Way back when I was young in the 1960s my enthusiast friends (who were almost as broke as me) would take 356 engines from wrecked Porsches and put them into their VW bugs. It was a straight engine swap with practically no mods required, you could just bolt the 356 engine to the back of the VW transmission. It sure brightened up the performance of their VW!
This particular comment section, knows their stuff. You all have spot on information, my father had a VW beetle and was planning on putting a Porsche engine in it. I was born in 1973, well it never happened....he sold the car just after my sister was born one year later in 1974... I can still remember him telling the history of VW Porsche, the ole days...I miss them. Time stamped 8:21am(4-11-24)
I hear ya!!! In 1969 Bitburg Germany I was a young sergeant in the USAF, one of my squadron friends was shipping back to the US and had a '65 beetle with a 356 engine that I bought and yes this is a straight bolt in MOD. !!! I drove it all over Europe!! It went so fast that I had to put weights in the front end as it went over 100mph on the Autobahn!!
Never driven a Porsche. But my first car was a 1963 Beetle, 1200 cc, 34 horsepower or somewhere around that, pendulum rear axle. Quite fun to drive on narrow, winding gravel roads. But she could bite you if you pressed her too hard, the pendulum rear axle made her behave in a nasty, unpredictable way. My next car was a 1969 Beetle, 1500 cc, 44 horsepower or something like that, and the new rear axle, not the pendulum one, but the one with an extra joint to make the rear wheels stay flat on the surface. That car was hilariously fun to drive on twisty roads! Especially in the winter, on snow and ice! It was so oversteery, you basically had to turn the steering wheel the other way, out of the curves, to stop the car from turning too much. It was so jittery, but also so predictable, it was a joy to drive! Oh, I miss her a lot. I can only guess how much fun a Porsche 356 would have been to drive, if the basic Beetle was such a hoot in itself! 😎
I bought a 69 two months ago and it's my first car.. learning to drive in it and also in my friend's wife's Honda CRV (a lot easier learn and get used to roads without worrying about a clutch and shifting) so the mix of me driving my Bug and the other vehicle as much as possible before the my driving test next month.
@@brianworden7022 I got a 71 a year and a half ago - my first car! Wanted one since I was a kid. Took a turn too fast, spun, and flipped onto it's side in a snowbank. I threw it back on its wheels, one rim was bent so - spare tire installed, drove it home. Had to replace a valve cover gasket and there's a rattle at 40mph but otherwise the car's fine. Driving it is pretty fun though an automatic (which never existed on the type 1) would be icing on the cake. I've gotten the hang of using the manual, but it's still just an annoying minigame you have to play while driving... I just want to GO.
I fell in love with the 356's when I was a mere lad. Both of my older brothers were American 'muscle car' guys and they started taking me along to drag races all over southern California. That's when I took a different road than them, as I was seeing VW Beetles beating Corvettes and other 'muscle cars'. Didn't see many Porsches at the strip, but I knew that they were based on the VW legacy, so that's where I'd have to start. I never thought I'd be able to afford a Porsche, but it didn't deter me from thinking about possibly owning one day. In 1963, I saw Porsche's newest development in a car magazine ... the awesome 901. Well, it wasn't a 356, but it really captured my soul, and I made the a vow to myself that I WOULD own one of those at some point in the future. My first car was a '63 Beetle that I had to rebuild the motor. I had just gotten my license and drove the Bug everywhere for a few years. Then in 1973, bought a '71 914 from a friend - still not a 356 or a 911though. However, it wasn't the run of the mill 914 though - it was lowered, had Dan Gurney 'bottle-cap wheels with wider tires, painted gold metallic, including the sail panels & targa top, and a bigger bore (1.8L) motor. It was fast and handled so much better than my old 40 horse Bug. It would have to do at the time. In 1977, another friend showed me a LA Times classified ad for an early 911 up in Pasadena - asking price was $3,000. I went to look at it, test drove it and offered $2,500. The seller and I settled on $2,700. and I drove it home to Redondo Beach (on a rainy day at that). I rebuilt the carbs, did an oil change & a tune-up in the following weeks. Drove it for a few years until a shifting fork in the transaxle broke. I pulled the motor to address some serious oil leaks and had the transaxle rebuilt. Well, life got in the way, a new career and I got married, so my old 911 was relegate to sleeping in the garage, next to the torn-apart motor & trans. When the www became available, I started researching the history of my old 911. Found out it was a first model-year, 1964 European model. The original owner purchased it from the Stuttgart factory on December 24th, 1964. It was one of the original 232 901/911s built in 1964, which would be something significant many years later. Fast forward. I retired in 2014 and started making plans to restore the 911. I had purchased many new parts for it over the years, but it became evident that I wasn't an expert at restorations of this magnitude, so I solicited a restoration shops to take over the task. Time had taken a toll on the car and would need more repairs than I had imagined. In lieu of me forking out an enormous amount of my savings, the shop owner offered me an astounding amount to purchase the car. So in 2022, I sold the car, and with the $, had the shop restore my '66 912. I'll probably have the 912 until the day I leave this earth, or at least until I'm no longer able to safely drive ;)
I owned a few 356’s and drove several more. What really set them apart from everything else except Mercedes was build quality and engineering. Driving a 356 was similar to piloting a small aircraft. Every control moved with purpose and precision. The car was fitted with everything a driver needed and nothing he didn’t. My young wife proved how solid the body was when she crashed the Porsche into a concrete abutment at 35 mph and walked away. The doors still opened and shut perfectly. It was her third day of ownership. The Normal 1600cc cars made 60 hp DIN and were good for 100 mph. The 1600 Super engine made 75 hp and was good for 115-120 mph. In the early 1970’s VW introduced the dual port 1600 cc motor. This could be built to 2180 cc/ 200 hp for far less than the 356 unit, and bolted right in. We would save the original 356 engine and street race with the VW motor. Speeds up to 150 mph were seen late on Saturday nights, humbling most Detroit muscle cars. Only a few big block Corvettes could run as fast.
