Or not…

by Wallace Wyss –

Deep into research for my upcoming re-issue of my presently out–of-print Porsche 356 Photo Album, I was temporarily knocked off my chair when I saw a picture of what purports to be a factory authorized near copy of a Porsche 356 that was built in Argentina.

But the more I investigated, the more the words “KIT CAR” come to mind. Oh, it was genuinely done back in the Fifties, when 356 cars were still being made in Germany. The maker was a company called TERAM, (Talleres Especializados Reparaciones Autos y Motores) run by Pedro Daverda and his friend and partner Federico De Bucourt who started their car business back in ’48 in the city of San Isidro with branches in San Fernando and Capital Federal.

They must have put on a good show for Porsche because they supposedly got exclusive rights for ten years to distribute Porsches in their country. But already at the beginning of my research, before I was even knee-deep in The Big Muddy, I noted some hyperbole like a Argentine website claiming “TERAM thus becomes the only company worldwide to have obtained a permission of representation expressly approved by its owner Ferry Porsche.” What about all the distributorships in the rest of the world? What are they–chopped liver?

According to a couple of Argentinian sites, they first brought in a genuine Speedster and then some coupes from Germany, and even supposedly several Porsche 550 Spyders – those to run in the 1000 km of Buenos Aires.

The story gets more hazy the deeper you dig, turns out they made a fiberglass bodied car, can’t tell if it’s on their own floorpan or one from Porsche (they called it a “drawer frame” of steel). Looks pretty 356-ish from the nose but the tail is so amateurish I hate to show it.

A lot of the plans died when the ’55 coup d’etat came, where Peron had to scram.

A state-owned company acquired 144 bodies of uncompleted cars. It was at this point they might have moved the engine and designed a new chassis.

In the references I have, they call the car “The Teram Pointer Porch” which doesn’t sound like anything Ferry Porsche would have approved of (could be a Google Translate error…) though Argentinian sources say:

“The finished model received the approval of Ferry Porsche who affectionately called it “Indianer Porsche.” (After “Indiana Jones?” I ask?)

This Porsche 356 may have been in production between 1958 and 1963, and the Argentine source Bienvenidos a Autohistoria I La Historia de la Industria Automotriz en Argentina says 144 were made.

All I can say is, when you are a historian, you have to be wary because in your search for The Truth you are led down many strange roads, lit dimly by assorted and sundry acolytes, each claiming that they have for sale a fragment of the true cross. For me, this road was not worth traveling. I did a quick U-turn when I realized this was at best an early ‘50s kit car.

I hope some 356 history buff can tell me Ferry disapproved of the whole venture mightily…

Let us know what you think about this Porsche 356 in the Comments.

Wallace Wyss

 
 
THE AUTHOR: Wallace Wyss is the author of the upcoming Porsche 356 Photo Album (Enthusiast Books, Hudson WI 715 381 9755).
 
 

Summary

Article Name

The Argentinian Porsche 356

Description

Have you ever heard of this Porsche 356 made in Argentina? I haven't either.

Author

Wallace Wyss