The History of the 1960s Top 10 Sports Car - The Porsche 356

When the 356 became first available you could onlymuch more practicle windscreen it was a little taller
get it in the coupe and the cabriolet but the theyand they decided that glass side windows along with
came up with the speedster which was pretty muchcomfortable seats would make the driving experience
a lightened convertible but then in 1965 it wasa lot better and would appeal to a lot more people.
withdrawn. The most desirable models of the 356The Porsche 356 coupe and the cabriolet were still
where the Carrera which would often be sold forbe ing made right up to the year of 1965 and with
over £100,000 the Super 90 and thethe last of the 356B Roadster rolling off the
Speedster. In the latter part of the 1950's the normalproduction line in 1963. The last 356 model to be built
selling price was around the £3000 mark for awas call the 356C this came fitted with disc brakes
Porsche.amd Porsche had also installed their most powerful
In the United States there was only one importer ofPush rod engine so far which was producing 95 break
the Porsche and his name was Max Hoffman thehorse power!!
trouble was the States were after a lower cost butPorsche released the 911 in 1964 the trouble with the
yet more of a track version and because of the size911 was that it was a little bit out of the Americans
of the American market Porsche jumped right on inprice range and they started to complain in fact it
with two feet and came up with the 356was almost double the price of the 356 once again
"Speedster" which the Americans just loved anddecided that they should listen and they started
because it came with a small windscreen which theyproducing the 912 this had the engine from a 356 in it
could take off if they wanted to race at theso it was using a powerful pushrod engine of the
weekends it also came with bucket seats thattime and so the American market was satisfied once
appealed to the market at the time. The 356again, The 912 sold from the year 1965 right through
Speedster was such a popular edition to the Porschetill 1969.
that even to day it is still loved and a lot of them are56 years later and the 356C made it into the top 10
fetching over £80,000 but not only that theylist of Sports cars of the 1960's and even to this day
are being used in films one of the famouse films wasthe 356 is a well respected sports car among
Top Gun with Tom Cruise.Porsche enthusiasts and collectors. The 356 was
By 1957 they had sold 1,171 cars which is quite andefiniatly a car that will live on and time has proven
astounding figure really but in 1959 its replacementthat Porsche got it right with the 356.
was the convertible D model. The D Model had a