I worked at Hendrick Porsche in charlotte as a mechanic when the Carrera GT came out. I remember we did an alignment on a 356 coupe. I loved that car, They may be based on a beetle but the quality is way, way above. It is one of the most beautiful cars ever made in my opnion.
In 1963 I was a high school senior and an older friend had just left the army. He bought a 58 Porsche with a blown engine and we rebuilt it. The engine was finished on a Sunday and the gas station next to his house where we borrowed the floor jack was closed. Ted had been the army's heavyweight weight lifting champion. So he handed me the wrench for the transaxel lay down on the crawler and told me to scoot the engine off the bench into his hands. He scooted under the car, bench pressed the engine into place and I bolted it up. My second favorite time with him was leaving a Shakey's Pizza Parlor one night the following Spring with me riding in a friend's AC Aceca and Ted in the Porsche. We raced north towards home and stayed with Ted until a sweeper curve over a pass through some hills. We slowed and Ted never did. He just drifted like Juan Manuel Fangio through the curve to a pullout at the top.
Gordon Maltby’s book is excellent, and Gordon knows 356es, as the former and long-time Editor and Publisher of the Porsche 356 Registry club magazine. Get the book.
In the early sixtys I had an early 356 with a super 90 engine. I used it for SCCA racing and autocross .it did fairly well SCCA placing in the top four mosty, but it was a hell of a great autocross car ,won many championships and kept it till i was drafted in to the army.
Bart, please drive an early Speedster, before you stress its "good" handling. My senior year at Fort Lauderdale High School, I had a bright yellow 1954 which was very fond of spinning around 360 degrees inside of its own wheelbase at speed. Early cars had the dreaded swing axles, which rewarded any dramatic change in braking or accelerator pedals with the aforementioned spin. But on the plus side, it was the only car that I ever owned that as you slowly cruised down AIA towards Las Olas, girls would talk to you and if you were going slow enough, they could sit on and then slide over the windowless very low slung doors and plunk into the passenger seat..........now that is priceless German engineering!😉
Most of the oversteer could be adjusted out by lowering the rear until you had a couple of degrees of negative camber;. This could be done in an hour or two by turning the torsion bars. they had a different number of spline teeth on the inner than on the outer, so you could adjust the rear height to within about quarter inch increments. In 1960 they added what they called a camber compensater, a single leaf spring crosswise under the swing axles that pivoted under the transaxle to support part of the weight with no roll stiffness, and the torsion bars were adjusted so the combination gave it a little negative camber, and they fitted it with Dunlop SP radials. The Super 90 Convertible D (successor to the Speedster) handled great. That setup was actually too fast for the brakes if you really pushed it hard on the track. Up until that model the Alfin brakes were more than adequate.
When I was a kid, one of my uncles had a first-generation Beetle. It was, I think, the family's third car (rare for the time). He lived in Springfield, MA. He had a small machine factory. So, this was just a novelty for him. He took my brother and I and one of my cousins out on the Mass Turnpike. The speed limit was 75 MPH back then. The top speed of the Beetle at the time was, from the specs I have seen, 71 MPH. So, we spent the whole time in the right lane. With all of us in the car I am not sure we actually got up to that top speed. It was small, loud and scarry.
In 1965 my Dad (Air Force Lt. + Pilot) was stationed in Germany. He had a German friend named Otto. Otto drove a 356 Carrera. When Otto bought a 911 in 1965 he offered my Dad his 356 Carrera for a whopping $100, serious. Did you know it took a Month to hand pound the 356 body to perfection? Being a practical guy (and a fool🤭) my Dad turned him down and bought a new square back VW to carry my Mom, Sister,Me and my Dad. A few years later he shipped the VW to NY in the Summer of 1967. We drove across America that Summer to our home in Los Angeles (No Air Conditioning of course...yikes). Life is funny.
"Great ammo if you want to make fun of Porsche guys" LOL... the first time I drove a 911, I was instantly transported back to my youth, sitting in a Volkswagen. Everything--the floor-hinged pedals, the proximity of the windshield, the smell of the air cooled engine, reminded me of the old Beetle. It's as if Porsche had taken the germ of the Beetle idea (and, to be fair, the glorious Type 64) and refined it over the course of many generations.
The closest I have ever come to drive an old Porsche was my 1972 VW Beetle!!!!! And watching this video made me see a lot of similarities between these two cars; two very different cars but with lot of similarities...thank you for your videos!
I bough a rough shape 1961 356B coupe in 1975 for only $900. I was in high school, and soon after in collage. I rebuilt the engine, transmission, suspension and brakes, and cleaned up the wear and tear on the body and interior. it was a fun car to drive, its power to weight ratio was decent, and it got a remarkable 36 mpg (great for a collage student). I drove it daily I was in school, it seemed to attract a lot women. but I was not in the market, I had a long time steady girl friend (who has been my wife, and still is, for 40 years now) who was not impressed with it. however her friends were always asking her about that guy who picked her up in the Porsche after school every day (I was also very fit as I competed in sports). Those were fun times. I think the early versions gave it the reputation of being a souped up VW, but no part of that Porsche engine was the same as the VW (except the geat that drove the distributor as I recall). I think It was the engine that VW should have been making: it cooled better, it breathed better, used much better materials, and was very reliable and robust. In southern California it seemed to attract trouble, parts were stolen off it (the costly hub caps, the battery), the car was even stolen once (fortunately I got it back a few days later, police did a good job of locating it fairly quickly, and arrested the driver). I sold it in about 198O or '81 for $5400. a fair price than, since it was a daily driver, not a showcar. Now that car is worth a lot, when Porsche went up market with the way costlier and heavier 911, I think the 356, that was competing with the less costly British sports cars, made the 356 became a hot item. Porsche has always made a car that was focused on the driver's experience, though lately they seem to have gone astray with non-sports cars in their line up. The current models area all fuel thursty, unreliable and very costly to own and maintain. they should have stayed with at least one model in the 4 cylinder category I think.
Porsche went "astray" in order to stay in business. The mid-engine 1997 Boxster was the car that saved the company and ensured the 911' continued success. And the current SUVs are the most popular Porsches currently in their stable. As a result Porsche is one of the most lucrative car manufacturers in the world. BTW… Porsche has two sports cars with turbocharged 4 cylinder engines in their lineup. And Porsche builds performance cars, not economy cars.
