1966 Porsche 911 Roadster by Bertone

This one-off Porsche 911 Roadster was presented at the 1966 Geneva Motor Show. It was created for one of the German manufacturer's American dealerships with a view to putting a limited series out to the American market. Bertone was given a challenging brief: to fit out a Porsche chassis, notoriously atypical in size and shape. It was also very important to deliver a high level of technical and design quality befitting the high quality of the basic product and the prestige of the marque.

The driving idea behind the design of the prototype was safety. The cockpit was completely separated from the rest of the vehicle, with the use of a rather deep swage line running from the windscreen along the upper edge of the doors to the engine compartment. This solution also allowed for notably low wings for this type of car. The styling of the dashboard also contributes to this, with the main instruments laid out vertically down the centre, and the tiny fascia tucked in behind the steering wheel.

The Porsche 911 Roadster is a fusion of some of the best ideas to appear on the Testudo in 1963, and many styling elements of proven success adopted on the Fiat 850 Spider in 1965.

Source: Porsche

Images: Bertone; classiccarcatalogue.com; Gooding & Co.