Porsche
Type 64 (60K10) "Berlin–Rome"

Why it matters

The Type 64, also called 60K10, was Ferdinand Porsche's 1939 sports car based on the KdF-Wagen, prepared for the Berlin-Rome race. Its aerodynamic body and riveted aluminium construction anticipate the later Gmünd 356. The auction house calls it the ancestor of all Porsches.

How rare is it?

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

Each kind of rarity is rated separately and never combined.

Photos

Exterior, interior and detail photos with their licences.

• Porsche Type 64 (60K10) "Berlin–Rome" (Wikimedia Commons search)
  Photo: MartinHansV · CC BY 3.0
• Porsche Type 64 (60K10) "Berlin–Rome" (Wikimedia Commons search)
  Photo: MartinHansV · CC BY 3.0

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

In September 1938 Porsche proposed a sports version of the Beetle; Volkswagen then commissioned a similar car as the Type 60K10, which Porsche internally called the Type 64. Erwin Komenda supervised, Karl Froelich drafted the plans and Josef Mickl wind-tunnel tested a scale model. After the 1939 Berlin-Rome race was announced, the NSKK ordered three cars; the first was completed in August 1939 and the race was cancelled when the war began.

The second car was finished in December 1939 and ended up wrecked by US troops; a third body was completed in June 1940. Chassis 38/41 survived, was used by Ferdinand and later Ferry Porsche, and was sold in 1949 to an Austrian racing driver who kept it for 46 years.

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 surviving car carries chassis number 38/41 and engine number 38/43, the engine having been kept by a later owner and reunited with the car. The chassis starts from a pressed-steel KdF backbone flanked by rectangular tubular duralumin frames with an alloy floor, and the lightweight alloy body is riveted with more than 2,000 rivets. Distinguishing details are a split windscreen, sliding-door windows, wheel spats front and rear and a dual spare-wheel compartment under the front lid. A specialist found all key components original to 1939/1940. The Pretzel Beetle (VW 39) is a different car: 14 were built, one survives, and one of them used a Type 64 engine.

Sources

Each number links to the exact facts it supports.

1. 1
   Motor Sport magazine archive, July 2019 Level C

   • 3 Type 64 cars built for the Berlin–Rome race

   Accessed 2026-11-12
2. 2
   1939 Porsche Type 64 (Monterey 2019, lot 362) Level C RM Sotheby's

   • 38/41 would become the sole surviving example of the three planned cars
   • standard 985 cc VW engine was rebuilt with dual Solex carburetors
   • dual Solex carburetors, larger valves, and higher compression
   • flanked by rectangular tubular frames made of aircraft-gauge duralumin
   • lightweight body, smoothly fastened to the outer skin in a series of more than 2,000
   • A low curb weight of just 1,346 pounds

   Accessed 2026-11-12
3. 3
   The Volkswagen that was a Porsche Level A Porsche Newsroom · 2019-04-04

   • The engine power had been increased to 32 PS
   • the vehicle achieved the outstanding top speed for the time of 145 km/h

   Accessed 2026-11-12