1951 Sauter roadster:is it considered a prototype?

[HistoryBuff]

I thought at first glance it was an America roadster but then I noticed it it has rear hinged doors,
and a different rear deck. I heard it was hand built by Sauter while the Americas were already in production so it couldn't have been the prototype, or could it?
If he did a good job on it,why didn't he get a factory contract? Does anyone know what the restorer/barn finder paid for it I when he found it as somewhat derelict?
by the way in the pictures on the bricks, I recognize those bricks
as the floor for the outdoor display at the RM auction in Monterey. Anyone know how much it sold for then?

[HistoryBuff]

I am inclined to believe it but still some other website said it was constructed when the Americas were already being built

The site saying it is a prototype is Speedsters - a site dedicated to all aspects of Porsche Speedsters from the 1950s to the present day

[HistoryBuff]

Porsche Sauter

who is right? I am wondering about model year, if the Sauter was already running in '51 and the first Americas not done until '52, that leans toward theory that Sauter is inspiration for the America

[HistoryBuff]

This yellow car with unique trafficators (swing out turn signals) was on display at an Austrian historic Porsche exhibit and I think is at the factory. It dates to '49 but I don'r recall the factory assigning Keibl to build it. I never heard of that coachbuilder. He must have not had much production capability. You want to be nervous, note no windshield frame, so when you inverted it, you depended on the glass to protect you...(lots of luck with that). Rear fenders look Karmann-Ghiaish but these was 4 years before the KG prototype.
Anybody know the chassis number? On this site

Web Site Blocked

they present this info;

Porsche 356/2 Gmünd Cabriolet
Model Year: 1949
Engine: 4-Zyl. Boxer
Displacement: 1131 ccm
Power Output: 40 PS (29 kW)
Top Speed: 140 km/h

History:
Following World War II, the first Porsche sports cars are built in Gmünd, Astria. Between 1948 and 1951, 53 vehicles are built here, all through labor-intensive manual work. Production of a few convertibles is outsourced to the Keibl company in Vienna. The 356/2, which achieves excellent acceleration and braking performance despite its low engine power, makes its debut at the Geneva Motor Show in 1949.

[Parrot356]

That was Ray Knight's car. It has been a while but I seem to recall he located it in a junk yard in Indiana or Ohio. He restored it himself in the early 1980's and kept it until he sold the car and his Pre-A cars within the last 2-3 years. Not sure who has it now, but it a really cool car. I remember being around it at car shows when I was a kid.

[HistoryBuff]

I saw on the net Ray gave a speech at Wabash College on finding and restoring the car. Was it the proverbial "barn find? Did he ever say what he paid for it? What year did he find it? I sure am glad he got to own it after it was restored, because so many times a barn finder doesn't have the money to restore it and his treasure goes on to a new owner. That one picture looks like it was taken at the courtyard where the RM auction is based in Monterey. If I'm right, does anyone remember what RM sold it for? By the way as far as this car inspiring the factory to build the 550, I'm on the fence on that--some say it existed before the first 550, others say it was built about the same time as the 550 spyder.

[Parrot356]

It has been too long since I heard the story from him (or Ken Daugherty) to remember all the facts. But he found the car in the early 80's in a junk yard, if I recall correctly. Tracked it down off of a tip, verified what it was and then went and hauled it out/home. He did the the restoration himself and enjoyed the car for probably 30 years before selling it and most of his collection. I think he sold it in a private deal not an auction.