PORSCHE’S BARNFIND 901

Porsche has an enviable collection of cars, and a visit to its Museum is always a special experience. But for years there was one model missing from Porsche’s own collection, and that was an early 901. Launched at the 1963 IAA Frankfurt Show, you’ll no doubt know the story of how that development number was subject to a trademark dispute with Peugeot – in France they had registered numbers with a zero in the middle – requiring some hasty rebadging that introduced the world to the legendary 911. The beginning of a model line enduring for more than half a century, it’s no surprise Porsche had long been keen to get its hands on an early 901, and on 5 August 2014 that wish was about to come true.

It was on that day that Alexander Klein, the Museum’s manager of its classic car collection, received a phone call from German television station RTL II. In the