Porsche's Technological Innovations Part 6: With Zagato and Abarth to Dominate in GT

Ferry Porsche couldn’t have imagined that, on that autumn day in 1954 at the AVUS circuit, during the final of the European Grand Touring Championship, a lineup of no fewer than 14 Porsche 356 Carreras would be humiliated by a lone Italian driver behind the wheel of a Fiat 8V. He came to terms with it – even though some of those 14 were official cars entered by Porsche itself – realizing that the discreet and elegant driver was also the creator of that Italian car: it was Elio Zagato, who had raced with a Fiat 8V bodied by his own company, Zagato. From that defeat began a brief but intense relationship between the two men. Ferry was well aware that the handicap of his Carrera models was their weight. The decision to produce them with steel bodywork instead of aluminum had been made to avoid costs that would have pushed up the market price. As we saw in last week’s Chapter 5 of Porsche's Technological Innovations, Ferry was already winning everywhere with the magnificent 550 RS Spyder, ultra-light and aluminum-bodied. It was immediately clear to him that something had to be done.

The Porsche 356 Carrera GTL Abarth, with L standing for Light, featuring an aerodynamic aluminum body built by Zagato for the 1960 racing season.

To avoid disrupting the market—had it become known that an aluminum Carrera was being developed, sales could have taken a hit—he chose an indirect path to test the benefits of lightness and improved aerodynamics by turning to the famous Italian coachbuilder. Zagato-bodied cars — whether the small Abarth Zagato 750 and 1000 models, or Lancia, Alfa, and even Ferrari vehicles — were winning everywhere. So, an aluminum prototype was initiated, with better weight distribution and lower height to improve drag coefficient (CX), commissioned not directly by Porsche but by a French customer-driver racing with a Carrera. The result was clear: the Carrera thus transformed, in Speedster version, won everywhere during the 1958 season.

The 356 Carrera GTL Abarth proved competitive right from the start, collecting over 100 class wins in 400 races.

Ferry did not hesitate to allocate 20 chassis to a project identified as the 356 GTL, with L standing for Light. Both for reasons of discretion and to have a liaison with Zagato — also for language reasons—he asked Karl Abarth to act as intermediary and project manager. It’s worth remembering that Karl Abarth had collaborated with Ferdinand and Ferry Porsche on the Cisitalia Formula 1 project and was the ideal contact. Thus were born the Porsche GTL Carrera Abarth models, which immediately began to win in the 1500cc Grand Touring category.

In 1960 and 1961 at Le Mans, the 356 Carrera GTL Abarth achieved two consecutive class wins, finishing 10th overall in both editions.

As with the 550 RS Spyder, the results were surprising even in the overall standings. In 1960, the GTL not only won its class but finished 10th overall at Le Mans and 6th overall at the Targa Florio. The success continued without interruption, with victories and excellent placements again at Le Mans and later at Nürburgring, Spa, Targa Florio, Sebring, and Daytona. The gamble had paid off: Ferry, from that moment on, after the racing career of the 20 GTLs ended — with over 100 wins out of 400 races — focused all motorsport efforts within the company. The Italian experience had been useful, but Porsche clearly no longer wanted to associate its brand image with others.

Despite the repeated successes of the 356 Carrera GTL Abarth, Porsche preferred to continue independently.