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In September of 1959 Porsche revealed their fully updated 356 known as the 356B. This had a completely revised body that was more suitable for the American market. The 1600 Super was also known as the 1600 S and that is what we are covering on this page. The 1600 Super sat in the middle of the lineup, below the Super 90 and above the base 1600. There were several variants with the base 1600 S engine, including the Coupe, Cabriolet, Notchback Coupe and Roadster, across both the T5 generation and T6 generation.
A handful of push-rod 356As were delivered from the factory with a lightweight package that was usually reserved for the Carrera race cars. Called GTs, these got the stripped out interior, aluminum doors, a large fuel tank and Porsche ATE disc brakes. As few as four Speedsters came equipped this way. Since the four-cam was only a marginal improvement in power, the regular 1600 Super was more than enough for the small car.
356 ‘No. 1’ Roadster
The Porsche 356/1 was the first real car created by Ferdinand "Ferry" Porsche. This prototype car was a two-seater open roadster with a mid-mounted, air-cooled flat-4 engine of 1,131 cc displacement. While the body was an original design, most of the mechanicals were from the Volkswagen Beetle. Only one 356/1 was made.
As with the earlier versions, the Carrera was offered both in a Carrera GT Deluxe version for the road and the Carrera GT for racetrack duties. Unlike these earlier models, the new car benefited from the 2.0 liter engine introduced as the Carrera 2 was unveiled in September 1962. The 2.0 Carrera used a variant of the Type 547 engine with a larger bore and stoke, having 1966cc.
In 1953, the 1300 S or "Super" was introduced, and the 1,100 cc engine was dropped. The 360 1300 Super boasts a power improvement to 60 BHP with Porsche's "Super" engine in the Porsche 356 model range. Minor visual differences were implemented such as front indicators integrated with the horn grilles and bumpers protrude from the body with over-riders. In June 1954, the plain-bearing 1300cc engine switched over to the same block as the 4cc larger roller-bearing variant.
The Porsche 356 SC, was the top-of-the-line variant in terms of performance for the 356 C Generation, sporting the highest specific output pushrod 4-cylinder engine ever available from Porsche with 107 HP. The SC engine produced 107 bhp at 5200 rpm and featured a stouter counter-weighted crankshaft, short skirt pistons, a more radical camshaft configuration, and large Solex carburetors. The SC was the natural successor of the previous generation Super 90 and represented the top-of-the-line variant for the final evolution of the Porsche 356.
From the outside, the 356A kept to the Porsche mantra of stepwise evolution. The new model was outwardly identical to the previous version except for the wider tires, a small rub-strip below the doors, a fully-curved front window and enamel paint replacing lacquer previously used. The 356 A came with an all-alloy air-cooled Flat 4 engine in four states of tune, with the 1300 having Type 506/2 engine with 44 bhp and 60 lb-ft.
Successful VW Dealer and racer Walter Glöckler built several specials for the German Car Championship including this roadster. It was built with assistance from Porsche in Zuffenhausen and raced without its optional hardtop in the 1952 champion before being shipped overseas for SCCA racing. Weidenhausen created the body from aluminum with a nose that bore close resemblance to the 356 Porsche but had semi-skirted rear wheels and cutaway rear corners similar to Glockler-Porsche 1 and 2.
The series production didn't allow the use of handmade aluminium body panels, so, the cars were made of stamped steel panels. The first Stuttgart-built 356 have later been called as 356 Pre-A. These cars have either two separate windscreen glasses like the 356 built in Austria, or a sharply bent windscreen glass! Introduced in 1948, the Porsche 356 Pre-A Coupe was the first variant available for the Porsche 356. The engine started as a 1100 cc flat four that produced 40 hp. It was available as a coupe and cabriolet body style.
Beginning in 1954, a new version of the Pre A 356 was introduced that is now known as the Porsche 356 Pre-A Carrera, with a powerful engine that was available in coupe, cabriolet, and Speedster variants. Highly desirable today, the Carrera name denotes the race inspired 1500 cc four cam motor that produced an astounding 110 hp. Approximately 97 of these motors were produced sometime between 1954 and early 1955. The Carrera versions would continue in the next generation 356 as the Porsche 356 A Carrera.
Ferry Porsche had in fact requested Swiss technicians to make a less sporty and more elegant version of the 365 B and thus the 1600 Beutler Coupè was born. This project is a 2+2 based on a Porsche 1600. Like the Porsche, the car is built on a VW platform, but includes Porsche elements such as the brakes and the engine. It was built in 5 copies before production was stopped in 1957 due to a change in commercial strategies by the German company.