This article is not ready yet

Porsche 356 (1948-1965)

	1948	1949	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957	1958	1959	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965
	356/1
	356/2		Pre-A						356 A				356 B T5		T6		356 C

Roadster	Roadster				America Roadster		Speedster					Convertible D	Roadster
Cabriolet	Cabriolet
Coupé	Coupé
Hardtop coupé														Hardtop coupé
	1948	1949	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957	1958	1959	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965
Windscreen (coupé/cabrio)	Split				Bent from mid year				Curved						Larger (coupe)
Front lid handle	Tiny		Small		With hole from mid year			Bigger, with crest					Big, chromed
Bumpers	Body-style				US interim-style	A-style			US overriders from mid-year	Split overriders	Exhaust through overriders		Bigger and higher
Front turn signal	Inboard the headlights					Below the headlights	With 3-blade grilles						With 2-blade grilles
Rear lamps	Single		Rectangular + round			Two, round				Tear shaped from mid-year
Tranmission	Crash box					Syncromesh
Wheels	16" wheels								15" wheels
Side rockers	Inwards curved rocker panels								Flat rocker panels
Lic. plate light	Above license plate									Below license plate			Two lamps
Front lid	Round front end												Flatter		Straight front end
Front fenders	Curved shape viewing from side and from top												Straight top, smooth front end
Script on nose	Porsche script on nose
Rear lid	Single grille														Two grilles
Brakes	Drums																Discs

Although Ferdinand Porsche and his Porsche engineering company had designed cars for other companies for a long time, it was in 1948 that a first "Porsche" was made. Then it was just a "Porsche", but today we call this mid-engined roadster as a 356/1 (or 356 no. 1) to distinguish it from the rear-engined 356 that followed. The 356/1 (a single car) and the 356/2 coupés and cabriolets were made in Gmünd, Austria. All these cars had aluminium bodies.

In 1950, the production switched to Stuttgart. Series production didn't allow the use of handmade aluminium body panels, so, the cars were made of stamped steel panels. The first generation of Stuttgart-built 356 have later been called as "Pre-A". That's because the following generations were 356 A, 356 B T5, 356 B T6 and 356 C. The 356 was made in many body forms: Coupé, Cabriolet, Speedster, America Roadster, Convertible D, Hardtop coupé, Beutler, Karmann, Abarth and in many engine variants: 1100, 1300, 1300 S (Super), 1500, 1500 S, 1500 GS Carrera, 1500 GS Carrera GT, 1600, 1600 S, 1600 GS Carrera, 1600 GS Carrera GT, 1600 GS Carrera GTL, 1600 Super 90, 2000 GS Carrera 2, 2000 GS Carrera 2 GT and finally 1600 SC. The last evolution of the 356, the "C" got disc brakes. The 356 was followed by the 901/911.

1948 Gmünd, Carinthia, Austria. Exterior designer Erwin Komenda, Ferry Porsche, Ferdinand Porsche, 356 no.1 (35 hp, 585 kg / 1290 lbs, 135 km/h / 84 mph).© Porsche

356 no.1: only one car was made with this design and with mid-engine© Porsche

1948 Porsche 356/2 with aluminium body© Porsche

1948 Porsche 356/2 Cabriolet with aluminium body by Beutler© Porsche

1951 Le Mans 24h: 356 SL (Super Light) #46 of Auguste Veuillet/Edmond Mouche scores 20th overall (and 1.1-litre class victory) with average speed of 73 mph/118 kmh compared to the winner's 93 mph/150 kmh. © Porsche

Aluminium bodied 356/2 Gmünd Coupé for Le Mans: 1.1L 46 hp, 640 kg / 1410 lbs. The restored car shown here has the racing numbers with wrong font.© Porsche

1952 Le Mans 24h: 356 SL #50 Auguste Veuillet/Edmond Mouche - 11th overall (1.1-litre class winner)© Porsche

1955, Merano, Italy. 356 no.1 on Porsche gathering. Look how modified it is 7 years after its birth - gone are the rear bumper and eye-shaped rear lamps. New are the round-shaped lamps and engine cover grille. And the paintwork, of course. Later in its life, the car was restored back to its initial look.© Porsche

1956 March: 10.000 Porsches made© Porsche

1958 356 A 1600 GS Carrera Hardtop, Ferry and F.A. Porsche© Porsche

1958 New York. 356 A, Ferry Porsche and his son, F.A. Porsche.© Porsche

Available for the late 356 A, the Porsche-badged wheel hub cap is here shown on a 356 B© Porsche

Ferry Porsche with 356 B T5 (produced 1960-1961)© Porsche

1994 September 19. Ferry Porsche on his 85th birthday in a 1948 Porsche 356 no.1 which he had created.© Porsche

This article is not ready yet

To hear when it is ready, sign up to our newsletter or if you have an account, make sure under My Garage that you are receiving our e-mails.

Coloring pages

356 Speedster

1955

Vector drawing 594 mm x 420 mm (A2), B/W
Format: PDF
Author: Margus Holland

Member content. Click to become a member.

More coloring pages

Continue to Porsche 911

Anniversaries: Aug, 19 – 81st birthday of the type 64 (1939); Aug, 23 – 24th birthday of the Boxster (1996); Aug, 29 – 55th birthday of the 906 (1965); Sep, 03 – 145th birthday anniversary of Ferdinand Porsche (1875); Sep, 04 – 1st birthday of the Taycan (2019)