@@tome9009 I am aware of all of that, perhaps necessary market adaptations. My point is that Porsche has evolved into a high end car maker that is a very long way from this "beetle on steroids" featured in this video. At least it appears they still keep the driver's experience as their highest priority..
For the design of the Porsche logo, Franz drew inspiration from Stuttgart's city seal, which features a rearing horse, and incorporated this into the centre of the shield shape. Since Stuttgart itself was founded around 950AD as a centre of horse-breeding and stud farms, the animal was a fitting addition to the emblem.
Of all the cars I wished I had bought back when they were affordable, the 356 coupe is the one that really haunts me. This car just looks right and everything I have read about them makes me feel that I would enjoy this car more than any of the faster cars that were available back in the day, or are available now.
One of the thrills of my youth was working at a Volkswagen Porsche dealership in Northern California. Occasionally the dealership would trade inventory cars with other dealers. My job might be to deliver a red Porsche 356C and trade it for an early white Porsche 356C.
There's a scene at 10:57 where 3 white first generation B Roadsters are visible. I can't help but wonder if one of them was mine! I bought a white1960 B Roadster (in my opinion the best looking 356) 1600 "Normal" in 1977 and drove the crap out of it until I stupidly sold it in 1983. What that car would be worth today is mind blowing!
There were actually four 356 Generations (not counting the original hand-built aluminum coupes (1948-1950). They were the Pre-A, A, B and C. So, your 356 B Roadster was actually one of the 3rd generation (1959-1963).
My Dad had a 1961 in red. He got a good deal on it because no one wanted it, it sat there for a long time at the dealer. A 1600 Super. I was 9 years old at the time and the back seat was quite cramped. I mentioned that once and he winked at my Mom and said I guess it's time we traded for a Chevy station wagon. I never mentioned it again...
The 356 had impecable build quality. The bodies were exquisite. Beautiful flowing lines built to perfect precision. Nothing in America in the 50s were built like this.
The prancing horse in the logo is from the city of Stuttgart's history as a horse breeding area for hundreds of years. If you check, you will find that Ferrari's logo is also related to the Stuttgart horse logo.
“As Ferrari itself tells the tale, the marque's eponymous founder, Enzo Ferrari, was visiting Count Enrico Baracca and Countess Paolina Baracca, the parents of famed Italian World War I fighter pilot Francesco Baracca, when the Countess suggested Enzo put the prancing horse their son had painted on the side of his plane during WW1 on Ferrari's race cars for good luck. It was a kill symbol painted on the plane to represent Baracca having shot down a pilot from Stuttgart, Germany, where the city crest depicted a similarly prancing horse, and, unlike the historic Italian version (or the version depicted on Baracca's plane in the photo above), had the same up-turned tail as the eventual Ferrari badge.” ua-cam.com/video/U9YVRBiGDu4/v-deo.html
Good summary, but you should have pointed out that Porsche and VW were separate companies. Porsche was an engineering consulting company, which is why Ferdinand was contracted by the Nazi government to design the original Beetle. Even though he'd been toying around with the design for some years (and "borrowed" an awful lot from Tatra), the VW company was set up by the government and Porsche had nothing to do with it, outside of his engineering contract. It was really Ferry that championed building their own car based on the Beetle, the parts for which they had to buy from VW.
I've gone through many cars since I was 16 years old, nothing super expensive or fancy, but my favorite of all of them was my 1970 911T. I wish I never sold it. A Porsche is a Swiss watch. Those who drive one understand what I mean
How they sold the 356 is astonishing. Sure the Beetle was slow, but the first 356 were underpowered too …. and several times the price of the Beetle even then. It was more expensive than most of their top brand V8s. The Merc 300SL was even more but h***, that was a super car….
Dude, bad info on the emblem. The horse is not a nod to Ferrari. It comes straight from the Stuttgart city seal. Actually Ferrari got its horse from someone who inherited the symbol from someone else who "borrowed" it from Stuttgart.
Never driven any of the OLD Porsches, but I used to have a 914 (brilliant little car that I wish I still owned) and I currently have a 1976 912E and a trio of 944's
Has anyone done a feature on the Porsche type 542, also known as the Studebaker Z87, a prototype sedan built in 1953. Porsche built the prototype, a highly sophisticated front-engine (120-degree V6, two versions built, one air cooled, one water-cooled) car with independent front and rear suspension. Styling language was a blend of Porsche and Studebaker (look up the "Loewy-Bourke coupe") themes, and the Porsche prototype looked really great in comparison to other compact sedans of the time.
1952 Cabriolet, probably less than half dozen imported to US. 1954 356, with 36 hp vw engine and empi extractor exhaust... lovely. I was young and they were cheap. Oh dear...!
My first experience with driving a Porsche was inheriting my father-in-law’s 1983 944. I know, “it’s not a real Porsche” as the hardcore collectors would say, but it’s a fun, well-engineered car that helped save Porsches butt. Sadly it isn’t given any credit for being a real Porsche.
The Horse on the Porsche crest is not a “nod to Ferrari”….it is a symbol of the etymology of the home city of Stuttgart, who’s name means “Stud Farm” …in medieval times Stuttgart was a center for raising horses.
I had a 1955 Porsche Speedster and I loved it. The only reason I sold it was to get down money to buy my house. I am really sorry I sold it. I then realized that you could live in a Porsche but you could not drive a house. My brother had a 1957 Porsche Carrera speedster 1500 gs. Boy to have those cars now!!!!!
Such a humble beginning to what has become one of the most recognizable names in the car industry and it is a name you can't mention without talking about motorsport, It has been one of the most dominating carmaker alongside the biggest in the game the likes of Ferrari, Jaguar, Alfa Romeo, Bentley and many others.
Biggest car mistake of my life occurred about 8 years ago. I sold my '98 911 C2S coupe for $36l. Triple black, 6 speed manual with 44k miles because I had nowhere to properly garage it.
