PORSCHE AT 70 PT2
1948-2018
Our favourite car maker has been building our favourite cars for 70-years. To celebrate, we’ll be taking it a decade at a time. This month it’s the ’50s
The decade when Porsche gradually established itself as a manufacturer of idiosyncratic sports-touring cars, whilst consolidating a reputation for successful competition cars: a thoroughgoing process and methodology that’s traceable right up to the present day
We should consider ourselves very fortunate. If it weren’t for the commitment and determination of Ferry Porsche and the coterie of people surrounding him in 1950, who were in thrall to his unjustly incarcerated father, we wouldn’t be driving and enjoying the products we do today. The legacy he created in the 1950s after his father’s death laid the foundations for today’s eclectic range of Porsches, whose lineage can be traced right back to its genesis in 1948 and earlier. And there’s a powerful element of serendipity about it all, given the post-war shambles that Europe was in; you just have to consider how lucky Volkswagen was to be effectively rescued and placed in harness by REME officer Major Ivan Hirst, rather than falling prey to other less benign forces. Fittingly, the Porsche family retained their association with VW, rooted in the VW Beetle, of course, as well as dovetailing into the Volkswagen service network with a contract signed in September 1948.
So, the new decade begins with a dealer meeting at VW’S Wolfsburg HQ, to which Porsche brought along a 356 Coupé and Cabriolet, securing 37 firm orders in the process. There were 53 pre-existing Gmundbuilt 356s, but Reutter had only recently completed the first Stuttgart-built steel bodyshell, signed off just before Easter 1950.
It was also time to establish the company nomenclature: Dr. Ing. F. Porsche Gmbh replaced a similar name, skirting an awkward compensation claim by a pre-war director of the firm. However, it took a further two years before the badge deriving from the Stuttgart coat of arms that adorns the front lid of every Porsche product was designed and adopted. Onwards and upwards.
STANDOUT EVENTS AND EVOLUTIONS: 1950
• The new company name is instituted: Dr. Ing. F. Porsche Gmbh. This replaces the existing Dr Ing h.c F. Porsche Gmbh, sidestepping a situation wherein the company was technically still under the control of the occupying Allied forces.
• The Augustenstrasse, Stuttgart-based coachwork manufacturer Reutter completes first 356 coupe body. Ferry Porsche considered that the optimum shape for the front of the car was crucial to driver visibility, hence the 356’s sloping front lid and prominent wings, identifying the wheels’ location, making it easier to position the car on the road, especially in corners. Much later, in 1963, the Reutter coachbuilding firm was bought by Porsche, though the Reutter family switched over to making high-end seats: the Recaro brand name is an amalgamation of Reutter and Carosserien.
• The first car is signed off at the Stuttgart plant (rented from Reutter) on Maundy Thursday, Easter 1950. Two years later, this car, nicknamed ‘The Greyhound’, is written off in a collision when test driver Rolf Wütherich is cut up on the autobahn. Rolf went on to survive James Dean’s fatal crash in his 550 Spyder in 1955. We’ll meet him again in the ’60s.
• The first Beutler 356 cabriolet is built at their workshops on Gwattstrasse in Thun s Dürrenast district in Switzerland.
• Herbert Linge is the first workman to be hired. Born in Weissach, Linge joined Porsche as an apprentice in 1943, and was the first mechanic hired when the firm relocated from Gmund to Stuttgart, where he was involved in the construction of the original 356, which was built by a group of 12 people. In 1952 he was sent to the States to set up the service network for the US franchise.
• Dr Ernst Fuhrmann designs the four-cam “Carrera” engine. A firm with as exalted a competition history as Porsche was never going to be content to run Volkswagen-derived drivetrains, and it was only a matter of time before Porsche came up with a motor of its own. Step forward Professor Ernst Fuhrmann, a Porsche associate pre-war and a Gmund employee from the start. An expert on valve-trains, Prof Fuhrmann came up with the Type 547 Carrera engine, a landmark in the company’s early history and the unit that would see it through a decade of competition. Prof Fuhrmann, who later became Porsche Technical Director in 1971 and Chairman from 1972 to 1980, drew up the first blueprints for the Carrera engine during autumn ’52. This engine used a complex system of bevels and shafts for the valve-train, as well as a drysump-lubrication system. Further distinguishing it was an aluminium block with chrome-plated cylinder walls and twin-spark ignition. The configuration of the Vw-derived flat-four was maintained, though its major evolution was the use of four overhead camshafts driven by quill-shafts and spiral bevel gears. Each bank of cylinders was fuelled by Solex 40 P11-4 twin-choke carbs, and lubrication was via a dry-sump system with separate oil tank to ensure optimum lubrication during high-speed cornering. The original 1498cc version developed a lusty 100bhp at a soaring 6200rpm, an increase of 25bhp on the most powerful contemporary pushrod of the 1600 Super.
