Porsche 356

Porsche 356 at a glance

Development and production history

The 356 was created by Ferdinand "Ferry" Porsche; the company in Austria had been founded by his sister Louise. The prototype 356/1 of 1948 was a mid-engined car on a tubular chassis. The production cars that followed used the rear-engine, air-cooled four-cylinder layout of the Volkswagen Beetle, with an engine case and some suspension parts based on, and at first sourced from, Volkswagen. Erwin Komenda designed the body. The first prototype is described in our Porsche 356 "No. 1" Roadster article.

About 50 cars with aluminium bodies were made by hand at Gmünd in 1948 and 1949. In 1950 production moved to Zuffenhausen near Stuttgart, and from then on the steel bodies came from the coachbuilder Reutter, which Porsche bought in 1963; its seat business became Recaro. In the early 1950s cabriolets sometimes made up more than half of output. In 1948 the coupé was priced at US$3,750 and the cabriolet at US$4,250.

As the 1950s went on, the 356 shared fewer parts with Volkswagen. Porsche designed its own cylinder heads, camshaft and crankshaft, and the engine grew from 1.1 litres to 1.6 litres. Output reached its peak in 1964, the last full year, with 14,151 cars. Production ended in April 1965, with the 911 already on sale since September 1964; the last ten cabriolets were assembled in March 1966 as 1965 models for the Dutch state police (Rijkspolitie).

Design and engineering

The 356 is a small car: its wheelbase is 2,100 mm and its length 3,870–4,010 mm, depending on the version. Kerb weight ranges from 771 to 1,041 kg. The air-cooled four-cylinder sits at the rear and drives the rear wheels, the layout Porsche kept for the 911.

Each generation refined the body without changing its outline. The 356 A of late 1955 gained a curved windscreen. The 356 B of late 1959, known as the T5, brought what English Wikipedia calls significant styling and technical refinements. The T6 of 1962 added twin grilles on the engine cover, an external fuel filler and a larger rear window in the coupé. The 356 C for the 1964 model year had disc brakes on all four wheels.

Engines and drivetrain

The Carrera engine, with four overhead camshafts, was a racing design that Porsche also offered in the road car from late 1955 as an option on the 356 A. English Wikipedia counts only about 140 Carreras. All other 356s used pushrod engines, and the 1600 SC of the 356 C, with 71 kW (95 hp), was the most powerful of them. Our power converter gives the PS and hp figures in kW for comparisons with later Porsches.

Porsche 356 specifications

Variants and derivatives

The Speedster came from the US importer Max Hoffman, who advised Porsche that a lower-cost, somewhat spartan open car would sell well; Hoffman was also behind the "Continental" name used in the United States. The Karmann hardtop of 1961–1962 was a cabriolet-style body with a permanent metal roof.

Racing

At the 1951 24 Hours of Le Mans Porsche was, in English Wikipedia's words, the first and only German manufacturer to compete. Auguste Veuillet and Edmond Mouche drove the aluminium 356 SL "Gmünd-Coupé" to a class win in the 751–1,100 cc category and 20th place overall. The win started the Le Mans history that led to cars such as the Porsche 917.

Legacy and collecting today

Sports Car International ranked the 356 C tenth among the sports cars of the 1960s in 2004. The 912 of April 1965 used numerous 356 components with the 616/36 four-cylinder engine, and nearly 33,000 912 coupés and Targas were sold. The six-cylinder 911 continued the line and is covered in our Porsche 911 generations article. The company's wider story is in our Porsche history.

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