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Ferry Porsche
and Prof. Eberan von Eberhorst started project 356 in the year 1947 in
an old sawmill in Gmünd. Ferry's father Ferdinand Porsche was still
imprisoned in France under suspicion of war crimes so he did not witness
the start of the project. In August 1947 Ferdinand Porsche was found not
guilty and was released from prison. In march 1948 the first prototype
was finished; the356-001.
The Porsche 356-001 was build upon a tubular framework and was
mechanically based upon Volkswagen technology. The 356-001 was fitted
with a center mounted engine, located in front of the rear axle.
After testing the car was developed further in order to get it ready for
production. The center mounted engine was moved behind the rear axle to
create more interior space. The body was redesigned by Edwin Komenda.
Until 1948 approximately 50 Porsche 356 models with aluminium bodywork
were built. These cars are currently known as the "Gmünd-models".
Porsche had planned a small production of the 356 but the old sawmill in
Gmünd was soon too small to produce the increasing amount of cars
ordered by the customers. In the year 1948 Porsche moved to Stuttgart in
Germany. Porsche rented space next-door the old pre-war Porsche factory
and additional space at coachbuilder Reutter.
Reutter was also asked to built the Porsche 356 coupe body's and the
company of Gläser was asked to built the 356 convertible body's. All
356 body's were made of steel from that moment on.
In the year 1949 the Porsche 356 was presented at a car show for the
first time in Geneva Switzerland.
The Porsche
356 shows a long evolution. The 356 was built from 1948 until 1965 in
the following model stages:
Gmünd models 1948 - 1951, the pre-A models 1950 - 1955, the 356 A 1955
- 1959, the 356 B 1959 - 1963,
the 356 C 1963 - 1965.
Between the years 1955 and 1965 Porsche also built a special 356 model;
the Porsche 356 Carrera with four overhead camshafts. Between the years
1954 and 1964 Porsche built special convertible models like the America
Roadster, the Speedster and the Convertible D.
Technical data
4 cylinder
boxer engine
cylinder capacity: 1582 cc.
carburettors: 2x Solex 40 PII-4
capacity: 95 DIN bhp. at 5800 rpm.
torque: 124 Nm. at 4200 rpm.
gearbox: 4-speed, manual
top-speed: 180 km/h.
weight: 935 kg.
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