Meet the most influential Porsche You've never heard of

It could be said, if there weren't any of the following vehicles, maybe Porsche would never have had a racing program, at least, none that were so entrenched from the start. Yes, this car begins with the figure of Walter Glöckler was initially a motorcycle racer and owner of a car dealer in Frankfurt.

The 1954 Glöckler-Porsche 356 Coupe is the forerunner to the rise of the Porsche in the modern world of racing. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/33TSNbI)

By his curiosity about a car, made him able to spend countless hours of tinkering so then led him became an early adopter of a strange kind of new racing car model which is later known as the Glöckler-Porsche 356 Coupe, a progenitor of Porsche's greatness on the racing tracks.

The 1954 Glöckler-Porsche 356 Coupe has vertical headlights, including a third one placed in the center beside its rounded headlights in the front. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/3j0EJn7)

From its appearance, the Glöckler-Porsche 356 was indeed very different from other Porsche 356s, which began to be produced by this German manufacturer in 1948. Well, shortly after being launched, 6 units were assembled by Glöckler and his team into racing cars from the Porsche and Volkswagen parts.

There's a Porsche badge along with a small-sized Glöckler-logo above the third headlights of the 1954 Glöckler-Porsche 356 Coupe. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/33TSNbI)

The new racing car uses an all hand-hammered aluminum body, so then no wonder the weighs less than 1,000 lbs. Thanks to Glöckler's unique expertise to improve the Porsche design, so it is not surprising that his racing car started to reap great results on the track when it managed to win car races under 1,000cc across Germany in those days.

The 1954 Glöckler-Porsche 356 Coupe uses a Type 547 quad-cam engine from the 550 Spyder, the same engine that would eventually support the 356 Carrera. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/33TSNbI)

When the Glöckler racing cars wandered to many racing tracks at that time continued to make the best achievements, vice versa Porsche experienced different things, the German manufacturer is experiencing financial problems led it had an impact on many aspects. One of them that there is no time and means can be allocated to compete on the racing track. Despite these conditions, previously the Zuffenhausen engineers have been attracted by Glöckler's efforts and already gave him their full support.

The 1954 Glöckler-Porsche 356 Coupe appears with a simple dashboard that features several instrument panels and a rounded steering wheel. (Picture from https://bit.ly/33TSNbI)

In the 1950s, Porsche's financial condition was slightly improving and stable, the company decided to produce racing cars again. And they then borrow the Glöckler design for the Porsche 550 Spyder racing car to compete in the Le Mans racing event with Helmut Glöckler (Walter Glöckler's cousin) behind the wheel. Well, it could be said this car was the company savior on the racing track at the time.

The 1954 Glöckler-Porsche 356 Coupe has special features like wheel spats on all four corners. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/33TSNbI)

Even though on early Glöckler-Porsche model was considered a somewhat eccentric, at first glance, resembling a bathtub, with a small pillbox bunker to accommodate its driver. But on later models also included features such as wheel spats on all four corners, small chrome grills on the front, and upright headlights.

The window frames of the 1954 Glöckler-Porsche 356 Coupe were misaligned. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/33TSNbI)

Although all of these racing car models have never achieved huge success on the racing circuit or even matched the achievements of the inspired models, clearly today, all of them become something that is very valuable in the hands of collectors.

The story didn’t end there, the Glöckler's seventh model was designed to compete in the 1954 Mille Miglia is considered sleek and beautiful. The car has a panoramic window split down the center, wheel arches cut into the body, vertical headlights, including a third one placed in the center.

The 1954 Glöckler-Porsche 356 Coupe has a panoramic window split down the center. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/32YyESF)

Subsequently, the window frames were misaligned, the door was cut into the roof, and tailfins were added on the rear. The engine provided by Porsche engineer Ernst Fuhrmann was a Type 547 quad-cam from the 550 Spyder, the same engine that would eventually support the 356 Carrera.

Due to production delays, the Glöckler-Porsche 356 Coupe had to miss the starting lineup at Brescia but it was still able to compete in the Liège-Rome-Liège rally, even though it should be limped to cross the finish line due to serious technical problems.

In 2014, this coupe known to be sold privately. And then traveling from one exhibition to another around the globe, so far it able to make Porsche enthusiasts delight, at the same time made them feel surprised as well while to see there's a Porsche badge above the third headlights on something otherwise not similar to the Porsche car model generally. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | ROAD & TRACK | THE AUTO GALLERY]

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