1955 Porsche 356 1500 Speedster

Luxury at Minimal Cost

CarshowClassic.com tells the story. 

One of the Porsche 356 updates, the 1955 Porsche 356 Speedster is a special car made for the American market. It was hit, although the precedents to its success are rather surprising.

The Porsche 356 is one of the most iconic cars in the Porsche, and for a good-reason—it is only the first commercial release of the company. However, the Porsche 356 is not-just the 356; it was updated and upgraded in order to meet with the standards then. After all,-competition, then as now, was stiff, and the only way to win against the others is to edge them out-one way or another. In this respect, the 1955 Porsche 356 Speedster has dominated its-market—which is why it is actually considered as one of the most popular Porsche, and not just-in the 356. 

Ironically, the Porsche 356 Speedster was designed in order to compete in the-American market. The production was prompted by Max Hoffman. The Porsche 356 Speedster was not his-first foray in trying to penetrate the American market with a Porsche. In 1952, he tried it with the-Porsche 356 America—a regrettable attempt as only four were ultimately sold during the year.-In fact, the idea for the Porsche 356 Speedster and the Porsche 356 America wasn’t very-different; both cars were Porsche 356 with minimized features. Of course, in the case of the-Speedster, the intention was different.

Hoffman wanted to try his luck this time by trying to lower the price of the Porsche-356 to 3,000 dollars—still a hefty price at the time, but considerably cheaper than most of-its direct competitors. The normal price of a Porsche in Europe is around 4,000 dollars, almost the-same price of the much sought after Cadillac. In order to make a dent in the market, it needs to-lower its price; otherwise, it wouldn’t stand a chance. But, of course, in order to do this,-the 1954 and the subsequent 1955 Porsche 356 Speedster will need to have fewer features in order to-cut the cost of the production. Because of this, the car has no door boards, no glove compartments,-no heating, and very insufficient roofing.  With these precedents, one would think that the-Porsche 356 Speedster would not succeed. But on the contrary, it did—in fact, more than 14,000-Porsche 356 Speedster units were sold. 

Perhaps one of the reasons for this is the engine. Although the 1954 and the 1955-Porsche 356 Speedster had many key features left out, they have one of the best engines during the-time—the 1500 engine. Also, the almost bare 356 Speedster made up for its speed (because the-car is light). Driving and handling the car became a delight for many. Many did criticize the size-of the Porsche 356 Speedster (saying that the height made it rather uncomfortable to drive) although-its rood was rather easy to put up—a major feat during the time. Many celebrities owned this-Porsche, including James Dean (before buying the 356 Spyder).

Overall, the 1954 and the 1955 Porsche 356 Speedster was received well by both the-American critics and buyers. Perhaps the lesson is that less is more, although may it’s just-that Porsche is overall amazing car it doesn’t matter if it is sold with very few-features.