Recent History
Purchased in Florida from the estate of Gary Kempton (GK Restorations) in 2011, 51746 has undergone a no-expense-spared full nut and bolt restoration.
The restoration was undertaken and project managed by Brightwell Motor Company with key aspects sub-contracted to leaders in the vintage Porsche world: 1100 hours of metalwork by Lionel’s Bodyshop, engine build by Ian Clark at Wolfsburg Performance Services, gearbox by Cogbox, interior in beige leather by Neil Tadman, R509 Adria Blue paint by Andy Finch at Spike’s Vintage Restorations, gauges by Palo Alto Speedometer in California and carburetors by Carburetor Rescue in Arizona.
The car was carefully and slowly reassembled by Brightwell’s Dave Mcanulty who has over 20 years’ assembly experience on Porsche 356s.
Brightwell painstakingly researched the many changes that took place in the 1953 model year and restored all parts or sourced new old stock and excellent used parts to ensure complete authenticity wherever possible. The car has original beehive indicator lenses, shine down number plate light, Bosch headlights, Blaupunkt radio (with modern internals) and the correct brushed twill headlining and leather-trimmed A-posts and A-pillars. It took five years to source the correct parts for the engine alone, which was built around a 546 crankcase. (A 528 crankcase has since been sourced.)
This is a rare car, being a ‘Super’ and with the six-month only arrangement with the regulator under the dash and the centre-mounted fusebox.
For use in modern traffic the car is fitted with LED bulbs and a hidden LED brake light in the shine down number plate light. It is also fitted with a hidden primer fuel pump to make starting a breeze.
History
This was one of Gary Kempton’s special cars. He believed it to have racing history. The car was originally sold by Paris Porsche dealership Sonauto to ‘His Excellency Minister Bartels’, a Danish diplomat who bought the car in Paris and then took it to the US in 1955. It was serviced in 1955 at Hoffman’s New York with 12,000 kms on the clock.
In 1950, Eyvind Bartels was permanently delegated to the OECD and was also financial advisor to the Danish Embassy in Paris. Until he was appointed General Consulate in New York in 1955, he was a member of an influential civilian group, most of whom consisted of candidate politicians who organized Denmark’s foreign economic policy.
51746 – owned and raced by Gleb Derujinsky Jr?
When 51746 was purchased from GK Restorations in 2011, there was a printout with the car of the race entry for the 1955 12 hours of Sebring race, which is reproduced later in this document. The 1500 Super entered by Gleb Derujinsky Jr (pictured below in 1959) was circled. There were only 2 production Porsche coupes listed on the entry for this race, and one of them was Gleb’s – a 1500 Super.
GK Restorations was owned by Gary Kempton. He had many cars that were sold after he died. Gary bought 51746 and apparently a lot of other cars from a gentleman called Clarence Davis in Bessemer, Alabama. The car was painted in racing livery when it was at GK’s property in Florida – in white with faded centre stripes.
