After almost 10 years of ownership, the popular duo that host Spike’s Car Radio podcast, comedian Spike Feresten and lawyer Paul Zuckerman, are selling their rare Porsche 356 Zagato “Sanction Lost” coupe. It’s one of just nine Porsche 356 restomod coupes built by the Italian coachbuilder Zagato based on unearthed concept drawings from 1959. As such, the car features a unique interior housed in a handcrafted, lightweight aluminum body that’s mounted on an original Porsche 356 chassis.

“It’s a piece of automotive sculpture that combines the best of German engineering with the romance of Italian design. It’s a car you recognize, but don’t recognize,” says Feresten, the comedian and writer behind hit TV shows such as Seinfeld, Letterman, Saturday Night Live, and The Simpsons.  

The story goes that back in 2015, Milan-based Zagato was digitizing its expansive design archive when it came across drawings for a Zagato coupe. That styling study was based on a one-off Porsche 356 Speedster that Zagato had originally built in 1957 for the French gentleman-racer Claude Storez. Zagato’s current C.E.O., Andrea Zagato, came up with a plan to put the car into production—as part of its so-called Sanction Lost program—with a series of nine coupes and nine speedsters. After getting the full blessing of Porsche, the cars were delivered between 2015 and 2019. Feresten tells Robb Report that he and Zuckerman, his partner in car collecting, were offered the seventh of the nine coupes in 2017 for delivery in 2019.

“We really didn’t know what it was, and didn’t have a lot of time to think about it, so we passed. Then a few months later, Paul and I were flying into Monterey for Car Week, and I was flicking through the latest issue of Porsche Club of America’s Panorama magazine, which had a seven-page feature on the car with gorgeous photography,” says Feresten. “I showed it to Paul and he says, ‘So that’s the car we just passed on? We need to get it, like, now.’ As the plane is literally coming in to land, I’m texting Zagato asking if there was any chance we could reconsider. Amazingly, they gave us number seven.”

The car was born from a shabby 1960 Porsche 356 B coupe that was found in New York City and shipped to Milan. There, its chassis and 1.5-liter flat-four engine were fully restored and mated to the Zagato body. While the silver coupe was delivered to the Spike’s Car Radio hosts in time for its debut at the 2019 Porsche-centric Werks Reunion exhibition during Monterey Car Week, it wasn’t quite up to the standards of both Feresten and Zuckerman. So, they sent it to acclaimed Porsche 356 specialist John Willhoit, in Long Beach, Calif. Over $100,000 later, the car had completed a makeover that included a fully rebuilt 1.5-liter Super 90 engine uprated to 125 hp, and lightweight Technomagnesio magnesium wheels.

“Paul and I just wanted this thing perfect. Now we feel this is the best sorted, the best set up of all nine Zagato coupes in the world. We really took the time to go through every little detail,” explains Feresten.

What’s it like to drive? Feresten says it’s all about the weight, or lack thereof. “It’s incredibly light, weighing just 1,500 pounds. Even with 125 hp, it is really an event to drive, delivering a truly unique driving experience that’s like no other Porsche I’ve driven. It’s a lot of fun.”

Since owning the Zagato, Feresten says he’s only piloted the car in and around Los Angeles, taking it to a few local Cars and Coffee events, and letting former Tonight Show host Jay Leno drive it for one of his episodes of Jay Leno’s Garage.

Feresten notes that part of the appeal is that the car is one of only three 356 Zagato coupes in the U.S., with one being owned by Ben Clymer, founder and C.E.O. of the Hodikee luxury-watch website, and the other in the collection of a high-profile Los Angeles realtor.

Why are Feresten and Zuckerman selling? Zuckerman recently acquired the famous, ultra-low-mileage 1965 Chick Iverson 356 SC from their friend Jerry Seinfeld‘s fabled Porsche collection. The bright orange coupe has just 7,200 miles on the odometer and spent the majority of its life at Iverson’s Porsche/VW showroom in Newport Beach, Calif. It’s arguably the most original 356 in the world.

“Paul and I have a program called Plan Z, where we share some of our cars. We’ve both wanted the Iverson car for over a decade, so the plan is to sell the Zagato and partner on this. And drive it, despite the low mileage. We’re going to uncork the bottle of fine wine and drink it.”

The pair have the Zagato listed with an asking price of $525,000, and those interested can contact the car’s representative, Scott Rouleau. As a pricing reference, the most recent Porsche 356 Zagato coupe to sell was a reimagined 1960 Porsche 356 B Super 90. It fetched $445,000 at the Broad Arrow Porsche Air I Water auction last year. 

Click here for more photos of this 1960 Porsche 356 restomod by Zagato.