Porsche 356
Porsche’s first sports car: small, light and streamlined.
Ferry Porsche wanted to build the sports car he would like to drive himself, and started from Volkswagen parts. Erwin Komenda designed the body, and the first car was finished in 1948.
The 356 won its class at Le Mans in 1951 and laid the foundations of the company. It was succeeded by the 911 but stayed in production until 1965.
Materials: Steel body (the first ones in aluminium), air-cooled flat-four engine at the rear
Manufacture: The first cars were built by hand in Gmünd in Austria, then in Stuttgart until 1965.
The rounded, teardrop body without sharp edges.
The split windscreen on early cars.
The engine at the back under a domed lid.