A 1952 Porsche that helped change America’s automotive landscape was the 34^th vehicle to be added to the National Historic Vehicle Register in 2023, cementing its story in the Library of Congress for future generations. As part of that work, we produced a short documentary film about the car titled Porsche in America: The Type 540 Roadster. At the ninth annual Grand Motoring Film Festival in Hilton Head, South Carolina on Oct. 31, 2025, that film took home two distinguished awards, Best Short Documentary Film and the overall Best in Show! This marks the second time the Foundation’s films have taken home Best in Show at the film festival.

An incredible array of car culture was celebrated on the silver screen at this one-of-a-kind film fest held in conjunction with the Hilton Head Island Concours d’Elegance. Each year, the Grand Motoring Film Festival blends car culture and cinema with a car show and an evening of documentaries and short films about cars and the people who bring these stories to the public. Festival organizer and film maker, Guy Smith launched the event to bring attention to the way, from the earliest days of cinema, movies and film have played a role in shaping the nation's love affair with cars.

Casey Maxon of the Hagerty Drivers Foundation accepts the award.

The award-winning film – “Porsche in America: The Type 540 Roadster”, chronicles the story of the Porsche Type 540 America Roadster, a little-known Porsche model which opened the floodgates to Porsche’s success in the United States in the early 1950s. This model, while not the first Porsche to be imported, was the first one specifically designed for American racers thanks to the input of visionary car importer Max Hoffman. Hoffman recognized America’s desire for a racing-oriented Porsche model, resulting in a small run of stripped-down, higher-powered Porsche roadsters. This group of 17 cars proved their mettle at races around the country, gaining widespread attention as they were competitive with more powerful and expensive cars. The success of the America Roadsters was just the beginning and soon resulted in the development of the Type 550 race car and the blockbuster 356 Speedster.

Watch the film here:

The Type 540 (No. 12336) featured in this film, the ninth of the 17 cars built, was ordered by Hoffman for California dealer John von Neumann. In August of 1952, it was delivered to its first owner, John Crean. Crean, an avid racer in Southern California, also loaned the car to John von Neumann’s stepdaughter, Josie. Josie von Neumann and John Crean would go on to have a successful race season with this car in 1952 and 1953. Crean was known to push the car to its limit and blew the engine multiple times, eventually swearing off racing, and selling the car. The Porsche was then purchased by a well-known hot-rodder turned sports car racer in southern California, Jack McAfee. McAfee became well known for his success with Porsches, touting their unique handling characteristics compared to larger, more powerful cars that typically dominated.

Left: The America Roadster racing at Torrey Pines. Right: Josie Von Neumann.

McAfee later sold the car, beginning a new chapter of its story. No. 12336 passed through the hands of several enthusiasts and collectors throughout the decades, even traveling to Japan before returning to the United States when it was purchased by Dr. Bill Jackson. One of the premiere Porsche collectors in the United States, Dr. Jackson, a careful steward, owned the car for thirteen years. As his health began to decline, he eventually made the decision to sell the car to its current owners, prolific Porsche collectors, the Ingram family. Bob Ingram, his wife Jeanie, and their sons Cam and Rory, owned the car for several years before restoring the car to its original configuration in 2018. No. 12336 underwent many changes over its lifetime, although it miraculously retained its original bodywork and mechanical components, impressive for a car raced in period. Cam Ingram’s Porsche-focused restoration shop, Road Scholars, performed a frame-off complete restoration being mindful of preserving the original craftsmanship from Porsche and the coachbuilder. It was presented at the 2018 Pebble Beach Concours D'Elegance where it took third in class.

The America Roadster’s exacting restoration led it to a Pebble Beach win.

The short documentary, produced by the Hagerty Drivers Foundation with filmmakers from Maestro Filmworks, chronicles this history of Type 540, its impact on automotive culture, and brings this story to life. Featuring an in-depth look at the car and the early days of Porsche, the documentary explores how Hoffman, von Neumann and the U.S. market were instrumental in building Porsche’s legacy. Cam Ingram, owner and restorer, as well as Chip Perry, owner of the very last America Roadster, were interviewed at Road Scholars to tell the nuanced story of the America Roadster. The documentation of this car will be added to the Library of Congress archives.

Behind the scenes in the filming of the documentary.

“The Hagerty Drivers Foundation would like to thank the Ingram family and the Road Scholars team for their important stewardship of this significant car. Their dedication, attention to detail and passion ensures that the car lives on for generations. We are honored to have captured the family’s story and the car’s provenance in conjunction with vehicle’s documentation for the National Historic Vehicle Register," said Casey Maxon, Director of Heritage for the Hagerty Drivers Foundation. "I'd also extend a thanks the Film Festival organization for including this documentary in the show and elevating automotive centric film making."

The Hagerty Drivers Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit launched in 2021 by Hagerty. With the purpose of shaping the future of car culture while celebrating our automotive past, the Hagerty Drivers Foundation provides vital program support for educational institutions training the next generation of restorers, scholarships for students in the automotive field of education, as well as students seeking formal driver education training. In addition, the Foundation continues to build a federally recognized program – the National Historic Vehicle Register – that documents and records the important history of our shared automotive past, please visit https:///driversfoundation.org/.