An Exotic Car, Fifties Style

The story of Porsche sports cars began in 1948 with Porsche Number one - a tube framed, aluminum bodied, mid-engined roadster, built in a converted Austrian sawmill.  Based on experience with Number one, Ferry Porsche ordered a trial run of 50 rear-engined couples and convertibles with aluminum box-section chassis and semi-monocoque bodies - the Type 356.  In 1950, the company moved back to its home in Stuttgart, Germany, and switched to steel bodies and chassis.

Porsche sports cars soon earned a reputation for speed, quality and reliability.  Power and performance developed rapidly, by 1955, four engine options were available, with 1300 and 1500 cc displacement, in 'Normal' and 'Super' versions.  The most powerful 1500 Super developed 70 hp.  The following year would see the introduction of the 356 A, the first major redesign since 1950, and the Carrera engine, with 100 hp.