Giugiaro’s Mystery Car

By Wallace Wyss

Of course, it is not really “lost.” Someone out there has it and my basis for thinking that is that I’ve seen pictures of it restored and resplendent in a recent Randy Leffingwell book.

I speak of the Giorgetto Giugiaro-designed Porsche 911 roadster, a one-off car that was built by Carrozzeria Bertone back in the first half of the sixties when Giugiaro was the main man on the boards at Bertone.

Reportedly the car was the pet project of Johnny von Neumann, a flamboyant Austrian immigrant to America, who worked his way up from nowhere to become Porsche importer on the west coast in the Sixties. He also imported Ferraris and sponsored his daughter Josie in racing cars like his Testa Rossa. He was instrumental in getting both Ferrari and Porsche established in Southern California and raced his own Ferraris in in Europe, the US, Mexico, Argentina and Nassau. He was also a good talent spotter and hired such luminaries as Richie Ginther and Ken Miles as Porsche drivers.

He had his own ideas on new products and at one point was lobbying Porsche to make an open version of the upcoming 911. According to research I did lately I am concluding that Porsche saw open cars fall so much in demand with the last 356 models, at first they decided that they didn’t need to make an open version at all of the upcoming 911. They eventually changed their mind, and came out with the 912 and 911 targas.

But this car influenced them not a whit.

Now as to who exactly paid for the car to be re-bodied—I’d love to find that out.

One article said that von Neumann planned to market a production version at $8000—that sound ridiculously low by today’s prices. Still you’re talking Italian coachwork here, though a mass produced version it. I am sure the one off had to cost between $40,000 and $80,000 to make.

The styling is good in some respects and so-so in others. If you squint, you can see in it the same shape as the DeTomaso Pampero, a little two-seater prototype that Giugiaro designed while at Ghia, though that could have been designed after this 911 for Bertone, since Giugiaro went from Bertone to his own Italdesign company.

One of the most awkward parts is the headlights when open—Giugiaro normally hid them behind slatted covers but, when open, they take away much of the character of the nose.

Porsche, being run by proud Germans, was always a little suspicious of Italian design firms and what magic they could work out of banging on a piece of metal, maybe as a result of the earlier Abarth GTL Carreras that had been built earlier by Zagato out of 356 models. Those cars didn’t turn out to be that much faster than Porsches entirely made in Germany.

The interior of the Bertone 911 had quite a few changes, a center console, a center stack of gauges, the rear seat removed, Italian upholstery, the whole nine yards.

The car made its debut at the Geneva Auto Show where it was shown alongside the other Bertone hit of the year, the Lamborghini Miura, though of course that car’s designer is still in dispute, maybe started by Giugiaro and ended by Gandini.

After the car’s show career, it was upgraded from a standard 911 flat six to an “S” engine, and eventually was changed in color from maroon to black. It has been fitted with different wheels at different times, most recently with 914-6 Mahle wheels.

Disappearing Porsche

Here’s what I’ve traced of the car’s history so far: Bertone builds it, Porsche rejects it. Von Neumann sells it to Morley Kasler who gives it to Pete, his son. Chick Vandegriff, a famous Ferrari dealer in Hollywood, buys it from the younger Kasler, and takes it to a team of first class bodymen, including Neil Emory and Don Emory, to be repainted. That time it was still burgundy. Eventually it went to Randy Leffingwell, who wrote to us, saying that “I made those images in 1993 in Monterey. At that time the car was for sale through a broker in Monterey but he has since sold his business and he died. The current owner worked there at the time and remembered the car but there are no records of where it went.”

From there, the footprints disappear n the sands of time.

Whoever owns it now, to my mind, has to be congratulated for their vision because recently one-off Bertone projects by Giugiaro have gone through the roof, the best example being the Bertone Jet Aston Martin DB4Gt that fetched over $5 million at auction.

But back when I was offered this car, it didn’t turn me on that much and I barely knew the name (or could properly pronounce) Giugiaro.

The more fool I.

THE AUTHOR: Wyss’ present book Incredible Barn Finds, can be purchased directly from the publisher at (715) 381-9755.