Porsche’s 1963 world sports car championship entry, the strange and unique Italo-German mashup 356 C

Porsche’s 1963 world sports car championship entry, the strange and unique Italo-German mashup 356 Carrera GTL Abarth, may be the most wild-looking racer ever. This car was delivered with a roofline too short for many drivers to even get in, but with Porsche’s four-cam flat-four aircooled engine it actually proved quite competitive. The 356 Carrera was already a competitive car, but this lightweight body shell pulled 5 inches in height, four inches in width, and five inches in overall length from the car making it a right side quicker.

Only 21 were built in total. The GTL weighs about 1750 pounds and puts out as much as 135 horsepower depending on state of race tune. Seen here hustling the lightweight high-rev machine is Porsche collector Ranson Webster during the Monterey Motorsport Reunion at Laguna Seca.