1965 Porsche 356 SC

Porsche introduced the final series 356C in July of 1963 and although it was visually similar to the prior 356B, it had actually been carefully improved and refined throughout. Mechanical advancements included 15-inch wheels with smaller ventilation holes and flat hubcaps, standard four-wheel disc brakes, and improvements to the suspension. There were deeper bucket-type reclining seats from Reutter, which owned a seating subsidiary that became famous as 'Recaro', short for Reutter Carosserie. Additionally, the body suppliers were now streamlined, with Porsche (which had just purchased Reutter) building the Cabriolets in Stuttgart while the coupes were built by Karmann in Osnabrück.

Hans Mezger improved upon Porsche's pushrod-type engine with the 1600 'Normal' 60-horsepower version being replaced by the uprated 1600C unit, which offered 75 horsepower. The 1600SC unit with 95 horsepower replaced the 'Super 90' as the most powerful pushrod-type engine in Porsche's road cars. It delivered peak power at 5,800 RPM and had a 9.5:1 compression ratio, Solex twin-choke carburetors, and light-alloy cylinder barrels with iron liners. Both exhaust and intake valves were enlarged and sodium-filled to dissipate heat. The engine was mated to an all-synchromesh four-speed gearbox which sent the power to the rear wheels.

During its production lifespan, a total of 16,668 examples of the 356C were built. Coupe production ended on January 21, 1965, and the last Cabriolet left Porsche's Zuffenhausen works on April 28, 1965.

by Daniel Vaughan | Aug 2019