The next installment in Sports Car Digest’s therapeutic look back at classified advertisements features two rare Porsche racing cars offered for sale in the January 1962 Road & Track. The same seller is offering a Porsche 550 RS Spyder and a Porsche 781 RSK.
Seller Linley Coleman was a well-traveled race car driver from the era, having driven everything from Porsches to Ferrari 250 GTOs to Shelby Cobras, at venues like the Targa Florio, Nassau Speed Weeks and Daytona. In fact, Coleman finished 3rd at the 1962 Bahamas Governor’s Trophy Preliminary Race driving a Porsche 550 Spyder, which we would assume would be our first subject car. Additionally, the two Porsches were serviced by the legendary Brumos Porsche.
Porsche 550 RS – Revered by Porsche aficionados, the 550 Spyder gave Porsche their first overall victory in a major international sports race, the 1956 Targa Florio. It is also infamous for being the car James Dean was driving when he died in an accident.
This particular Porsche 550 was offered for sale with only one race (overall win at Daytona) since a complete overhaul by Brumos Porsche. Readers were given a “chance to own a sure winner for only $4995.”
If the period under $5k price tag is not excruciating enough, try the current market price which the 2008 Sports Car Market price guide pegs at $1,200,000 – $1,500,000.
If you made the prescient purchase in 1962, your $4,995 Porsche would have appreciated at roughly 13% annualized over nearly 47 years.
Porsche 718 RSK – Successor to the 550, the 718 RSK took overall honors at the 1960 12 Hours of Sebring, plus class wins at Le Mans, among other famed races.
Carrying a large $7,450 price tag, the seller reports the Porsche RSK was “completely checked and repaired as necessary” and that it is “unbutchered and very rapid.”Race history is not known, but given that its owner was a known driver, rest assured that it was driven in anger many times.
The 2008 Sports Car Market price guide suggests $750,000 – $850,000 for a Porsche RSK. If you bought the RSK in 1962, your $7,450 Porsche would have returned 11% annualized over nearly 47 years.
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[Source: Road & Track]
