Rarities at classic car meetings - Beutler Porsche
The nice thing about large-scale classic car meetings (such as the Oldtimer Sunday Morning Meeting in Zug/Switzerland) is that there are also real rarities to be found among the many frequently seen classics.
A Beutler Porsche surpasses the much-vaunted Mercedes-Benz 300 SL in terms of rarity and even a Ferrari 250 GTO was produced more often than the rarities produced by the Beutler brothers at the end of the 1950s.
On August 27, 1959, under the title "A four-seater Porsche" , AR presented the Beutler, which was built on a chassis that was 25 cm longer than the 356 and, with an overall length of 450 cm, offered space for four people and also had an enlarged luggage compartment. The body variant was built with the consent of Porsche - after extensive testing of the prototype.
The Beutler brothers (from Thun) also built other special bodies, using Lancia, Maico, Bristol and especially Volkswagen chassis as a basis. The designs appealed for their elegance, good use of space and practicality.
The Beutler coupés were praised in an article in the AR on March 20, 1957 on the occasion of the Geneva Motor Show tour:
"Beutler has reached a new peak in the clothing of the VW chassis, which this year will be equipped with the engine and brakes of the Porsche 1600. This year's version achieves the impression of length by the simplest means, namely by enlarging the front and rear overhangs and making both sections as flat as possible. These bodies, which have gained in purity of form thanks to numerous individual improvements, also feature very tightly dimensioned windshield pillars and a significant window area."
The collaboration with Porsche also resulted in a special 356 version, which is advertised in the following advertisement from 1960.