• At the Paris Salon, New Yorker Max Hoffmann comes on board as US concessionaire. His enthusiasm will have a profound impact on Porsche sales across the Pond.
• With 298 cars sold by year’s end, a production rate of between five and six cars a week indicates the level of output.
• On 19th November, founder of the dynasty, Professor Ferdinand Porsche, suffers a stroke, from which he succumbs on 30th January 1951, aged 75.
1951
• The 356 spec now includes Ate/lockheed brakes, instead of the stopgap VW hydraulic system. Engines are built in Stuttgart, incorporating aluminium heads cast by Karl Schmidt at Neckarsulm, with chromed barrels made by Mahle, giving 1300cc.
• On 21st March, work pauses for an hour to mark the production of the 500th car.
• Le Mans is the inevitable barometer of competition success and, in late 1950, racing driver Charles Faroux invites Ferry Porsche to enter two cars for the 24-Hour race. It’s only the third running of the 24 Hours since WW2, and the small Porsche KG race team lease a workshop in nearby Teloché. Two 356 SL (Sport Light) Gmünd Coupés are entered, with aluminium body and bulbous wheel spats, nicknamed the ‘Aluminium Can’ by the mechanics. The 1086 cc flat-four develops 46bhp, enabling a 160kph top speed. Veuillet and Edmond Mouche win the 751cc to 1100cc class and are classified 20th overall. Their 356 covers 2840km without a problem, averaging 118.36kph, and their class victory secures a grid spot for the following year.
• Long distance rallies are also in vogue; Von Guilleaume/von der Muhle are 3rd overall and win their class in the Liege-rome-liege rally with their 356.
• On 28th August, the 1000th Porsche comes off the line.
• On 29th September, four drivers led by racing director Huschke von Hanstein set new international records at Montlhéry Autodrome, Paris, in a 356 SL fitted with aero top. Record breaking was a theme that the company returned to several times, since it showcased technical prowess and drew favourable publicity.
1952
• Replacing the two-section bent screen, a one-piece windshield is introduced. The 356 coupé’s rear cabin also offers a folding seat.
• The definitive Porsche emblem/logo is introduced, featuring the Stuttgart coat of arms, while the antlers and red and black stripes are taken from the arms of the Free Peoples’ State of Wurttemberg. The Stuttgart prancing horse had already been adopted by a certain Italian marque, on account of being handed down by an Italian air ace as a souvenir from a downed WW1 German fighter plane whose pilot hailed from Stuttgart. Reutter’s logo also features a rearing equestrian theme, albeit with a mounted rider.
• Three 1086cc 356s run at Le Mans; Veuillet/Mouche place 11th overall and win their class.
• In August, Ferry Porsche sails to New York aboard the SS Queen Elizabeth to present the Type 542 four-door sedan to Studebaker; two prototypes were built with
3054cc V6 engines, one air-cooled, the other water-cooled.
• Two Porsches are entered for the daunting Carrera Panamericana, the 2000mile road-race along the mountainous spine of Mexico. Competing in the Sport Menor class are a 356 Coupe 1500 and a 356 hardtop Cabriolet 1500 belonging to Prince Alfons von Hohenlohe, the Mexican VW concessionaire, and crewed by Count Constantin von Berkheim and Herbert Linge, and Prince Paul von Metternich and Manuel de Teffé. Prince Metternich finishes 8th overall in the 356 Cabriolet. This Cabriolet, incidentally, was the first Porsche ever to be fitted with a synchromesh gearbox.
• The Type 540 America Roadster appears.