In the UK owning cars of that era it was necessary to the skills of engineering and body repair. It was a basic requirement of owning a car and part of the fun. Although to cars have long gone, I still have and use the basic tools and socket sets that I used to maintain them!
My Three and Only Favorite Porches are! 356 Speedster,917 and The 911 Older Version With The bigger fenders for the headlights ( Whale Tail a Bonus)! I Was NEVER for Top Speed!! ?? I Rather Have Handling!
Love the early Porsches! Dodge should have stuck with the iconic Gen 2 GTS body style, and just kept making improvements. Like Porsche has done. Instead, the Gen 3 was angular and they completely lost their identity, lost their way. The Gen 4 tried to reintroduce some Gen 2 body lines, but its was still pretty gastly. By the time the Gen 5 rolled around, Dodge came to their senses and returned to the iconic lines of the Gen 2 GTS, but it was too late and the car was cancelled for good. Shot themselves in the foot, because they didn't recognize what they had. But I've still got mine! Would like to own a Porsche also, but I am all out of parking space!
It was a bloody good car and was shown to be so but Dennis Jenkinson as the Continental Correspondent of Motor Sport. Read his reports of the early sixties.
I saw that a last edition (I forget the Porsche nomenclature) B Roadster, with the dual grills on the engine cover, sold at an auction for $168,000. Only Speedsters (and maybe a 1965 SC Cabriolet) can command a higher price. In 1970's Southern California, 356's were "used cars"!
Father had a red 356 b. Back in 2004 you get one for 15-20 k. Now they've sky rocketed to 100 k. If i had the opportunity to buy a house or this car. I would get the car.
"No matter what you think of Porches, OR THE PEOPLE WHO DRIVE THEM,..." Obviously written by someone who has found themselves in traffic with a lawyer behind them.
The VW Beetle And the porsche 356 were designed by engineers, not by men you might call a stylist who designed most other cars. The Theme of both the bug and the 356 were by making an efficient shape you improve a cars gas milage and it's speed. In the vw bug and the 356 have a small engine that was kept in the trunk, but this was good enough ibecause the car is small and aerodynamic.
Check out the Hans Ledwinka designed Tatras (Tatra T 77, T 87, the 603, etc), they are beautiful, aerodynamic cars that are also rear engined and air cooled… according to Ferdinand Porsche, he & Ledwinka “looked over each other’s shoulders” when they designed their cars !
I love what you say about the British cars. Yes, you do have to be a mechanic and to be able to work on the cars yourself. I still have the tools needed to totally rebuild my MGB or Austin-Healey Sprite engine. They don't take up a lot of space. I even remember one time, when, at 2AM, I realized I needed to change the clutch in my MGB so that I could get to work the next day. I had a great garage setup, and I could do that job in about two hours. It was wild. At that time of night, I could hear, and see, the deer running down the street outside my house. Ah, the good old days.
@@bartscarstories Very different. Actually, the time I am talking about is the late 1970s and early 1980s. Besides fixing the cars myself to get to work, I would sometimes borrow my brother's Triumph 1968 GT6 or my father's 1970 Oldsmobile Delta 88 (it was a third car he just kept around). My brother still has the GT6, and recently totally took it apart, restored it and put it back together. At one point my father offered to sell the Delta 88 to me for $25. I declined. Recall that this was just after the second oil shock and the Olds got just 10 MPG. I actually had room for it, but even making good money, it was just not practical.
I had a 1965 vw ragtop with a 356 industrial motor that had a single 32 zineth carb it put out 75 hp. I still have a book written by Henry Elfrink titled: "Porsche Technical Manual " anyway it's a very informative book.
Aside from seating position, the 356 feels just like a well sorted bug, albeit with more engine and taller gears. Still wonderful sunday drivers, I borrow my friends' car as often as he'll let me.
When I was 17, I bought a 1959 356A Cabriolet for 1200 bucks. I drove it everyday, and it got a little beat up, so I sold it for $600 in kind of poor condition and thought, sucker, as he drove away. Who was the sucker now????? HA!
As much as I hate to say it, The Cayenne saved Porsche. I hate Suv's and refuse to have one of any brand. I worked at the dealer when the Cayenne was fairly new and between it and the boxster selling in large numbers it kept the ligths on.
Only incorrect fact was that in reality, Porsche built the 1582 cc, three piece case for VW which was going to make it a diesel. But the test car had a 0-62 mph time of 60 seconds and the project was killed. Porsche bought the engine back. Several years ago VW wanted a diesel for its museum. One had to be brought back from the USA.
Porsche is not just a car manufacturer. VW also repeatedly commissioned Porsche to develop engines for Audi, SEAT and VW. There was even a joint car model from VW and Porsche, the VW-Porsche 914. Unfortunately, VW and Porsche did not agree on the joint model after a change in management at VW.
The 914 was sold in Europe as a VW-Porsche, but in America as a Porsche, mainly due to pricing issues. I know this because a friend imported one from Europe labeled as a VW-Porsche.
for the carrera's engine porsche allowed a young gradute from the unveristy of stuttgart to work on it valve train , this graudate who had joined the company in 1956 straight after graduation and every porsche engine from the 356 Carrera's valve train up to last water cooled engine 911 would be baised on his design, the gradute his name was Hans Mezger
I bought a 65 356C in 1974 the year I got out of college with a degree in tool design. I wanted a tats in 210 my brother talked me out of a cheep car. He told me this maybe the only tiime I could old my dream car s04 is until I . So I payed 3500 dollars for the car
Never drove a 351, but owned a '67 Kharmann Ghia, [Ghias were heavier than the corresponding year Beetle it is based upon] and the improvement in handling in the Ghia vs. a Beetle from the lower CG is reason enough to believe the 351 is a great car to drive: smaller, lighter, faster HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!
