On the weekend of July 4, 1948, 75 years ago now, journalists who had traveled to cover the Swiss F1 Grand Prix, at the dangerous Bremgarten circuit in Bern, were in for a surprise. Ferry Porsche, son of Ferdinand Porsche and also an engineer, presented them with the Porsche 356 ‘Nº1’, the first car under the Porsche brand.
What’s more, he let them try it out – Ferry himself had done the first kilometers in February – and everyone who did it raved about its ease of handling. Although its 1,100 air-cooled boxer engine only delivered 35 CV, as the whole weighed less than 600 kg, it offered good sensations and reached a speed of more than 130 km/h
After World War II, Porsche’s engineering facilities in Zuffenhausen, on the outskirts of Stuttgart, were still intact, but Ferry and the engineers moved to the Austrian town of Gmünd, near where the Porsche family had their summer retreat. There, Ferry dedicated himself to the production of agricultural machinery and devised the 356 ‘Nº1’.
To develop the car he took as a base the Volkswagen Beetle that he knew very well. It took the platform, engine and suspensions, but made significant changes. The propeller was not cantilevered but in a central position. The bodywork was made of aluminium, made by hand on a wooden “colt”. The car had details inspired by the VW Sport that Porsche had made for the Berlin-Paris race.
All of this was worked in precarious facilities, using sheds from what had been a sawmill. In any case, the Porsche team was larger than some might think: some 175 people, including technician Karl Rabe and designer Erwin Komenda.
When he presented it, ‘Ferry’ was already working on a substantial modification of it. To leave more space in the cabin, she would place the engine on the overhang behind the rear axle; In this way, regardless of having a convertible or coupé body, it would be a 2 2, that is, it would offer two emergency seats behind. It was the version that would make it to the series.
Porsche did not even change the model reference, simply calling it the 356/2. He manufactured it in a coupé configuration – popularly known as Gmünd Coupé – and later also in a convertible version. Although the quality of finishes was not that of British sports cars, it was quickly appreciated.
It was compact. It measured only 3.87 meters in length by 1.66 m in width and 1.32 m in height. The production was very small and completely handmade. Barely 50 copies were made -48 according to many authors- until 1951, far from the projected 150 per year. If Porsche did not go bankrupt, it was because it received royalties for each VW Beetle produced.
Virtually all of these early examples were exported. There was a shortage of light materials and the Austrian government granted the corresponding licenses in exchange for them selling outside the country to obtain foreign exchange.
In 1950, Porsche was able to return to Zuffenhausen and ordered 500 steel bodies from coachbuilder Reuter, who had already worked with Porsche for the Volkswagen of Rome-Berlin. These specimens were known as ‘Greyhound’ because of their color. That year 268 examples were made, five times more than in two years in Austria. The victory that the brand obtained in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1951 also contributed to increasing demand: in August of that same year, more than 1,000 units were exceeded.
The cars made in Zuffenhaussen were quite different from the first Gmünd examples. Steel bodywork, hydraulic brakes, telescopic shock absorbers instead of friction shock absorbers… The exterior design was smoother and more rounded. In reality, Porsche was introducing continuous improvements.
The interior was spartan: a speedometer, oil temperature gauge (not water, because the engine was air-cooled), and a clock. Since there was no fuel gauge, the driver had to go out to measure the amount of gasoline that was left thanks to a wooden stick. To avoid running out of fuel, the reserve was stored in a separate tank that the driver had to open by turning a lever on the dashboard.
The initial engine, a 35 CV 1,100, was a thing of the past. In 1951 a 65 hp 1300 was adopted, and a 1,500 version was proposed. As many customers began using them in competition, more powerful ‘S’ (for Super) variants appeared in 1,300 and 1,500 cc.
From 1960, blocks of 1.6 and 2.0 liters appeared, which could have two overhead camshafts, with only two valves, known as Carrera, even more powerful (the 1.6 exceeded 100 CV).
The cars were also somewhat heavier -they reached 1,000 kg- and slightly larger (4.01 meters). Likewise, they looked more refined in their finishes and equipped mechanical improvements, such as disc brakes.
The 356 was in production until 1966 and a total of 76,313 units were built. It was replaced by 911, initially called 901, but which was changed to 911 due to protests from Peugeot, which had registered three-digit numbers with 0 in the center.
