The 1958 Okrasa Special Reborn: Steve Wright’s Classic VW-Porsche Legend

Legend Revived - Some cars are remembered simply because they were fast, while others earn their place in history thanks to their beauty or uniqueness. But every now and then, a machine comes along that seems to carry all of that at once—plus a story so unusual it feels like a movie script. The 1958 Okrasa Special belongs to that rare category, a hand-built racer that spent half a century hidden away before being brought back to life to astonish a new generation.

The 1958 Okrasa Special belongs to that rare category, a hand-built racer that spent half a century hidden away before being brought back to life to astonish a new generation. (Picture from: Ponfire in Flickr)

It all began in 1958, when racer David Small—co-owner of Barnett & Small, one of the first VW and Porsche dealerships in the UK—set out to create something extraordinary. With access to fresh parts straight from the dealership, he pieced together a radical design: a space-frame chassis with a flat floor, mid-engined layout, right-hand gearshift, and a body shaped in aircraft-grade 20-gauge aluminum. A 1950s Ghia roof topped it off, and the entire car weighed just 550 kilograms. For its time, this was a vision well ahead of convention.

The Okrasa Special initially built during 1958 and 1961 by David Small with inspiration from the Porsche 550 Spyder—never realized its full potential. (Picture from: Classic At The Clubhouse in Facebook)

Yet despite all its promise, the Okrasa Special—built between 1958 and 1961 with inspiration from the Porsche 550 Spyder—never realized its full potential in the hands of its creator. After covering just 46 miles, the project was abandoned, and the car spent the next fifty years in storage—silent, unfinished, and nearly forgotten.

The 1958 Okrasa Special completed by Steve Wright in 2018, after nearly 2,000 hours of dedicated work with specialists Mouland & Yates. (Picture from: Classic At The Clubhouse in Facebook)

The story might have ended there if not for Steve Wright. In the late 2000s, he discovered the long-silent machine and was captivated by its mix of rarity and possibility. Rather than restoring it to a static, museum-like state, Steve chose to complete what David Small had started. He even tracked down Small himself—then in his eighties—to hear first-hand about the car’s original design and specifications. That conversation bridged the decades, giving the project a sense of continuity and respect for its roots. 

The 1958 Okrasa Special underwent a resurrection that was far from simple, involving a meticulous process that felt more like an archaeological dig than a straightforward rebuild, as every component had to be carefully examined, restored, or reconstructed to honor its original design. (Picture from: Classic At The Clubhouse in Facebook)

The resurrection was far from simple. What followed was a process that felt more like an archaeological dig than a rebuild. Every component was carefully inspected: fuel and brake lines were replaced, fluids refreshed, and the engine checked over. From there, serious engineering work began. The rear suspension was reimagined with handmade trailing arms and adjustable coilovers, echoing Porsche RSK influences. At the front, the VW central tunnel was cut and re-welded to refine the suspension geometry. All of this demanded thousands of hours, and by 2018, after nearly 2,000 hours of dedicated work with specialists Mouland & Yates, the Okrasa Special finally rolled into the sunlight as a finished car.

The 1958 Okrasa Special features three engine setups: a 1300cc Okrasa twin-carb for the road, a reworked VW/Porsche race engine, and twin-Sharrock superchargers for speed records. (Picture from: Classic At The Clubhouse in Facebook)

At the heart of the machine lies a trio of personalities in the form of its engines;

1. For road use, it carries the original Okrasa twin-port, twin-carb 1300cc.  
2. For racing, it transforms with a reworked VW/Porsche two-piece case, Okrasa crank, Corillo rods, slipper pistons, Solex 40mm carbs, and re-engineered cylinder heads.  
3. And when chasing speed records, it pushes even further, breathing methanol through twin-Sharrock superchargers for explosive performance.

The 1958 Okrasa Special featured a reimagined rear suspension, incorporating handmade trailing arms and adjustable coilovers that reflected the engineering influence of the Porsche RSK. (Picture from: Classic At The Clubhouse in Facebook)

Supporting all this power is an equally advanced chassis: torsion bars with Koni dampers and an anti-roll bar at the front, handmade trailing arms and coilovers at the rear, and a modified VW gearbox upgraded with a prototype Gene Berg five-speed unit geared for 142 mph. Braking is handled by Porsche 356B GT-spec hardware with lightened drums, drilled plates, and cooling scoops—race-bred touches that highlight just how serious this car was intended to be.

The 1958 Okrasa Special's braking is handled by Porsche 356B GT-spec hardware with lightened drums, drilled plates, and cooling scoops—race-bred touches that highlight just how serious this car was intended to be. (Picture from: Classic At The Clubhouse in Facebook)

And then came the moment that crowned its second life. In February 2020, the Okrasa Special became the fastest pre-1966 VW/Porsche at the GP Ice Race in Zell am See, Austria. Just months later, in September of the same year, it set a world speed record for a standard Okrasa TSV1300-engined car, reaching 99.265 mph at Elvington, England. 

The 1958 Okrasa Special became the fastest pre-1966 VW/Porsche at the GP Ice Race in Zell am See, Austria. (Picture from: Ponfire in Flickr)

Today, the Okrasa Special is more than just a vintage racer. It is a bridge across time: imagined in the optimism of the 1950s, left dormant for decades, and reborn in the hands of Steve Wright, who believed in its unfinished promise. Its record-breaking performance more than sixty years after it was first conceived proves that some dreams never fade—they only wait for the right moment to roar back to life. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | CLASSIC AT THE CLUBHOUSE IN FACEBOOK | DDK-ONLINE | PRESSREADER | PONTFIRE IN FLICKR ]

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