Porsche 718/2 Formula 2 Racing Car

This Porsche, painted in the national racing color orange, was the car of Jonkheer Carel Godin de Beaufort, Lord of Maarn and Maarsbergen.

He funded his love of motor sports himself and participated purely for pleasure, making him one of the last ‘gentleman racers’ in Formula 1. In daily life he was a hotelier and lived in one of the towers of Maarsbergen Castle. Aiming to participate in Formula 1, Carel Godin de Beaufort bought two dated Porsches in 1961, which had been successful in Formula 2 races. The cars were type 718/2s, fitted with Porsche Spyder RSK, 1.5-litre Carrera engines. In 1961 the regulations had been amended and cars with 1.5-litre engines such as these became eligible for Formula 1. Carel Godin de Beaufort participated in some fifty races with the Porsches, and was able to score several points in the World Championships of 1962 and 1963. His plan was to replace the cars with a Brabham Formula 1 racer, but this was not to be: during qualifying for the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring in 1964, Carel Godin de Beaufort crashed his Porsche and died from his injuries the next day. He was only 30 years old.