Background
With the fearsome reputation held by Porsche today, it is hard to imagine them starting from nothing. But as the Chinese Taoist proverb assures us “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Porsche’s single step, followed by about 50 more in the ensuing 2 years, was taken in 1948 with the introduction of the 356 – the first car to bear the Porsche name. It was created by Ferdinand “Ferry” Porsche and was heavily influenced by his father’s revolutionary Volkswagen Beetle. From that 1948 standing start it took Porsche two years to produce the first 50 or so cars, all of which were hand formed from aluminium in a former sawmill in Gmund, Austria.
Based on a mixture of illustrious competition successes and innate simplicity and ability, the 356 thrived. Following “pre-A” and “A” iterations the “B” followed, as it so often does, in 1959. First in the so called T5 bodied form and then, by mid-1962, by the T6 bodied cars. These T6 cars are visually differentiated from earlier ones by twin grills on the engine cover, a petrol filler on the top of the right, front wing (in left-hand drive guise) and a notably larger rear window.
During this period Porsche were contracted with a number of different body manufactures. Whilst roadster bodies were produced by Drauz and the Belgian importer, Anciens Etablissement d’Iteren Freres, coupes and cabriolets bodyshells were fabricated by both Reutter and Karmann. Reutter iterations can be identified by chassis numbers beginning with a “1” and Karmann bodies with a “2.” The differences are predominantly moot, of course, despite Porsche going on to buy Reutter in 1963 / 1964 (but leaving Reutter subsidiary, Recaro AG, in independent ownership to become pre-eminent in OEM and aftermarket seat manufacture).
Intricacies aside, the 356B was a huge success. By the time the 356B was replaced by the “C” in July 1963, over 31,000 “Bs” had been built and sold. Around 16,000 of these were T6 bodied cars with over 12,000 of those being coupes.