The black horse in Porsche's crest is supposed to be a nod to Ferrari's cavallino rampante? That's total crap history boy! Franz drew inspiration from Stuttgart's city seal, which features a rearing horse, and incorporated this into the centre of the shield shape.
hey bart how old are you? i appreciate you bringing back some of my history. did you drive a 356 or a speedster or any porsche. i've restored them along with 911 65 thru the sc. turbos starting in 76, 944s, and 928s. im offering my knowledge
The Audi design is even older and more consistent. The engine in front of the front axle layout of modern longitudinally set up Audis goes back to the prewar Auto Union/DKW F9 (from which many design elements of the KdF wagon were lifted, along from the Tatra, which was an even greater rip-off). VAG has three very old layouts, the F9, the KdF, and the 1959 Austin 7/Mini. Porsche is far from alone in the design conservatism of the whole group, and not even the most conservative element present.
@07:07 is that a Morris Minor behind the Porsche? Great video BTW, I have put a few in the queue so that's my viewing pleasure for the next hour or so.
Answering my own question, it's actually a Renault 4CV, car number 54 driven by Lecat and Senftleben, whoever they are, and it's from the 1951 race, which I don't think gets mentioned in the video.
Overall I love your video! I am a huge fan of early VW's and by extension Porsche! Thank you for taking the time to make and post this video, truly! I learned so so much. Do you think that current Porsche models sold in the US were designed without thoughts of the trends? No disrespect...Great video! Thanks.
You could blindfold me and put me behind the wheel of a 356, a Boxter, or 911 and I’d know that I was driving a Porsche. There’s nothing else that feels like them and THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE!
As an MGB owner and former ’64 Beetle owner, I’d love to own a Karmann Ghia or early Porsche, but I can’t afford the “Porsche Tax”. I’ll stick with British Sports Cars. 😂
It’s possible to find an air cooled 911 for about the same $$ you would pay for a new Honda Civic Type R or a Subaru WRX… you’ll have to be patient but they are out there
Take a 68 Beetle and use a Carrera engine, drivetrain, suspension, brakes, and nice fat grippy tires. Then you have a sleeper. Make sure you leave the rust and patina on the body, helps the sleep. Then when you leave them in the dust they sit there with their mouths open. BTW, completely unrelated, What happens if BreatheRight strips make you go crosseyed?
Best handling, with the engine in the back? Most unexperienced drivers couldn't handle a Porsche. It was until Porsche mounted heavy electronics in the later 911s until they wear reasonaly handable.
The pre A Porsches were all VW. The engine too. I had a 53. With a 64 SC engine and a 1800cc big bore kit. Probably made 120hp. I never3 did discover its original engine, probably a 1100cc 3 piece case VW. I had a book showing every interchangable nut bolt etc between Porsch and VW and basically everything was Vdub. And when things changed they didn't change much at all. And they were all rust buckets. Mine had original battery box and everything, rare even in 1978. I've seen so many rusted out cancerous hulks sell on ebay for over $30K. needing restoration!! You'd be better to take a Bug and rework it..... My 356 had copious amounts of undercoating, brushed on when new. It was hell to get off but I got most of it and then brushed on new undercoating and some Shultz. Be very carefull if buying a 356. It is 40+yrs since I bought mine and many were rusty then. Cancer in the longitudials is common but ebay cancer porks sell. They shouldn't. I totaled out two 356's because of cancer in the longitudinals etc. It is not realistic. reason with god. roughly 78000 356 were produced and around 45000 maybe were around in 1978. today maybe 35,000? And I see so many cancer ridden relics for sale. They are Vastly overvalued. It's idolatry. 4 cam engines are an escatalogical nightmare. roughly 40 hours to check and set the valves..... an SC in 64 made 104 sae hp. 4 cam around 110-125hp
Way back when I was young in the 1960s my enthusiast friends (who were almost as broke as me) would take 356 engines from wrecked Porsches and put them into their VW bugs. It was a straight engine swap with practically no mods required, you could just bolt the 356 engine to the back of the VW transmission. It sure brightened up the performance of their VW!
Paul Newman's who was a successful race driver as well as actor used a similar route to incognito performance. He put a VW body on a Porsche.
That’s what they did for the Herbie movies. They had Porsche motors (and maybe even transaxles) too in the cars.
This particular comment section, knows their stuff.
You all have spot on information, my father had a VW beetle and was planning on putting a Porsche engine in it.
I was born in 1973, well it never happened....he sold the car just after my sister was born one year later in 1974...
I can still remember him telling the history of VW Porsche, the ole days...I miss them.
Time stamped 8:21am(4-11-24)
I hear ya!!! In 1969 Bitburg Germany I was a young sergeant in the USAF, one of my squadron friends was shipping back to the US and had a '65 beetle with a 356 engine that I bought and yes this is a straight bolt in MOD. !!! I drove it all over Europe!! It went so fast that I had to put weights in the front end as it went over 100mph on the Autobahn!!
I have a 1971 “ Poor Man’s Porsche “ My Faithful Green Machine, My sedan, Karmin Ghia….👍🏻
Never driven a Porsche. But my first car was a 1963 Beetle, 1200 cc, 34 horsepower or somewhere around that, pendulum rear axle. Quite fun to drive on narrow, winding gravel roads. But she could bite you if you pressed her too hard, the pendulum rear axle made her behave in a nasty, unpredictable way. My next car was a 1969 Beetle, 1500 cc, 44 horsepower or something like that, and the new rear axle, not the pendulum one, but the one with an extra joint to make the rear wheels stay flat on the surface. That car was hilariously fun to drive on twisty roads! Especially in the winter, on snow and ice! It was so oversteery, you basically had to turn the steering wheel the other way, out of the curves, to stop the car from turning too much. It was so jittery, but also so predictable, it was a joy to drive! Oh, I miss her a lot. I can only guess how much fun a Porsche 356 would have been to drive, if the basic Beetle was such a hoot in itself! 😎
I bought a 69 two months ago and it's my first car.. learning to drive in it and also in my friend's wife's Honda CRV (a lot easier learn and get used to roads without worrying about a clutch and shifting) so the mix of me driving my Bug and the other vehicle as much as possible before the my driving test next month.
@@brianworden7022 I got a 71 a year and a half ago - my first car! Wanted one since I was a kid. Took a turn too fast, spun, and flipped onto it's side in a snowbank. I threw it back on its wheels, one rim was bent so - spare tire installed, drove it home. Had to replace a valve cover gasket and there's a rattle at 40mph but otherwise the car's fine. Driving it is pretty fun though an automatic (which never existed on the type 1) would be icing on the cake. I've gotten the hang of using the manual, but it's still just an annoying minigame you have to play while driving... I just want to GO.
