Porsche
356 SL Gmünd Coupé (Le Mans 1951, chassis 356/2-063)

Why it matters

Chassis 356/2-063 is the car in which Auguste Veuillet and Edmond Mouche won their class at the 1951 24 Hours of Le Mans and finished 20th overall, which Porsche calls its first Le Mans winner. The result helped establish Porsche internationally and started its factory-supported motorsport. After the race 063 spent decades in California, was converted to an open car and was only recognised as the Le Mans car through an archive and bodywork investigation in the 2010s.

How rare is it?

Six separate kinds of rarity – never combined into one number.

Each kind of rarity is rated separately and never combined.

Production

Every figure says what it counts.

Independent counts (e.g. engine and colour) are never combined into a calculated figure. Surviving examples are never presented as original production.

History

When Porsche moved from Gmünd to Stuttgart, some unfinished aluminium bodies were left behind. They were completed at Tatra in 1950 and later delivered to Zuffenhausen, and 063 was among them. Prompted by Auguste Veuillet and Charles Faroux after the Paris Motor Show of October 1950, Porsche entered Le Mans in 1951; three accidents in testing and practice left 063 as the only car, and Veuillet and Mouche drove it to a class win and 20th place on 23 June 1951. Its best lap was 5:44.7 on lap 158, an average of almost 141 km/h. Later in 1951 it finished tenth overall in the Liège-Rome-Liège and set three international records at Montlhéry.

Porsche restored it to series condition and exported it to the United States at Max Hoffman's request, shipped in November 1951. In 1952 importer John von Neumann had coachbuilder Emil Diedt remove the roof to save weight. Chuck Forge owned the car from 1957 until his death in 2009, when Cameron Healy acquired it. A forensic study of the body with restorer Rod Emory and records from the Zuffenhausen archive identified it as 063, and it was taken back to Le Mans in 2023. Porsche says nine 356 SLs were built (five in 1951, four in 1952) and six are known to exist.

Technical specifications

Engine

Transmission & drivetrain

Chassis, body & dimensions

Performance

“Not yet verified” means no source has been checked for that value yet. Nothing is estimated to fill a gap.

Identification guide

How to tell an original from a replica or later conversion.

The identification of 063 rests on physical and documentary evidence gathered by owner Cameron Healy and restorer Rod Emory: scratched markings on the body panels, traces where the turn signals had been moved outward for the Liège-Rome-Liège, damage on a wheel cover that also appears in period Le Mans photographs, and documents from the Zuffenhausen archive. Porsche's archive also tracks the aluminium bodies by body numbers assigned at Tatra in Vienna, which allow individual bodies to be followed through several numbering systems. The car was later cut down to a roofless Spyder by Emil Diedt; the roof was recreated using laser measurements of the two other surviving 356 SLs.

Sources

Each number links to the exact facts it supports.

1. 1
   Porsche Klassik: 356 Gmünd SL Coupé | Porsche Newsroom Level A

   • 1 individual car, chassis 356/2-063 – Porsche's first Le Mans winner (Veuillet/Mouche, class win, 20th overall, 1951)

   Accessed 2026-11-11
2. 2
   New "Raceborn Moments" episode: Uncovering the story of the 1952 Porsche 356 SL Level A Porsche Newsroom

   • a total of five 356 SL cars were built ... total production to nine

   Accessed 2026-11-12
3. 3
   1951 Porsche 356 SL Gmünd Coupe Level B Stuttcars

   • Air-Cooled Boxer-4
   • 1,086-cc engines
   • Twin Solex carburetors
   • 34.3 kw / 46 bhp
   • aluminum bodies for their own use as factory competition cars
   • 640 kg / 1411 lbs

   Accessed 2026-11-12