1964 Porsche 356

The 356 was the first car to officially bear the Porsche name and remains the cornerstone of Porsche's success and longevity. It was produced in Austria in 1948 with production moving to Stuttgart Germany in 1950 and remains there to this day. It was relatively quick, light, and fun to drive, which quickly gained a loyal following and an Avant-grade flair. Over the years, the Porsche evolved, and sales success came quickly. The lessons learned on the racetrack soon made their way into the road-going cars, making the 356 design better with each passing year. Production of the Porsche 356 lasted for seventeen years and included four basic series and numerous variations by the time production ended in 1965 by which time the successor Porsche 911 had already been introduced.

The chassis of the Porsche 356 had a boxed, pressed-steel assembly in unit with the floor pan. In the front was an independent suspension with parallel trailing arms on each side. In the back was an independent setup via swing axles. The spring medium was via transverse torsion bars for both front and rear suspensions. The standard production engine was a push-rod boxer four-cylinder unit mounted at the rear and air-cooled. Displacement would grow over the years from 1100 cc's to 1600 cc's. The gearbox was a four-speed transaxle unit in common with the differential at the rear.

The first series of 356's was in production from 1958 to 1954. These were succeeded in 1955 by the 356A's, produced until 1959. Then came the 356B's, made from 1960 to 1963. The final 356 series, the 356C, debuted in July 1963 and had only minor differences from the prior 356B with its continued use of the T-6 body type in use from 1962. There were, however, subtle refinements, and the body suppliers were streamlined, with Karmann in Osnabrück supplying coupes and Porsche, which had just purchased Reutter, building the Cabriolets in Stuttgart.

Mechanical Specification of the Porsche 356C
The mechanical aspects of the 356C represented a major evolutionary step forward with its standard four-wheel disc brakes supplied by ATE, license-built to Dunlop's design. The new discs were joined by new 15-inch wheels with smaller ventilation holes and flat-faced hubcaps. Changes to the suspension improved the car's handling. Reutter (which owned a seating subsidiary that would soon become Recaro) installed deeper bucket-type reclining seats. Hanz Mezger led the development on the pushrod-type engine, and the 60 horsepower 1600 Normal engine was soon dropped and replaced by the 1600C engine as the basic 356C engine. This engine offered 75 horsepower (88 SAE) at 5,200 RPM with an 8.5:1 compression, twin Zenith carburetors, and a revised camshaft profile. The 1600 SC unit offered 107 SAE and replaced the Super 90 as the most powerful pushrod-type engine in the Porsche road car lineup. This engine was second only to Porsche's competition-oriented Carrera 2 four-cam. The 1600 SC gave the Porsche a top speed of nearly 120 mph.

Both the 1600C and 1600 SC engines offered around 31 miles per gallon under cruising conditions and 26 mpg during heavy use. The 1600 SC engine offered peak power at 5,800 RPM and had a 9.5:1 compression ratio, two Solex twin-choke carburetors, and specific light-alloy cylinder barrels with iron liners. Both the exhaust and intake valves were enlarged and sodium-filled for improved heat dissipation.

Porsche 356C Production
16,668 examples of the 356C were built in total. Coupe production at Karmann ended on January 21st of 1965, and the last Cabriolet left Porsche's Zuffenhausen works on April 28, 1965.

by Daniel Vaughan | Feb 2020