I fell in love with the 356's when I was a mere lad. Both of my older brothers were American 'muscle car' guys and they started taking me along to drag races all over southern California. That's when I took a different road than them, as I was seeing VW Beetles beating Corvettes and other 'muscle cars'. Didn't see many Porsches at the strip, but I knew that they were based on the VW legacy, so that's where I'd have to start.
I never thought I'd be able to afford a Porsche, but it didn't deter me from thinking about possibly owning one day. In 1963, I saw Porsche's newest development in a car magazine ... the awesome 901. Well, it wasn't a 356, but it really captured my soul, and I made the a vow to myself that I WOULD own one of those at some point in the future.
My first car was a '63 Beetle that I had to rebuild the motor. I had just gotten my license and drove the Bug everywhere for a few years. Then in 1973, bought a '71 914 from a friend - still not a 356 or a 911though. However, it wasn't the run of the mill 914 though - it was lowered, had Dan Gurney 'bottle-cap wheels with wider tires, painted gold metallic, including the sail panels & targa top, and a bigger bore (1.8L) motor. It was fast and handled so much better than my old 40 horse Bug. It would have to do at the time.
In 1977, another friend showed me a LA Times classified ad for an early 911 up in Pasadena - asking price was $3,000. I went to look at it, test drove it and offered $2,500. The seller and I settled on $2,700. and I drove it home to Redondo Beach (on a rainy day at that).
I rebuilt the carbs, did an oil change & a tune-up in the following weeks. Drove it for a few years until a shifting fork in the transaxle broke. I pulled the motor to address some serious oil leaks and had the transaxle rebuilt. Well, life got in the way, a new career and I got married, so my old 911 was relegate to sleeping in the garage, next to the torn-apart motor & trans. When the www became available, I started researching the history of my old 911. Found out it was a first model-year, 1964 European model. The original owner purchased it from the Stuttgart factory on December 24th, 1964. It was one of the original 232 901/911s built in 1964, which would be something significant many years later.
Fast forward. I retired in 2014 and started making plans to restore the 911. I had purchased many new parts for it over the years, but it became evident that I wasn't an expert at restorations of this magnitude, so I solicited a restoration shops to take over the task. Time had taken a toll on the car and would need more repairs than I had imagined. In lieu of me forking out an enormous amount of my savings, the shop owner offered me an astounding amount to purchase the car. So in 2022, I sold the car, and with the $, had the shop restore my '66 912. I'll probably have the 912 until the day I leave this earth, or at least until I'm no longer able to safely drive ;)
I owned a few 356’s and drove several more. What really set them apart from everything else except Mercedes was build quality and engineering. Driving a 356 was similar to piloting a small aircraft. Every control moved with purpose and precision. The car was fitted with everything a driver needed and nothing he didn’t. My young wife proved how solid the body was when she crashed the Porsche into a concrete abutment at 35 mph and walked away. The doors still opened and shut perfectly. It was her third day of ownership. The Normal 1600cc cars made 60 hp DIN and were good for 100 mph. The 1600 Super engine made 75 hp and was good for 115-120 mph. In the early 1970’s VW introduced the dual port 1600 cc motor. This could be built to 2180 cc/ 200 hp for far less than the 356 unit, and bolted right in. We would save the original 356 engine and street race with the VW motor. Speeds up to 150 mph were seen late on Saturday nights, humbling most Detroit muscle cars. Only a few big block Corvettes could run as fast.
your reference to a small aircraft is True. you put my thoughts into words.
I worked at Hendrick Porsche in charlotte as a mechanic when the Carrera GT came out. I remember we did an alignment on a 356 coupe. I loved that car, They may be based on a beetle but the quality is way, way above. It is one of the most beautiful cars ever made in my opnion.
The horse is not a nod to Ferrari, it's the Stuttgart coat of arms. Also, the body manufacturer is Reutter Karosserie (not plural or possessive).
Exactly. Stuttgart means “stud garden”, in reference to the horses.
In 1963 I was a high school senior and an older friend had just left the army. He bought a 58 Porsche with a blown engine and we rebuilt it. The engine was finished on a Sunday and the gas station next to his house where we borrowed the floor jack was closed. Ted had been the army's heavyweight weight lifting champion. So he handed me the wrench for the transaxel lay down on the crawler and told me to scoot the engine off the bench into his hands. He scooted under the car, bench pressed the engine into place and I bolted it up. My second favorite time with him was leaving a Shakey's Pizza Parlor one night the following Spring with me riding in a friend's AC Aceca and Ted in the Porsche. We raced north towards home and stayed with Ted until a sweeper curve over a pass through some hills. We slowed and Ted never did. He just drifted like Juan Manuel Fangio through the curve to a pullout at the top.
Gordon Maltby’s book is excellent, and Gordon knows 356es, as the former and long-time Editor and Publisher of the Porsche 356 Registry club magazine. Get the book.
I am 72 years old. When I was growing up my father had a Volkswagen Beetle and would call the Volkswagen Beetle the poor mans Porsche.
My 1970 VW sedan,,has many things taken,adapted from Porsche's. thank you Mr. Porsche.
It's Dr.
In the early sixtys I had an early 356 with a super 90 engine. I used it for SCCA racing and autocross .it did fairly well SCCA placing in the top four mosty, but it was a hell of a great autocross car ,won many championships and kept it till i was drafted in to the army.
