Prior to World War II Porsche designed and built three Type 64 cars for a 1939 Berlin-to-Rome race that was cancelled. In 1948 the mid-engine, tubular chassis 356 prototype called 'No. 1' was completed. This led to some debate as to the 'first' Porsche automobile, but the 356 is considered by Porsche to be its first production model. It was created by Ferdinand 'Ferry' Porsche (son of Ferdinand Porsche, founder of the German company), who founded the Austrian company with his sister, Louise.

Like its cousin, the Volkswagen Beetle (which Ferdinand Porsche Sr. had designed), the 356 is a four-cylinder, air-cooled, rear-engine, rear-wheel drive car with unitized pan and body construction. The chassis was a completely new design as was the 356's body which was designed by Porsche employee Erwin Komenda, while certain mechanical components including the engine case and some suspension components were based on and initially sourced from Volkswagen. Ferry Porsche described the thinking behind the development of the 356 in an interview with the editor of Panorama in September 1972\. '...I had always driven very speedy cars. I had an Alfa Romeo, also a BMW and others. ...By the end of the war I had a Volkswagen Cabriolet with a supercharged engine and that was the basic idea. I saw that if you had enough power in a small car it is nicer to drive than if you have a big car which is also overpowered. And it is more fun. On this basic idea we started the first Porsche prototype. To make the car lighter, to have an engine with more horsepower...that was the first two seater that we built in Carinthia (Gmünd)'.

The first 356 was road certified in Austria on June 8, 1948, and was entered in a race in Innsbruck where it won its class. Porsche re-engineered and refined the car with a focus on performance. Fewer and fewer parts were shared between Volkswagen and Porsche as the 1950s progressed. The early 356 automobile bodies produced at Gmünd were handcrafted in aluminum, but when production moved to Zuffenhausen, Germany in 1950, models produced there were steel-bodied. The aluminium bodied cars from that very small company are what are now referred to as 'prototypes'. Porsche contracted Reutter to build the steel bodies and eventually bought the Reutter company in 1963\. The Reutter company retained the seat manufacturing part of the business and changed its name to 'Recaro'.

The 356 was built in four distinct series, the original ('pre-A'), followed by the 356 A, 356 B, and finally the 356 C. To distinguish among the major revisions of the model, 356s are generally classified into a few major groups. The 356 coupés and cabriolets built through 1955 are readily identifiable by their split (1948 to 1952) or bent (centre-creased, 1953 to 1955) windscreens. In late 1955 the 356 A appeared, with a curved windshield. The A was the first road going Porsche to offer the Carrera four-cam engine as an option. In late 1959 the T5 356 B appeared; followed by the redesigned T6 series 356 B in 1962\. The final version was the 356 C, little changed from the late T6 B cars but disc brakes replaced the drums.

The 356 B was first introduced with the T5 body design, which included coupé, roadster, and cabriolet variants. Several engine options were offered: the Normal in 60-horsepower form, the Super in 75-horsepower, the rare 90-horsepower Super 90, and of course the special Carrera.

The Super 90's engine was a very strong unit, as it offered 90 bhp at 5,500 rpm with the aid of 9.0:1 compression and a pair of 40-millimetre Solex carburettors. A reviewer of the day wrote that "Super 90s could be revved about 800 rpm higher than other 356 B 1600s thanks to a special cooling layout that gathered in more air, plus a nitrided crank and cam-bearing surfaces, a lighter flywheel, stiffer valve springs, light-alloy rockers, larger-diameter main bearings, and cylinders lined with Ferral, a coating of steel over molybdenum. S90s also had a unique oil pickup system that allowed the engine to draw lubricant from the sump's full side in hard cornering, thus ensuring proper lubrication at all times. It was an important advance that Porsche racers had wanted for several years and was especially welcome in the high-performance 90".

The 356 shown here is a beautiful example of a 356 B T5 Super 90 Cabriolet in Elfenbein, delivered new in 1961.

It comes with a huge history file showing ownership and service records.

Original service book from new!

Exceptional car!