1957 Porsche 356 Speedster

One of the Most Successful Ever

CarshowClassic.com tells the story. 

There are many iconic automobiles in the Porsche stall, and one of the most important examples is the 1957 Porsche 356 Speedster.  It had greater commercial success than any of its predecessors and it paved the way for other respected Porsche offerings.

The 1957 Porsche 356 Speedster was similar to many automobiles that were created-and sold by Porsche; instead of creating new models each year, Porsche had more of a tendency to-take an existing model and implement successive upgrades in different model years to build on a-successful platform.  The 356 Speedster had already made its foray into the American market and-the additional improvements helped the 1957 Porsche 356 Speedster to become the highest selling-example of the 356 line-up, selling almost 1200 units.

Building on the success of a lighter and better handling car, the 356 Speedster was-able to compete with its American competitors by being a little bit different.  The 1500 CC-engine was smaller in comparison, but the added weight that the larger engines had also contributed-to their lack of handling and the 356 Speedster was considered by many to be easier and more fun to-drive.  Additional improvements to the seats and other interior materials were implemented to-increase the comfort of the small Speedster.

The Porsche 356 Speedster was available in both a coupe model and a convertible and-it was designed for success in the American market.  The original body design by Erwin Komenda-was improved with suggestions from Max Hoffman who was the only distributor of Porsche automobiles-in America at the time.  It was on his suggestion that a smaller and lighter car should be-produced, and instead of starting from scratch they simply improved and already a successful-existing model.  By 1957, the Porsche 356A had been introduced and was known as the T2 by-automobile aficionados (standing for type 2).

It is difficult to say just how many 356 Speedsters are still around, but it is-well known in the automotive world for being very well preserved.  It seems that many people-were aware that this would be an iconic car even when it was introduced, and many have taken great-steps to preserve and restore them.  It is estimated that more than half of the original 356-Speedsters that were built are still around today, and for most cars sold at auction this would-reduce their values substantially.  In the case of the 356 Speedster, they continue to command-a significant value at auctions and many are sold for hundreds of thousands of-dollars.

Part of what made the 1957 Porsche 356 Speedsters so special were the design cues-that would later be used on the Porsche 901, which would later be called a 911.  This ended up-being one of the most iconic sports cars of all time, and it definitely owes some of its success to-the warm reception that the 356 Speedster got from both automobile critics and consumers-alike.