Bart, please drive an early Speedster, before you stress its "good" handling. My senior year at Fort Lauderdale High School, I had a bright yellow 1954 which was very fond of spinning around 360 degrees inside of its own wheelbase at speed. Early cars had the dreaded swing axles, which rewarded any dramatic change in braking or accelerator pedals with the aforementioned spin. But on the plus side, it was the only car that I ever owned that as you slowly cruised down AIA towards Las Olas, girls would talk to you and if you were going slow enough, they could sit on and then slide over the windowless very low slung doors and plunk into the passenger seat..........now that is priceless German engineering!😉
Most of the oversteer could be adjusted out by lowering the rear until you had a couple of degrees of negative camber;. This could be done in an hour or two by turning the torsion bars. they had a different number of spline teeth on the inner than on the outer, so you could adjust the rear height to within about quarter inch increments. In 1960 they added what they called a camber compensater, a single leaf spring crosswise under the swing axles that pivoted under the transaxle to support part of the weight with no roll stiffness, and the torsion bars were adjusted so the combination gave it a little negative camber, and they fitted it with Dunlop SP radials. The Super 90 Convertible D (successor to the Speedster) handled great. That setup was actually too fast for the brakes if you really pushed it hard on the track. Up until that model the Alfin brakes were more than adequate.
Where were you when I needed you??😀@@josephgorman1275
When I was a kid, one of my uncles had a first-generation Beetle. It was, I think, the family's third car (rare for the time). He lived in Springfield, MA. He had a small machine factory. So, this was just a novelty for him. He took my brother and I and one of my cousins out on the Mass Turnpike. The speed limit was 75 MPH back then. The top speed of the Beetle at the time was, from the specs I have seen, 71 MPH. So, we spent the whole time in the right lane. With all of us in the car I am not sure we actually got up to that top speed. It was small, loud and scarry.
6:50 the horse isn‘t a nod to Ferrari, it‘s the city symbol of Stuttgart.
In 1965 my Dad (Air Force Lt. + Pilot) was stationed in Germany.
He had a German friend named Otto. Otto drove a 356 Carrera. When Otto bought a 911 in 1965 he offered my Dad his 356 Carrera for a whopping $100, serious. Did you know it took a Month to hand pound the 356 body to perfection? Being a practical guy (and a fool🤭) my Dad turned him down and bought a new square back VW to carry my Mom, Sister,Me and my Dad. A few years later he shipped the VW to NY in the Summer of 1967. We drove across America that Summer to our home in Los Angeles (No Air Conditioning of course...yikes). Life is funny.
"Great ammo if you want to make fun of Porsche guys" LOL... the first time I drove a 911, I was instantly transported back to my youth, sitting in a Volkswagen. Everything--the floor-hinged pedals, the proximity of the windshield, the smell of the air cooled engine, reminded me of the old Beetle. It's as if Porsche had taken the germ of the Beetle idea (and, to be fair, the glorious Type 64) and refined it over the course of many generations.
The closest I have ever come to drive an old Porsche was my 1972 VW Beetle!!!!! And watching this video made me see a lot of similarities between these two cars; two very different cars but with lot of similarities...thank you for your videos!
The badge is NOT a nod to Ferrari's horse logo, Stuttgart means in English Stud Gate or Stud Farm, this is where horses were bred for competition
If you look back into Porsches History, youll notice that a lot of the Beetle is actualy copyed from the Czech.
Thanks for making all of your entertaining and informative videos, they never fail to brighten my day.
Gay
I bough a rough shape 1961 356B coupe in 1975 for only $900. I was in high school, and soon after in collage. I rebuilt the engine, transmission, suspension and brakes, and cleaned up the wear and tear on the body and interior. it was a fun car to drive, its power to weight ratio was decent, and it got a remarkable 36 mpg (great for a collage student). I drove it daily I was in school, it seemed to attract a lot women. but I was not in the market, I had a long time steady girl friend (who has been my wife, and still is, for 40 years now) who was not impressed with it. however her friends were always asking her about that guy who picked her up in the Porsche after school every day (I was also very fit as I competed in sports). Those were fun times. I think the early versions gave it the reputation of being a souped up VW, but no part of that Porsche engine was the same as the VW (except the geat that drove the distributor as I recall). I think It was the engine that VW should have been making: it cooled better, it breathed better, used much better materials, and was very reliable and robust. In southern California it seemed to attract trouble, parts were stolen off it (the costly hub caps, the battery), the car was even stolen once (fortunately I got it back a few days later, police did a good job of locating it fairly quickly, and arrested the driver). I sold it in about 198O or '81 for $5400. a fair price than, since it was a daily driver, not a showcar. Now that car is worth a lot, when Porsche went up market with the way costlier and heavier 911, I think the 356, that was competing with the less costly British sports cars, made the 356 became a hot item. Porsche has always made a car that was focused on the driver's experience, though lately they seem to have gone astray with non-sports cars in their line up. The current models area all fuel thursty, unreliable and very costly to own and maintain. they should have stayed with at least one model in the 4 cylinder category I think.
Porsche went "astray" in order to stay in business. The mid-engine 1997 Boxster was the car that saved the company and ensured the 911' continued success. And the current SUVs are the most popular Porsches currently in their stable. As a result Porsche is one of the most lucrative car manufacturers in the world. BTW… Porsche has two sports cars with turbocharged 4 cylinder engines in their lineup. And Porsche builds performance cars, not economy cars.
@@tome9009 I am aware of all of that, perhaps necessary market adaptations. My point is that Porsche has evolved into a high end car maker that is a very long way from this "beetle on steroids" featured in this video. At least it appears they still keep the driver's experience as their highest priority..
11:39: "NO AIRBAGS! WE DIE LIKE REAL MAN"
For the design of the Porsche logo, Franz drew inspiration from Stuttgart's city seal, which features a rearing horse, and incorporated this into the centre of the shield shape. Since Stuttgart itself was founded around 950AD as a centre of horse-breeding and stud farms, the animal was a fitting addition to the emblem.
Tatra and it's important history is a needed influence and inspiration for Porsche design character, it's always been a part of the History of Porsche
Of all the cars I wished I had bought back when they were affordable, the 356 coupe is the one that really haunts me. This car just looks right and everything I have read about them makes me feel that I would enjoy this car more than any of the faster cars that were available back in the day, or are available now.
love the history. well presented. didn't know about the 356. eye candy also appreciated.
One of the thrills of my youth was working at a Volkswagen Porsche dealership in Northern California. Occasionally the dealership would trade inventory cars with other dealers. My job might be to deliver a red Porsche 356C and trade it for an early white Porsche 356C.
