Beutler designs. So the final series of Beutler-Porsches used stock 356B bumpers, turn lights, brake lights, door handles, and a two-piece Porsche hood handle (Photo #10).

Two prototypes were built in November 1959 on 356B chassis #13030 and #13031. When Ferry Porsche saw the first cars he was pleased. I’ve heard from two sources that he especially liked the large front hood.

The 356B Beutler-Porsches influence can been seen in the nose and greenhouse of Porsche’s own four-seater type 695 prototype (chassis #13115) with T-7 body (Photos 11a & 11b). The 695, designed in 1962, never was produced but the front-end of the car was incorporated into the 911.

Getting #13069 Back Together

My father searched out and met Ernst Beutler at his home near Thun, Switzerland (his brother Fritz has long passed on). Through Herr Beutler we met our good friend Uwe Biegner (who owns the 356A Beutler-Porsche Coupe). I’ve had several communications with Jim Watson of Tennessee who has provided me with many photos of his unrestored 1960 Beutler (chassis #13031). This information has been indispensable in our restoration. I’ve talked to the original owner of #13069, Bill Jones of San Antonio. H.A. Sessions, also of Texas has also helped and provided photos of his 1960 Beutler (chassis # 13030), which he recently sold to a friend of Jim Watson.

In October ‘99 our family made the drive to Sedona (Photos 18a & 18b, above, Photos 19, 20, 21, 22, below) for the 1999 West Coast Holiday, where we were well received by the Arizona Outlaws. That's my son, the “Genuine Arizona Outlaw” with the red bandana, below.

Restoring the Beutler-Porsche has led us to meet some wonderfully interesting people, here in the States and in Europe. It represents a significant yet mostly overlooked contribution to the evolution of the Porsche marque. Admittedly, it doesn’t have the flowing lines of the 356, but it is the most fun I’ve ever had with a car.

Other reading regarding Beutler-Porsches

1. The Beutler-Porsche, a Story of Two Brothers in Switzerland, by Uwe Biegner, 356 Registry , vol. 21, no.1 May/June1997

2. The Beutler Porsches, Prescott Kelly, Porsche Panorama, July 1990.

3. Family Porsche, Mike McCarthy, Classic and Sportscar, July 1990. Good overview of the Beutler-Porsches, inspired by sighting #13031 at Sebring in 1990.

4. Porsche 356, Dirk-Michael Conradt; pp.30-35 chronicle of the “Gmünd” cabriolets built by Beutler

• p.42 stating Porsche offered all of the cabriolets to Beutler in 1950,
• p. 70 Porsche Type 530 four-seat study of 1950,
• pp.126-7 shows the Wendler four-seater and the 1959 customer survey that indicated 67% of customers sold their Porsche because the car is too small--hence the market for a four-seater Porsche.

5. 911 & Porsche World, No. 69, December 1999, pp.52-56. "The Beutlers did it!" by Keith Seume. Very thorough article covering the association with Porsche and Carroserie Beutler. Many photos, especially rare photos of early VW-based sports cars

Photo Credits

Image1 courtesy of Charlie White. Photos 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, by Chris Markham, Photo 21 by Robin Hansen, Photo 22 courtesy Mike Wroughton. All other photographs and previously published material provided by Henry Walker. All rights reserved.

This article was reprinted in edited form in the 356 Registry Magazine, Volume 24, Number 2, July/August 2000, pp.30-32

If you have additional information on Beutler-Porsches, existing cars or history, Henry Walker would like to talk to you. Via email: beaker356@cox.net

This page was updated 9/24/2003 changed Henry's email address. --robin hansen