The history of the 1960s top 10 Sports Car - The Porsche 356

The First Porsche that went in to production was the 356 and this was then sold from 1948 right through to 1965. However many people believe that the Porsche 64 was the first car that was produced but this is very much not the case the 64 never made it to the mass production stage so it just acted as a prototype.

When the 356 became first available you could only get it in the coupé and the cabriolet but the they came up with the speedster which was pretty much a lightened convertible but then in 1965 it was withdrawn. The most desirable models of the 356 where the Carrera which would often be sold for over £100,000 the Super 90 and the Speedster. In the latter part of the 1950's the normal selling price was around the £3000 mark for a Porsche.

In the United States there was only one importer of the Porsche and his name was Max Hoffman the trouble was the States were after a lower cost but yet more of a track version and because of the size of the American market Porsche jumped right on in with two feet and came up with the 356 “Speedster” which the Americans just loved and because it came with a small windscreen which they could take off if they wanted to race at the weekends it also came with bucket seats that appealed to the market at the time. The 356 Speedster was such a popular edition to the Porsche that even to day it is still loved and a lot of them are fetching over £80,000 but not only that they are being used in films one of the famous films was Top Gun with Tom Cruise.

By 1957 they had sold 1,171 cars which is quite an astounding figure really but in 1959 its replacement was the convertible D model. The D Model had a much more practical windscreen it was a little taller and they decided that glass side windows along with comfortable seats would make the driving experience a lot better and would appeal to a lot more people.

The Porsche 356 coupé and the cabriolet were still being made right up to the year of 1965 and with the last of the 356B Roadster rolling off the production line in 1963. The last 356 model to be built was call the 356C this came fitted with disc brakes and Porsche had also installed their most powerful Push rod engine so far which was producing 95 break horse power!!

Porsche released the 911 in 1964 the trouble with the 911 was that it was a little bit out of the Americans price range and they started to complain in fact it was almost double the price of the 356 once again decided that they should listen and they started producing the 912 this had the engine from a 356 in it so it was using a powerful push rod engine of the time and so the American market was satisfied once again, The 912 sold from the year 1965 right through till 1969.

56 years later and the 356C made it into the top 10 list of Sports cars of the 1960's and even to this day the 356 is a well respected sports car among Porsche enthusiasts and collectors. The 356 was definitely a car that will live on and time has proven that Porsche got it right with the 356.