This important story is behind the recreated Italian creation.
This is a 1961 Porsche 356 Carrera Zagato Coupe “Sanction Lost” replica. This is not a simple replica by an Italian coachbuilder. It actually has a fascinating story, dating back to the late 1950s.
The inspiration was derived from Claude Storez, Porsche racing car driver. In 1957, the racer was regarded as a “Prince Among Racers” and approached Zagato to create an aerodynamic body for his Porsche 356 Carrera Speedster. The company delivered the body with the unique red Zagato fins and a single-piece, curved windshield after a year. Porsche finished the job, almost fine-tuning all mechanicals before returning the car to Storez.
In September 1958, the Porsche-Zagato Speedster entered a stage race in the Tour De France Automobile. It is believed that he finished second in number 139. Storez was then invited to join a French rally in February 1959, where he encountered an unfortunate accident. His car was destroyed in the accident and the racer died.
This story inspired Herb Wetanson, an American collector to commission a Porsche-Zagato 356 Speedster that is identical to Storez’s original car. Zagato also agreed and called the recreation “Sanction Lost” instead of “Sanction II”, since Storez’s original car was never found.
To scan the photos of the original speedster, Zagato used photometric technology. This allowed the company to digitally recreate the design. Zagato found a sketch for a Zagato-bodied Porsche Carrera Coupe in the ‘Sanction Lost’ process. This led to them creating 18 units to celebrate Storez’s Speedster, nine speedters and nine coupes.
These cars all have Porsche 356s as donors. However, only two coupes or one speedster are equipped with Carrera engines. Only one of these three bodies is available in Bianco Gardenia with red accents.
The speedster and the coupe Porsche-Zagato Porsche-Zagato 356 Carrera units are available for auction at RM Sotheby’s. The coupe is expected to fetch between $550,000 and $600,000.