Stuttgart - The Porsche 356, which celebrates its 60th birthday this month, played a key role in making a remarkable success story out of a once small German engineering firm. The figure "356" has become synonymous with Porsche which is today one of the world's leading sports car manufacturers.
In 1948, a first permit for a prototype "Porsche No. 1" was granted with the first test report released on July 7, 1948 which is considered the car's official birthday.
The prototype was in fact a souped-up VW Beetle mated to a body in a sports car design, going back to Porsche founder Ferdinand Porsche, who played a big part in the development of the Beetle.
After World War II, Ferdinand Porsche was a French prisoner of war while his son Ferry ran the Porsche factory in Gmuend, Austria. The factory had been moved there from Stuttgart in 1944 because of the war.
All sorts of new and old ideas came together in Austria. Engineers working on the Beetle in the 1930s had already worked on several ideas to give the rather weak Beetle engine more power. The figure "356" refers to the construction number 356.00.105 that stood for the first drawing dated July 17, 1947.
What later emerged from this drawing was much more daring than the production model. The prototype with the designation "No. 1" was powered by a Beetle engine, centrally mounted in front of the rear axle with the power boosted from 24.5 hp to 35 hp. The steel frame and body for the convertible gave it the necessary sturdy structure.
But the engineers began to have second thoughts when production plans were mooted and instead used a refurbished Beetle chassis with the engine mounted in the rear. The Roadster was also fitted with a hardtop. The gearbox and brakes were also taken from the Beetle but the production model nevertheless had an engine boosted to 40 hp.
The first 50 units of the Porsche 356 were all hand made at the Austrian plant. The success story only really began when the factory moved back to Zuffenhausem, near Stuttgart. In 1949, the body builder Reutter was given a contract to build 500 bodyworks for the sports car.
These early models with their bathtub design still left much room for improvement. The divided windscreen resembled pre-war technology. But the secret of its success was that it could undergo repeated refinement of even small details and the overall design.
By the 1960s, the Porsche name had firmly established itself on the world's sports car scene. The 356 was so popular that the successor model, the Porsche 911, was also offered as a 912 fitted with the old VW Beetle-based engine. When production of the 356 finally ceased in April 1965, some 76,000 units had left the production line.
