1951 Porsche 356 Walkaround

For the past 75 year or so, most Porsche coupés have featured the same general appearance -- something otherwise unheard-of in the realm of automobile styling.

Matters have been somewhat complicated over that span with the addition of Porsche mid-engine sports cars and even some sport coupés powered by front-located fluid-cooled motors.  The traditional Porsche sports car has an air-cooled motor located abaft of the rear axle line.  The earliest, 1948 through 1965, model was the 356.  It was supplemented in 1964 and shortly replaced by the 911 series that continues until this day with the same general coupé styling theme.

The design of the 356 is credited to Ferry Porsche, who dealt mostly with engineering and business matters, and Erwin Komenda, who handled the appearance.

Today's post is a walkaround of an early production Porsche 356.  Some background on the 356 series from Wikipedia is here.  I posted on the evolution of 356 series design here.

This post's featured car is a Porsche 356 "Pre-A" coupé built by Reutter.  Photos below are via BaT Auctions.

Gallery

There not being a front-located motor, the trunk is at the front end.  And its lid was sloped downwards for aerodynamic reasons -- not a practical solution for luggage carrying capacity.  Fender fronts are higher than the nearby trunk lid.

Although modified somewhat in recent decades, the fenderline falls away from a peak above the front wheel hub.  The profile is fastback, though there also were a few exceptions over time.

Backlight windows are mounted rather high due to the engine compartment below.

The hood-mounted air intake seems rather small, but it wasn't significantly enlarged until the early 1960s -- so it must have functioned well enough.

Fenders, passenger greenhouse, and the engine compartment smoothly blend together.

Porsche coupés were never "hardtops," always having a functioning B-pillar.

The front bumper of this car sags at the edges -- not a standard feature.  The windshield is two-segment flat glass.  My linked post above mentions how 356 windshields changed over time.

Plain fronts are a problem for stylists.  Eventually 356 bumpers became more massive and were mounted a little higher.  These treatments made frontal appearance less stark.