1953
• A pair of mid-engined 1.5-litre Type 550 coupés run at Le Mans, where von Frankenberg/Frère come 15th overall, with Herrmann/Glöckler 16th. The 550 Coupes then did a couple of races at the Avus and Nürburgring, driven by Glöckler and Herrmann, then both were sold to the Automobile Club of Guatemala in Central America. Chassis 550-01 was back in action at July 2010’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, having been totally restored with original running gear and a fresh bodyshell by the Naples, Florida-based Collier Collection, and resplendent in its ’53 Carrera Panamericana livery.
• Guatemalan Porsche importer Jaroslav Juhan runs the two 550 coupés in the ’53 Carrera Panamericana, and Jose Herrarte wins the up-to-1600cc class.
1954
• On 15th March, the 5000th Porsche was produced.
• Based on a ladder chassis with independent torsion bar suspension all round, the 550 Spyder debuts the four-cam Fuhrmann “Carrera” engine. The chassis is clad in an open-top aluminium body, created originally by Weinsberg and then made by Wendler at Reutlingen. Power comes from the 1498cc Type 547 four-cam flat-four, developing 110bhp at 6200rpm, and the much rarer factory small-bore 1089cc version is good for 72bhp at a screaming 7000rpm. None of these 1098cc four-cam engines ever made their way into private hands. Works cars raced in 1954 at the Mille Miglia, Reims 12-Hours, The Eifelrennen and Le Mans in the hands of Hans Herrmann, Johnny Claes and Richard von Frankenburg, among others, scoring several class wins against formidable opposition from Borgward, E.M.W., OSCA and Maserati. The first cars were delivered to private owners towards the end of 1954, and the design altered subtly when chassis number 0016 emerged late in the year, with the upright headlights that characterised the preceding run of cars now massaged into a more laid-back position, and the curvaceous hindquarters smoothed out. Only 137 examples of the 550 Spyder were built.
• Porsche takes the first four places in the support race at the Grand Prix of Europe at the Nürburgring.
• On the Mille Miglia, Hans Herrmann has a narrow escape in his 550 Spyder (with Herbert Linge co-driving), driving beneath a lowered railway crossing barrier when a train is approaching, going on to finish 6th overall.
• Hans Herrmann places 3rd overall on La Carrera Panamericana, and the Carrera (“Race”) name is used thereafter by Porsche to identify sports models.
• A three-piece aluminium crankcase replaces two-piece magnesium for the flatfour engine.
• The Type 597 Jagdwagen jeep was introduced, powered by the rear-mounted 356 flat-four, and capable of tackling a 65-degree incline. Intended for the German military, the Porsche tender was beaten on price by Dkw/auto-union’s Munga. Constructed by Karmann, 71 examples of the Jagdwagen (hunting car) were made, with 49 going into the civilian market.
1955
•New 110bhp 356 Carrera is unveiled at the Frankfurt show: private owners now have access to a truly competitive Porsche.
• A number of Coupé models carry the name “Continental” on their front wings.
• Movie idol James Dean is killed in his 550 Spyder, en route to a race meeting at Salinas, California, when a car pulls out across his path, its driver allegedly blinded by the sun.
• The 550A Spyder of Glöckler/Seidel wins its class in the Mille Miglia, placing 8th overall.
• Despite the notorious tragedy unfolding, the 1498cc 550 Spyder of Polensky/von Frankenberg comes 4th overall at Le Mans, followed by Gendebien/Seidel in 5th and Glöckler/Juhan in 6th.
• The 356A is introduced in October for the 1956 model year: 1300, 1300S, 1600, 1600S and 1500GS Carrera; Coupé, Cabriolet and Speedster versions.
• The 356A Speedster T1 appears in Autumn ’55 and, like all Speedsters, is built by Reutter in Stuttgart, attested by the badge on the lower right front wing. Production of this series numbers 1850 units, with two 1600cc flat-four engines available: the 60bhp 616/1 1600N ‘Normal’, and the 75bhp 616/2 1600 ‘Super’. The aluminium-cased 644 gearbox is introduced in 1956, while the steering switches to worm-and-peg and the front suspension incorporates eight-leaf torsion bars, all of which are significant upgrades from the VW parts used previously – an inexorable drive towards technical and mechanical independence.
1956
• In March, the company relocates into its former Zuffenhausen premises, only relinquished by the US military on 1st December 1955. The Americans had wanted to turn it into a cholera hospital but the disease was alleviated.
