1957 Porsche-Zagato 356 Speedster 'Sanction Lost'
Coachwork by Carrozzeria Zagato
Chassis no. 101251
Engine no. P*66422*

One of the oldest and most respected of automotive design firms, Carrozzeria Zagato was founded in Milan in 1919 by Ugo Zagato, who used techniques learned in the wartime aeronautics industry to create a series of lightweight competition cars. Alfa Romeo immediately realised the potential of Zagato's designs and thus commenced a fruitful collaboration that lasts to this day. Legendary racing models such as Alfa's 1500, 1750 Gran Sport and 2300 8C were followed by luxurious coupés and roadsters on FIAT and Lancia chassis.

Post-WW2, Zagato continued to re-body sports and GT cars for racing, its modified versions of the FIAT-Abarth 750 GT and Alfa Romeo Giulietta SVZ being particularly notable. Typically, the Zagatos were aerodynamically more efficient and considerably lighter than the production cars they were based on. For Zagato, 'form followed function', yet its offerings were always beautiful and never utilitarian.

In 1957, the Milanese coachbuilders were approached by Claude Storez, who wanted them to design a more aerodynamic body for the 1957 Porsche 356 Carrera Speedster he was racing. Zagato had completed the commission by the latter half of 1958. The Porsche left Zagato's workshops carrying a slippery-looking low-drag open body, which was finished in white and featured a curved windscreen with red longitudinal fins on the rear wings. The transformed Speedster was then shipped to Stuttgart, where Porsche fine-tuned the mechanicals prior to delivering the car to Storez.

In September 1958, Claude Storez entered his Zagato-bodied Speedster in the Tour De France Automobile, and it is believed he was the 2nd place finisher in the Reims GT race behind the Ferrari 250 GT TdF of Olivier Gendebien. A photograph exists of Storez in the Porsche-Zagato at this event (competitor number '139'). Storez's next known outing with the Porsche-Zagato was his participation in a rally in France in February 1959. Tragically, Storez was killed in an accident on the rally's final stage and his unique Porsche-Zagato vanished from view, never to be seen again.

Fast-forwarding several decades: Herb Wetanson, a prominent American collector, contacted Zagato and commissioned a Porsche-Zagato 356 Speedster identical to Storez's. The Storez Speedster is one of several 'lost designs' among the more than 440 that Zagato has produced since its foundation. Accordingly, it was decided to give some of the most beautiful a second life and make new versions of these lost designs. The Porsche-Zagato is the first to come from this programme.

As the lost Storez car had been unique and not one of a series, it meant that Zagato had to start from scratch in building another example, there being no survivors to use for reference, hence the project's title of 'Sanction Lost' rather than the 'Sanction 2' commonly applied to such continuations. Images and technical sketches of the original were held in Zagato's archive and that of the Porsche Museum; using the latest digital technology, Zagato was able to scan the original photographs of Storez's car to create a '3D' rendering in virtual reality.

Interviewed for Petrolicious, Andrea Zagato said: "When we saw how beautiful it was, we said to ourselves well, we can't afford not to make a car that's this important and this amazing because it marked the first collaboration between Zagato and Porsche." The digital data was used to construct the timber body buck, but otherwise the fabrication and assembly process was exactly the same as that used in period, the body panels being hand formed in aluminium, while all detailing was recreated to original specification. Built with the approval of the Porsche Museum, the new Zagato Speedster was dedicated to marking the German manufacturer's 60th anniversary. It was decided that only 9 of these new Porsche-Zagato Speedsters would be built, regardless of the demand, though finding suitable donor cars would prove far from easy. Zagato would go on to make two similar closed coupés to a design that had not borne fruit in period.

The current owner ordered this Speedster from Zagato in 2015. The 1957 Porsche 356A 1,600cc donor car was one of the relatively few delivered new to Sweden. The stamped engine number matches the Porsche Kardex. '356 Car and Parts' in Italy carried out the mechanical restoration and preparation to accommodate the Zagato body (invoices on file). Like Storez's original, this car has fintails accentuated in red. Delivered in 2016 to the current owner, the car has been hardly driven, covering only some 800 kilometres in six years (the vendor views his 356 Zagato more as a work of art). The 356 Zagato is road-registered in Belgium with the most-suitable personalized registration plate '356-Z'.

Accompanying documentation includes service invoices; Porsche Kardex confirming the donor car's specifications; old Danish registration document; correspondence concerning the Zagato conversion (2015); current Belgian registration documents; and a Belgian valuation report confirming the car's immaculate condition after the restoration/rebuild. Whether viewed as a work of automotive art or an exciting drive, this sublime Porsche-Zagato Speedster is certain to delight the fortunate next owner.