THE ONLY PORSCHE SPEEDSTER from STAN TOWNES     

 











































The only Porsche Speedster built in '67. 


The car on the left picture of Stan Townes, who until 1958 had an original Speedster. In 1966 he was stationed and working at a U.S. airbase in Thailand. Porsche introduced the 911 in that period and Stan was interested in a new Speedster model.

Porsche had no plans to build a Speedster, fans had to wait until 1989.

Stan Townes decided to make a model by himself. He has made some drawings based on a 911 coupe. 
Years later in 1967 he find a crashed 911 coupe. He cut the roof of the crashed 911, modified front and rear of the 911 body, at the back he has a 1955 speedster cover mounted inside the car, reinforced with parts from a 911 Targa.

3 years work has crept into this design. The result was very successful and received worldwide attention in the various journals.
In the early years of the 911 some enthusiasts have tried to build also Speedster variants but they all died a quiet death, only the Speedster of Stan Townes was "Talk of Town".


" A One-Of-A Kind Beauty the Factory Overlooked "


Porsche has only made 4 Speedsters, the 356 was first produced in 1948. It was a long wait for a successor.

The 911 Carrera Speedster was only introduced in 1989. Three years later, in October 1992 introduced Porsche the 964 Speedster C2 of which 930 pieces were made.

In September 2010 Porsche launched yet another version of the 911 Speedster at the Salon in Paris, there were 356 made with a cost of 201,467 euros.

  


 On the left the designer Townes in his modified Porsche Speedster. 

Below the car is in original version



The person with photo camera did not know then that he would be the owner of this Porsche Speedster.

His name is Haig Haleblian and since 2009 the current owner.

More information about Haig Haleblian and his purchase below.
 





  San Francisco '71 or '72



ROAD & TRACK MAGAZINE
  SEPTEMBER 1972 





De Speedster van Stan Townes kreeg zijn eerste mooi artikel in het Road & Track magazine van 1972.

Several articles were written about the Porsche Speedster:

   -  "Porsche Sport 72" van W.W. Norton & Company uit 1973"
  -  "Porsche Specials" edited by Paul Frere - 1984
  -  "Porsche Speedster" the evolution of Porsche's Light Weight Sports Car - 1947 / 1994
  -  "356 & 911"  by Dr. Michel Thiriar - 1998





  -  Made into 1/43 scale model by Danhausen and marketed under the name metal 43 Minichamps and Plumbies




 

 

  " A One-Of-A Kind Beauty the Factory Overlooked "

 

 



 

      

BOOK CUSTOM PORSCHE - David Fetherston 
Thanks for the photo's above from "Tripe"
US forum:  CLICK HERE
  





 "first edition"  Bruce Anderson's 


  

Porsche Sport 72 van W.W. Norton & Company uit 1973

Sales advertisment Los Angles Times


After selling the Speedster was in very poor condition
(photo's below)

 

 

 
(Story of the current owner Haig Haleblian - 11/2011)

 After a hunt of 15 years on this car, I was finally the proud owner in September 2009 of Stan Townes Porsche Speedster.
The car was located in Sherman Oaks and I am the fourth owner. In the '70s I first saw this car on a parade.

Stan Townes sold the car in 1978 on Berkamp Gene, Gene kept the car for a few years, restored it and brought it back in the show circuit (Oakland, Reno and won numerous prizes etc). He sold the car back in 1993 with 11,000 miles on the clock to a certain Bob, the person from whom I bought the car.

With my purchase in September 2009, the car had serious signs of wear (see photos above)
The car had a lot of rust and needed repairs to brakes, tires, engine and other parts.

After some investigation I found that Mr. Berkamp did partial restorations. A portion of the restoration work was carried out in 1993,  then there is nothing more happened until I bought the car in 2009.

When I purchase the car, she was in bad condition, dirty, carpets and chairs were just rotten and the original roof covering was no longer present.
I have trying to make contact with both Mr.Townes as Mr.. Berkamp but have never received a reply.

I brought the car into its original glory.

The original sports seats are no longer present. I mounted Recaro seats which are better than the original sport seats.

The "American Mags" rims are gone and replaced by replica Fuchs.
The originale configuration was 15x7 in the front and 15x8 rear.

One surprise was that the car had a roof cover from a pre 911 (1958) at the back in place of the rear seats.
The roof cover was in '80 original as possible restored by the second owner Gene Berkamp  but was no longer present with my purchase.

I have tried to contact the original designer Stan Townes via email but these emails were never answered.
Also, I own all the documentation about this exceptional model from 1978, when Stan Townes has sold the car.

I had plans for rebuild the car but after a closer inspection, the enormous work, the many and expensive items (a Speedster window cost a lot of money), where you still find a 1958 Speedster cap, the price. It would not only be priceless, but the finding of the correct parts would not be easy.

I therefore welcome the proud owner of this current Speedster, he is in good hands.  

Haig Haleblian

  

 


HAIG HALEBLIAN

 

  
 PORSCHE PARADE 2010
St Charles - CALIFORNIA

 

 

 

 

  
 

 

 

 

 

 

  

  
 Ontmoeting huidige eigenaar Haig Haleblian & ontwerper Stan Townes (72) - 10/2011
Santa Clara, CA

 (Meeting of the current owner Haig Haleblian and Stan Townes - 10/2011)


 I had the good fortune to host a magical three hour meeting with Mr Townes and his car last month 10/2011. 
First and foremost, what a gentleman. I learned a lot about the car and the man behind the creation. 
To recreate the car would be difficult and expensive. At the very minimum you need a speedster rear cowl and windshield frame. There are no plans available. That's one of the amazing aspects of Stan. He did it by sight and feel. He did say it took him three years to complete the project. Stan sold the car to a restauranteur in Carmel who "totalled" it (insurance speak for damage was more than the value of the car). It was offered back to Stan, but he didn't have the heart to take it back much less look at it. He believes Gene Berkamp then bought it and parked it for several years before deciding to restore the car.

Haig Haleblian  

 


 8 February 2020 - (Click Here)


   
Made into 1/43 scale model by Danhausen and marketed under the name metal 43 Minichamps and Plumbies
 
 

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