As a Porschephile, Herbert von Karajan was as passionate about the marque as he was about his professional life – being the most-renowned philharmonic conductor to emerge from Europe during the post-war era.
Von Karajan possessed the legendary status of being one of the earliest Porsche celebrities…along with actors James Dean and Steve McQueen—to get behind the wheel of a TYP 540 Speedster. Small in stature; however, he was regarded by the European motorsports’ media as an aggressive Porsche pilot, albeit with a very quiet and unassuming manner.
The Maestro’s first Porsche was a white 356 pre-A 1500 Normal Speedster, VIN 80481, that he personally picked up from the factory at Stuttgart in April 1955. For several years, he drove the Speedster everywhere even during the European winters –in the freezing cold and snowy weather.
In 1957, a fellow Porsche owner, Gottfried Koeschert, suggested to von Karajan that he could probably order a new TYP 550A equipped for public driving directly from the Factory. So, von Karajan called his friend, Ferry Porsche and asked to purchase a TYP 550A. After some deliberation, Ferry agreed to sell him a used 550A racer. Von Karajan accepted the offer. Porsche 550-0131 was personally delivered to von Karajan by the factory driver and editor of Christophorus, Richard von Frankenberg at Stuttgart Zuffenhausen. Von Karajan was elated!
As part of the sale agreement with von Karajan, Ferry told him that the Salzburg Porsche dealer would service and maintain the 550A. The dealership also agreed to store the 550A during the winter months. To von Karajan…that sounded Super!
Researching the race history of Vin 550-0131, I found it had been entered by the Porsche Werks at the 1957 Le Mans and driven by Hans Herrmann and Richard von Frankenberg. Unfortunately, the 550 A #33 became a DNF with ignition problems after being solidly in 13th place at hour eight.
After owning the 550A, von Karajan became the caretaker of other Porsche racers. In 1959, he replaced 550-0131 with a 1958 TYP 718 RSK. In 1964, he acquired a Porsche 904 GTS, and then a very rare 1975 Porsche Turbo (TYP 930) 3.0 RS.
The 1975 Porsche Turbo was built by Porsche’s Special Order Department for von Karajan using a Carrera RS body with a RSR racing chassis. The Turbo was painted in the Martini-esque livery and it had an exclusive ‘von Karajan’ script affixed onto the body just under the whale tail.
Von Karajan remained a close friend with Ferry Porsche and he was one of the first private clients who Ferry called when an early-production Guards Red 959 became available. Interestingly von Karajan’s wife, Elliette, expressed her concern about the expensive purchase price of this 959. Presumedly, she told Herbert, “You’d better sell more records,” and it is said that von Karajan responded by increasing his concert ticket prices. During his lifetime, von Karajan was estimated to have sold 200 million records!
Herbert von Karajan loved his 959, and so much so, he later purchased a second 959 for his collection. In addition to the two 959s, he owned several 911s.
Doing a back flip, von Karajan’s early life is important to note. He was a young Austrian native studying music at the Mozarieum University in Salzburg during the 1920s. His professional conducting debut took place in 1929. He was appointed to a conducting position in Ulm, Germany, and was then appointed Kapellmeister at Aachen, Germany in 1934, where he remained until 1941.
Von Karajan had been persuaded to become a Nazi party member in the 1930s. During the early years of the war, he opposed the ideology of the Third Reich and fled Germany with his family to Milan, Italy. He was exonerated by an Allied tribunal after the war ended in 1945. Von Karajan returned to Austria to become the principal conductor for the Vienna Philharmonic for the next four decades and performed regularly with the London Philharmonic, and Berlin Philharmonic, until his death in July 1989 of a heart attack at age 81.
In 2015, at the Los Angeles Literature and Toy Meet, I was talking with a long-time 356er friend, George Kehler, II of Johnson City, Tennessee. We were conversing about celebrities who owned 356 Porsches and George mentioned that the legendary European philharmonic conductor, Herbert von Karajan once owned an early 356 pre-A Speedster around the same time as actor James Dean.
George also recalled: “My father, George Kehler, studied piano in Salzburg, Austria, with the same piano instructor as Herbert von Karajan, the late and legendary Berlin/Vienna conductor. The professor teaching piano at the time was named Franz Ledwinka…whom I met in 1969. I recall that Professor Ledwinka taught at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria from which both von Karajan and my father graduated.”
A Renaissance man, von Karajan inspired the best of his orchestras and desired the best in life: his Porsches, houses, clothing styles, etc. My father always spoke highly of him.”
I was fascinated with George Kehler’s recollection…which led to this amplified storytelling.
Herbert von Karajan was a unique individual—controversial but a dominant figure who shaped the perception of sound for an entire generation of musicians and music devotees during the 20th Century.
Wilfried Strehle, the principal violinist under von Karajan recalled, “You can still hear this incredible passion, this thrust, this force, which might also explain –in metaphorical terms – his fascination for Porsche.”
A committed Buddhist, von Karajan was a believer that death did not mark the end of a life. I would like to imagine the Maestro is still passionately conducting in front of all his cherished Porsches – which are performing at ‘redline’ with distinctive and resounding exhaust notes…Vroom, Vroom!
*Lee Raskin is an internationally recognized Porsche 356/550 historian / author of acclaimed photographic biographies.
Copyright Lee Raskin
