It only seems like yesterday Porsche opened its dedicated museum in Stuttgart and yet it’s about to celebrate its fifth anniversary.
With the current 918 hybrid serving as the current Porsche hero model, a piece of automotive serendipity has served to provide the perfect exhibit for the museum’s celebrations, in the form of a once lost 116-year-old creation called the Egger-Lohner electric vehicle, C.2 Phaeton model.
Known as P1 for short—Porsche number 1—it is the first automotive creation of Ferdinand Porsche and dates back to June 1898. The car was one of the first registered in Austria and had its first real test in September 1899 when it was entered in a 40km race for electric vehicles held in Berlin.
It’s no surprise to learn that Ferdinand Porsche, at the wheel of his creation, won the race with a handsome 18 minute cushion back to second place.
The car was recently found in an unrestored condition and returned to Porsche. How the whereabouts of the P1 became unknown is a mystery, it would appear, but all that matters is the P1 is about to take place in its rightful home.
The P1 will be presented at a special invite-only event tomorrow night before being on show for the public this weekend as the Porsche Museum birthday celebrations commence.
You can learn more about the P1 after the break.