1954 Porsche 356

The 356 was the first car to wear the Porsche name following its founding in 1948. Small, light, rear-engined, and highly maneuverable, it set the standard by which all other Porsches have been built.

Reutter Karosserie was one of the coachbuilders Porsche contracted to aid in the construction of bodies for the 356. Reutter was purchased by Porsche in the early 1960s, in either 1963 or 1964. Other prominent Porsche coachbuilders at the time was Glaser.

Large scale production of the 356 was never Porsche's intention. Soon, the facilities in Gmünd had become insufficient so the company moved back to Stuttgart Germany. Reutter was given the responsibility of constructing the Porsche 356 coupe bodies while Glaser was responsible for the 356 convertibles.

In 1953, Porsche introduced the 356 to the United States. Max Hoffman of New York was established as the sole importer of Porsche cars. The following year, Hoffman requested that Porsche create a scaled-down version of its 356, in open configuration, for use in the West Coast in armature racing competition. The idea was to get a lightweight, low-cost competitive racer that could help promote the Porsche nameplate. During the next five years, more than 4100 examples of the Speedster were constructed. Production of the Speedster ceased in 1959.

by Daniel Vaughan | Apr 2009

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