Porsche

The first Porsche 356 was hand built in the Porsche factory in Gmünd, Austria in June 1948. It had a newly designed chassis, an aluminum body and a four-cylinder air-cooled 1,086cc rear-engine. After around 50 cars had been made, production moved to Zuffenhausen, Germany in 1950. From then on the 356 was steel-bodied. The aluminum-bodied cars from Gmünd are now referred to as prototypes. The 356 was built in four different generations, the first one recognizable by the split windscreen which was replaced by a slightly V-shaped, single windshield in April 1952.

At the 1959 Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung in Frankfurt, Porsche presented the 356 B. The front end was redesigned with new, slightly raised bumpers and headlights. The 1,582 cc engine also became available in a tuned, 90 hp version. In addition to the cabriolet, a cheaper, more spartan roadster was introduced. In 1962 the car was updated with larger wind screens, twin grilles on the engine lid and an enlarged luggage space.

The last revision of the 356 was the 356 C introduced for the 1964 model year. The most notable difference with its predecessor are the disc brakes all around. Production of the 356 peaked at 14,151 cars in 1964, the year that its successor, the Porsche 901, was introduced. The last ten 356s were cabriolets, assembled for the Dutch highway patrolling rijkspolitie.