On August 21, 2011 Road Scholars Restorations won 1st in Class at the 2011 Pebble Beach Concours. After a two-year restoration project for Hans Peter Porsche, Road Scholars debuted the 1949 Porsche Gmund Coupe to take First in Class in the Class O-2 Postwar Sports Closed.

See complete list of winners here: Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance Winners Announced.

If above video won’t load, click here to see Road Scholars co-owner, Cam Ingram, interviewed by Jay Leno about this Gmund Coupe.

Our sincere gratitude and appreciation goes out to Hans Peter Porsche and Rolf Sprenger for this incredible opportunity.

See the Gmund Coupe featured on Jay Leno’s photo gallery:


About Hans Peter Porsche’s 1950 356/2 Gmund Coupe #45

This rare 1950 356/2 aluminum bodied Porsche Gmund Coupe was one of the first production cars made in Gmund, Austria. It has the distinction of being the 45th Porsche built with chassis number 356/2-045.

The Gmund cars as they are known, truly represent the success story of Porsche. These arcane, yet skillfully built cars from Gmund, represent Dr. Ferdinand Porsche’s first clear statement of purpose for building personal sports cars.”

There was a total production of 52 units built in Gmund, with an additional 11 bodies created later for competition cars.

Chassis 356/2-045 completed and shipped to Scania Vabis in Sweden on July 18, 1950. Porsche would sell a combined 15 Gmunds to the truck manufacture Scania Vabis, which was also VW’s importer in Sweden. Chassis 356/2-045 would be apart of the last series of Gmund’s that were assembled at Tatra (Coachbuilder in Vienna) and finished at Porsche Salzburg.

We spent over 2000 hours researching different archives around the world and inspecting four different Gmund’s in person. It was a very interesting fact finding mission, with many differences found between each model. Indicitive of the limited resources during the time of production and post war Germany.

It became evident during our inspections that the cotton binding that seperated the body from the chassis did not do much to protect the cars from electrolysis over the years.

Distinctive Features

Erwin Komenda displayed his mastery of automotive design with the shaping of the 356/2 coupe. Like most great car designs, it stayed true to its design and did not grow in proportions when built.

The first Porsche’s were hammered out over wooden bucks by craftsmen (Frederick Weber) in the little saw mill in Gmund.

The coupe’s most distinctive feature is its flowing fender lines and partially enclosed rear wheels. Its classic fastback roof line showed traces of the Type 60K10 that was designed for the 1939 Berlin-Rome Race. It has mechanical brakes and is powered by an 1100 cc, 40 horsepower air-cooled engine, with two Solex carburetors.

Original Components

This 1949 Gmund has the following original components:

  • chassis #45
  • motor #43
  • body #35

During the dismantling phase of the restoration, we found the original red paint underneath the hood hinges and behind the door striker plates. We later confirmed in Porsche records that 356/2-045 was indeed painted red from the factory.