Porsche 356 A 1500 GS Carrera

The vehicle in detail

Although Ferdinand Porsche had established his automotive design consultancy in the early 1930s, his name would not appear on a car until 1949. When it did, it graced one of the all-time great sports cars: the Porsche 356. Having commenced manufacture with a short run of aluminium-bodied cars built at Gmünd, Porsche began volume production of the steel-bodied 356 coupé at its old base in Stuttgart, at first in premises shared with coachbuilders Reutter and then (from 1955) in its original factory at Zuffenhausen. The work of Ferry Porsche, the 356 was based on the Volkswagen designed by his father. Like the immortal ‘Beetle’, the 356 employed a platform-type chassis with rear-mounted air-cooled engine and torsion bar all-independent suspension, yet somehow contrived to offer level of performance that belied the basic layout’s humble origins.

In 1951 an aluminium-bodied works car finished first in the 1,100cc class at the Le Mans 24-Hour Race and 20th overall, thus beginning the marque’s long and illustrious association with La Sarthe. Constant development saw the 356’s engine progressively enlarged, with 1.3-litre and 1.5-litre units first becoming available in 1951. In 1952 a Porsche synchromesh gearbox was adopted and the original split windscreen replaced by a one-piece; the latter was still V-shaped, gaining the sobriquet Knickscheibe (bent window) as a result. 1955 marked the arrival of the revised 356A, the newcomer being readily distinguished by its curved windscreen and 15″ – down from 16″ – wheels.

Cabriolets had been manufactured right from the start of 356 production, but the first open Porsche to make a significant impact was the Speedster, introduced in 1954 following the successful reception in the USA of a batch of 15 special roadsters. The Speedster was dropped in 1958 and replaced by the more civilised Convertible D, which differed principally by virtue of its larger windscreen and winding side windows. Porsche sub-contracted cabriolet body construction to a number of different coachbuilders, this example being the work of its long-established collaborators, Karrosserie Reutter.