Porsche 356/2

Porsche 356/2
Porsche 356/2
Overview
Manufacturer	Porsche
Also called	Porsche Gmund
Production	1948–1951 (~61 produced) Coupe: 42 Cabriolet: 8 Renn-Coupe: 11
Assembly	Coupe, Cabrio: Gmünd, Austria 356SL: Stuttgart, Zuffenhausen, Germany
Designer	Ferry Porsche, Erwin Komenda
Body and chassis
Class	Sports car
Body style	2-door Coupe and Cabriolet
Layout	Rear-engine, rear-wheel drive layout
Doors	2
Related	Porsche 356/1, 356 Pre-A,
Powertrain
Engine	1131 cc Type 366 1086 cc Type 369 1488 cc Type 502
Dimensions
Wheelbase	2,100 mm (82.7 in)
Length	3,880 mm (152.8 in)
Width	1,666 mm (65.6 in)
Height	1,300 mm (51.2 in)
Chronology
Predecessor	Porsche 356/1
Successor	Porsche 356

The Porsche 356/2, produced in Gmünd, Austria, was the first iteration of the Porsche 356 sports car. Produced between 1948 and 1951, the Porsche 356/2 was the first series production aluminum bodied sports car of Porsche after the creation of the 356-001 one-off prototype in Gmund Austria.^[1] It was built in limited numbers, making it a highly sought-after collector's item today.^[1][2]

The Porsche 356/2 was designed by Ferry Porsche and Erwin Komenda, and was based on components from the Volkswagen Beetle. The car was built using lightweight aluminum body panels and a welded steel box chassis with integrated floorplan, which helped to keep its weight low and provide nimble handling. The flat-four engine, which was also based on the Volkswagen Beetle, provided lively performance and was mounted in the rear of the car.

The exterior design of the Porsche 356/2 featured a sloping hood, rounded fenders, and a streamlined profile. The car was available in both a coupé and cabriolet body style, and the interior was designed to be functional, with a simple dashboard and instrument panel. The car was also equipped with large windows, providing excellent visibility.

One of the defining features of the Porsche 356/2 produced in Gmünd was its hand-built construction. Each car was built by a small team of craftsmen, and each car was given its own unique character and attention to detail.^[1]

The Porsche 356/2 was a popular choice for racing and rally events, and many early Porsche racing drivers cut their teeth in this car. The car's nimble handling and quick acceleration made it well suited to the demands of competition driving, and the car's success on the track helped to establish Porsche's reputation as a manufacturer of high-performance sports cars.^[3][4]

About 32 aluminum bodied Porsche 356 cars are still in existence, including the 356-001 roadster prototype in the Porsche museum.

Only limited information exists about this post war period of the company based in Gmund. Herbert Kaes, nephew of Ferdinand Porsche, produced an overview of the first 50 cars in 1951 which is still available in the Porsche company archives and has been published in several publications.^[1][5][3] Out of the first 52 chassis, 50 cars are known to have been produced in Austria. Some chassis numbers are missing in this list, most likely they were used for testing and possible never received a body or they might have been used for repairing another damaged chassis. Initially the coupe bodies where produced by Porsche employees, but as they could not keep up with chassis production Porsche also started to outsource body production to Tatra, Kastenhofer and Keibl in Vienna. Convertible versions were produced by Beutler, Kastenhofer and Keibl. In 1950 the Porsche company was moved to Stuttgart and production of the steel-bodied 356 pre-A started. Production in Gmund was halted and some of the remaining chassis and bodies where assembled by Porsche Salzburg.

The list shows all chassis numbers with the engine and body number. The chassis where produced and placed in storage on the side of the production hall, final assembly started with a completed body and a chassis chosen on top of a stack of finished chassis, so the body number gives a better representation of the chronological order of production.^[4] The engine numbers give a good indication of the origin of the engine. Initially Volkswagen sourced engines where used with "356" added in front of the number. At a certain point Porsche used its own engines which is visible through the low engine numbers starting with number 10 in chassis 356/2-008. Body numbers of the coupe's are listed as 557/xx for the Gmund built versions, except for the versions with a Wx suffix, and 806/xx which are generally believed to be Tatra built bodies.

About 63 chassis have been produced in total out of which about 50 cars have been fully assembled and finished in Austria. The remaining unfinished chassis with Tatra bodies were shipped to Stuttgart and used for the factory and customer racing cars based on the type 514 design, also known as the 356SL. Final assembly was performed at either Reutter, Dannenhauer or the Porsche Stuttgart Werk.^[4] The 356SL cars show some inconsistencies because bodies and chassis have been combined whole or in part after crashes and exported car chassis have been renumbered to the 300x/A range. This allowed for the re-use of chassis numbers which prevented the need for new registration and customs paperwork. For instance chassis number 356/2-055 has been re-used at least twice. These cars also have been equipped with various engines because the engines were replaced after a race or before they were sold, so the original first engine numbers are not known. The list below has been assembled based on documents from the Porsche archive which contain detailed chassis and body numbers when Porsche ordered final assembly and modifications at Reutter as well as from various publications on the many cars still in existence. The 11 or 12 Stuttgart cars have been produced and modified over a period of 2 years. 4 cars were initially built for the 1951 24 Hours of Le Mans, and 2 cars were prepared for private entry into various races making them the first dedicated customer racing cars from Porsche. After several crashes an extra car was prepared for 1951 Le Mans.^[4] Another 4 were built for the 1952 racing season.