• Porsche tractors are in production in the Dornier-zeppelin factory at Friedrichshafen: four basic models, 1-cylinder, 2-cylinder, 3cylinder and 4-cylinder versions are available. The Porsche ‘Volks-schlepper’ tractor was originally devised in 1934 at the behest of Adolf Hitler who sought an agricultural vehicle to match his people’s car. The Porsche tractor models succeeded those made by Allgaier, the firm that Porsche took over in 1950, with Mannesmann acquiring the licence to build the tractors from 1956 to 1963. Porsche tractor production totalled 125,000 units.
• Engine capacity rose by 100cc when the 356A 1600GS was launched. The 1600 Carrera was technically similar to its sibling, with larger bores, and a one-piece forged crankshaft running in plain bearings. The twin-plug ignition and the two twin-choke Solex 40 PJJ-4 carbs were retained, while a few cars were fitted with Weber 40 DCM-1 carbs. The twin distributors were driven from the crankshaft, rather than the intake camshafts on the 1500 Carrera engine. The four-speed gearbox was available with alternative ratios for 2nd, 3rd and 4th, though final drive was unaltered and a limited-slip diff was a competition option, along with a straightthrough exhaust, Rudge centre-lock hubs and air-intake trumpets instead of air filters. The GT’S cabin interior was almost identical to the 1500 GS, apart from window lift strap and vinyl carpet, while the electrically heated windscreen was another benefit in a cabin prone to misting up.
• At the Nürburgring 1000kms, Michael May enters his 550 Spyder with elevated strut-mounted aerofoil wing aimed at harnessing downforce, prefiguring later examples of lofty
rear wings such as that of the Chaparral 2F of 1967 and Lotus 49 of 1969.
• Umberto Maglioli and Huschke von Hanstein win the Targa Florio outright in their 550 Spyder. Porsche thereby gains another ‘name’ to identify its open-top Targa models.
• At Berlin’s Avus, Richard von Frankenberg flies spectacularly off the banked North Turn; his 550 Spyder explodes in the paddock below, while he is caught in a tree. Von Frankenburg was thus spared so he could carry on with his day job, which was editing Porsche’s in-house Christophorus magazine.
• At Le Mans, the 550A coupé of von Trips/von Frankenberg places 5th overall.
• The 356A Speedster is introduced to satisfy the lucrative US market.
1957
• Ferry’s son Butzi Porsche joins the company as stylist under Erwin Komenda, producing the first renderings for the 901 soon after.
• In May 1957, Porsche offers two versions of the 356 Carrera Speedster, the GS de Luxe for road use and the GS/GT for competition use. The main differences between the two are weight and performance. The Gran Sport ‘de Luxe’ version is fitted with a heater and smaller 30mm carburettor venturii for a better torque curve. At the same price, Porsche also offers the GT version, which is more powerful than the GS, having a Sebring sports exhaust, Perspex side windows, but no heater or sound deadening. Up front, an enlarged long- range fuel tank is fitted. Front brakes are 550RS units, 10mm thicker, with cooling scoops. The torsion bars are set up at the rear to provide 1-degree of negative camber. Offered in both Coupé and Speedster format, the GT version was considerably lighter than any previous 356. The first Carrera GTS were raced in 1957 at the Reims 12-Hours by Huschke von Hanstein and Wilhelm Hild, running with larger pistons to make a displacement of 1529cc. They won their class and finished 6th and 7th overall.
• Victory in the 1957 Liege-rome-liege rally goes to Claude Storez in a 356 Speedster Carrera and, in the same car, he and Robert Buchet also place 5th overall in the Tour de France Automobile.
• The spaceframe-chassis 718 RS debuts at Le Mans, driven by Maglioli/barth. The 718 supersedes the 550 Spyder, and is built on an aluminium-panelled spaceframe chassis, rather than a backbone chassis like the 550’s. The 718 weighs just 530kg (1146lb), and is powered by the 1498cc four-cam Carrera flat-four, developing 142bhp at 7500rpm, deployed via transaxle and five-speed gearbox. That helps explain why it was so effective on a twisty circuit or hillclimb. The 718 RSK is a rare car, with just 32 made. It evolved into the RS60 in 1960 when rule changes called for a taller windscreen.
• Porsche 356A Cabriolet squad cars are in service with police forces in four countries.
