On a blustery day along the Dutch North Sea coast, where the gray skies lean heavy over narrow canals and wind howls through the historic town of Hoorn, a flash of Porcelain White brings time to a standstill. It’s not just any classic Porsche making its way down the Korenmarkt. It’s a car with a story so rare, so eccentric, that not even its current owner, Henk Spin, suspected its true identity when he bought it as a humble restoration project more than a decade ago.
Now, ten years and more than 3,000 painstaking hours later, Spin’s 1958 Porsche 356 A Coupé has been brought back to life — and not just restored, but resurrected in its exact original form. Except this wasn’t just any factory 356. This was a factory one-off, commissioned by a mysterious engineer with a fondness for experimentation and a direct line to Porsche: Reinhard Schmidt.
From Rust to Revelation
“When the car arrived from Arizona, it was in worse shape than I had imagined,” recalls Spin, a 65-year-old retired aviation industry manager with a passion for rallying and mechanical precision. “It needed everything — bodywork, mechanicals, electronics, upholstery. But something about it didn’t add up.”
Curiosity turned to obsession. In 2008, Spin made a pilgrimage to Porsche’s archives in Stuttgart, where a cryptic shorthand note on the original Reutter body documents would crack the case: “Reinhard Schmidt, Hannover.”
That name set the wheels of history in motion. Porsche archivists confirmed the discovery: Spin had stumbled upon one of just eight “Schmidt cars”, vehicles built at the factory in the 1950s and ’60s to the specifications of Schmidt — an ATE engineer with ties to both Volkswagen and Porsche. A man who didn’t just push boundaries, but politely asked Porsche to build him a prototype and signed the check.
What Makes a Schmidt Car?
This wasn’t just a Porsche with fancy trim. It was a testbed for innovation. The chassis number 102324 carried with it a laundry list of bespoke modifications that no standard model could dream of. Chief among them: a wireless in-car telephone system, a feat so advanced it warranted coverage in the August 1958 issue of Christophorus magazine. At the time, the system cost nearly half the price of the car itself.
But that was just the start. The dashboard bristled with special instrumentation: a Junghans clock from the 356 Carrera GT rally car, a Carrera speedometer, an electric wiper pump, and toggle switches where push-buttons would normally reside. Schmidt even specified reverse lights, trunk lighting, a rally spotlight, and a toolbox hidden beneath the passenger seat.
Outside, the Porcelain White paintwork gleams against a rare Acella Red interior, with white Nappa leather seats, red window trim, and beige knobs and steering wheel. It’s not a colorway — it’s a statement.
The Restoration Journey
The road back to originality wasn’t smooth. With body panels sourced from Porsche Classic and rare period-correct components hunted down from collectors, Spin worked like a historian with a toolbox. He relied on experts across Europe to restore everything from the engine to the smallest electrical fittings. He even recreated the distinctive 50-centimeter antenna for the Lorenz telephone system.
“It took nearly four years just to gather the body components,” Spin says. “After that, it was like assembling a jigsaw puzzle without the picture on the box.”
His workshop, nestled on the edge of town, is a shrine to Porsche: tools painted in classic Porsche red, walls lined with vintage racing posters, and nearly every issue of Christophorus ever printed. In front of the garage, a Macan and Cayman S keep the 356 company, while a 1972 911 T awaits its turn under Spin’s watchful eye.
The Legacy of Versuchswagen 145
Emblazoned with yellow plates marked “Versuchswagen 145” — Test Car 145 — the finished 356 isn’t just a car, it’s a rolling prototype from Porsche’s forgotten past. Many of its unique features predated their appearance in series production by years, making Schmidt’s vision almost clairvoyant.
“Schmidt’s cars were vehicles from the future,” Spin reflects. “And this one, in particular, was the blueprint for ideas that only became mainstream later.”
Now fully restored, the 356 A Coupé draws admiration everywhere it goes. Yet only a handful of enthusiasts, like Spin, understand just how special it really is.
A Reward Beyond Numbers
To some, restoring a one-off 1950s prototype for a decade might seem like an irrational indulgence. But for Spin, it’s something far deeper. “The joy of experiencing technical perfection — that’s not such a bad way to chase happiness,” he says, echoing the same sentiment expressed in that 1958 Christophorus article.
And perhaps that’s what makes this car so significant. It’s not just a machine. It’s a memory, a mystery solved, and a piece of Porsche history — rescued, revived, and returned to the road by one man’s passion and patience.
Source: Porsche