• A streamlined Speedster Carrera is involved in speed and endurance record attempts at Monza.
1958
• The 356 Speedster D is introduced for the 1959 model year. It’s a cross between Speedster and Cabriolet, with bodies built by Drauz in Heilbronn. The Speedster is subsequently dropped, so the model is redesignated as the Convertible D. • The 1300 engine is discontinued. • A single-seater 550 Spyder – with central seating position – is entered by French ace Jean Behra in the Formula 2 race at Reims’ French Grand Prix curtain-raiser.
• The Type 718 RSK of Behra/herrmann places 3rd overall at Le Mans, with Barth/frere 4th in another 718 RSK, and 550A Spyders in 5th and 6th.
• In late 1958 the new T2 body style is released, and Porsche offers an improved version of the Carrera GT, both as a Coupé or Speedster, fitted with aluminium doors and engine lids. With louvres on the rear deck and an opening for the fuel filler cap on the front hood, other refinements include a larger steering box, stronger front spindles and improved transmission. Aluminium is also used for the bucket-seat frames, two-piece wheels with alloy inserts, and aluminium trim strips for the bumpers. We are still in the realms of miniscule numbers: less than ten were fitted with four-cam Carrera engines.
• German nobleman Wolfgang von Trips clinches the European Mountain Climb
Championship in a works 718K Spyder at the Gaisberg hillclimb. Dating back to 1930, the European Hillclimb championship was instigated as an Fia-sanctioned series in 1957, when runs were staged at six different venues across Europe. Porsche annexes the Europa-Bergmeisterschaft as its own happy hunting ground for the next two decades, as we shall see, winning the title 22 years running, from 1958 to 1980.
1959
• In September ’59, the 356A is superseded by the 356B for the 1960 model year.
• Ferry Porsche celebrates his 50th birthday.
• Reutter is still making 25 bodies a month for the 356 production line – for which Porsche pay them £450 each.
• Optional extras across the 356 range include a chrome luggage rack; bumper bowbars; vent-wings to deflect the airstream when the windows are open; a dashboard clock; mesh headlamp protectors; Sebring competition exhaust.
• Porsche participates in the F1 Monaco Grand Prix – though Wolfgang von Trips parks the F2 open-wheel 718 after just two laps due to a collision. Maria-teresa de Filipis is the second Porsche driver, but it’s the works’ only GP outing in ’59.
• A Type 718 RSK wins the Targa Florio outright in the hands of Edgar Barth (Jürgen’s dad) and Wolfgang Seidel, confirming Porsche’s superiority on the 70-mile lap Sicilian road race, which we’ll see much more of in the 1960s.
• In the Sebring 12-Hours, 718 RSKS take 3rd, 4th and 5th places, followed by 4th, 6th and 7th at the Nürburgring 1000kms, and 2nd for Wolfgang von Trips and Jo Bonnier in the Tourist Trophy at Goodwood, earning Porsche 3rd place in the World Sportscar Championship standings behind Aston Martin and Ferrari.
• Twenty lightweight 356 Carrera GTLS are ordered from Carlo Abarth. The lightweight Abarth-bodied 356 Carrera is intended to keep Porsche ahead of the contemporary Lotus Elite and Alfa Romeo’s Giulietta Sprint GT and SVZ in the up-to-1600cc class on the international racing scene. The prevailing FIA regs allowed a different body to be used, provided it didn’t lower the car’s weight below the 1712lb limit. So, in mid-1959, Porsche asked Wendler and Milan-based Carrozzeria Zagato to quote for making coupé shells for the 356. Zagato was already producing such bodies for Carlo Abarth’s diminutive Fiat- based racers, and Abarth pursued Ferry Porsche, technical director Klaus von Rücker and sales manager Walter Schmidt at the ’59 Frankfurt show, offering to make 20 bodies for a million lire each. Ferry agreed on the condition that Abarth created a prototype by mid-october ’59, and interim meetings with Porsche engineer Franz-xavier Reimspiess identified specific requirements such as engine-bay vents and oil-tank location. Abarth, who also wanted to make and sell the finished product independently of Porsche, hired designer Franco Scaglione to draw the body and engaged Zagato to create them – though in the event they were fabricated by the Torinese Carrozzeria Viarenzo & Filliponi. More on the Abarth-carreras next month!