There's a scene at 10:57 where 3 white first generation B Roadsters are visible. I can't help but wonder if one of them was mine! I bought a white1960 B Roadster (in my opinion the best looking 356) 1600 "Normal" in 1977 and drove the crap out of it until I stupidly sold it in 1983. What that car would be worth today is mind blowing!
There were actually four 356 Generations (not counting the original hand-built aluminum coupes (1948-1950). They were the Pre-A, A, B and C. So, your 356 B Roadster was actually one of the 3rd generation (1959-1963).
I always liked the look of the notchback 356.
My Dad had a 1961 in red. He got a good deal on it because no one wanted it, it sat there for a long time at the dealer. A 1600 Super. I was 9 years old at the time and the back seat was quite cramped. I mentioned that once and he winked at my Mom and said I guess it's time we traded for a Chevy station wagon. I never mentioned it again...
The 356 had impecable build quality. The bodies were exquisite. Beautiful flowing lines built to perfect precision. Nothing in America in the 50s were built like this.
The Porsche story is one of the most interesting and amazingly lesser-known of WWII.
The prancing horse in the logo is from the city of Stuttgart's history as a horse breeding area for hundreds of years. If you check, you will find that Ferrari's logo is also related to the Stuttgart horse logo.
“As Ferrari itself tells the tale, the marque's eponymous founder, Enzo Ferrari, was visiting Count Enrico Baracca and Countess Paolina Baracca, the parents of famed Italian World War I fighter pilot Francesco Baracca, when the Countess suggested Enzo put the prancing horse their son had painted on the side of his plane during WW1 on Ferrari's race cars for good luck.
It was a kill symbol painted on the plane to represent Baracca having shot down a pilot from Stuttgart, Germany, where the city crest depicted a similarly prancing horse, and, unlike the historic Italian version (or the version depicted on Baracca's plane in the photo above), had the same up-turned tail as the eventual Ferrari badge.”
ua-cam.com/video/U9YVRBiGDu4/v-deo.html
Good summary, but you should have pointed out that Porsche and VW were separate companies. Porsche was an engineering consulting company, which is why Ferdinand was contracted by the Nazi government to design the original Beetle. Even though he'd been toying around with the design for some years (and "borrowed" an awful lot from Tatra), the VW company was set up by the government and Porsche had nothing to do with it, outside of his engineering contract. It was really Ferry that championed building their own car based on the Beetle, the parts for which they had to buy from VW.
My Dad had the opportunity to drive one of those when stationed in Germany. I worked on a model with a magnesium engine block and a art deco speedo.
Thank you for pronouncing the name Porsche correctly. :)
I've gone through many cars since I was 16 years old, nothing super expensive or fancy, but my favorite of all of them was my 1970 911T. I wish I never sold it. A Porsche is a Swiss watch. Those who drive one understand what I mean
How they sold the 356 is astonishing. Sure the Beetle was slow, but the first 356 were underpowered too …. and several times the price of the Beetle even then. It was more expensive than most of their top brand V8s. The Merc 300SL was even more but h***, that was a super car….
Dude, bad info on the emblem. The horse is not a nod to Ferrari. It comes straight from the Stuttgart city seal. Actually Ferrari got its horse from someone who inherited the symbol from someone else who "borrowed" it from Stuttgart.
Never driven any of the OLD Porsches, but I used to have a 914 (brilliant little car that I wish I still owned) and I currently have a 1976 912E and a trio of 944's
Has anyone done a feature on the Porsche type 542, also known as the Studebaker Z87, a prototype sedan built in 1953. Porsche built the prototype, a highly sophisticated front-engine (120-degree V6, two versions built, one air cooled, one water-cooled) car with independent front and rear suspension. Styling language was a blend of Porsche and Studebaker (look up the "Loewy-Bourke coupe") themes, and the Porsche prototype looked really great in comparison to other compact sedans of the time.
1952 Cabriolet, probably less than half dozen imported to US. 1954 356, with 36 hp vw engine and empi extractor exhaust... lovely. I was young and they were cheap. Oh dear...!
My first experience with driving a Porsche was inheriting my father-in-law’s 1983 944. I know, “it’s not a real Porsche” as the hardcore collectors would say, but it’s a fun, well-engineered car that helped save Porsches butt. Sadly it isn’t given any credit for being a real Porsche.
It is a real Porsche. Remember, all great things come from humble beginnings….as the 911 came from the Beetle
The Horse on the Porsche crest is not a “nod to Ferrari”….it is a symbol of the etymology of the home city of Stuttgart, who’s name means “Stud Farm” …in medieval times Stuttgart was a center for raising horses.
My best favorite porsche ever !
Great design and aerodynamic lines .
Lovely cars. The 356 was a gem.
I had a 1955 Porsche Speedster and I loved it. The only reason I sold it was to get down money to buy my house. I am really sorry I sold it. I then realized that you could live in a Porsche but you could not drive a house. My brother had a 1957 Porsche Carrera speedster 1500 gs. Boy to have those cars now!!!!!
Great coverage. Thanks
Such a humble beginning to what has become one of the most recognizable names in the car industry and it is a name you can't mention without talking about motorsport, It has been one of the most dominating carmaker alongside the biggest in the game the likes of Ferrari, Jaguar, Alfa Romeo, Bentley and many others.
Biggest car mistake of my life occurred about 8 years ago. I sold my '98 911 C2S coupe for $36l. Triple black, 6 speed manual with 44k miles because I had nowhere to properly garage it.
In the UK owning cars of that era it was necessary to the skills of engineering and body repair. It was a basic requirement of owning a car and part of the fun.
Although to cars have long gone, I still have and use the basic tools and socket sets that I used to maintain them!
My Three and Only Favorite Porches are! 356 Speedster,917 and The 911 Older Version With The bigger fenders for the headlights ( Whale Tail a Bonus)! I Was NEVER for Top Speed!! ?? I Rather Have Handling!
Great video! Too bad prices are such that most real car guys are unable to experience them.
Love the early Porsches! Dodge should have stuck with the iconic Gen 2 GTS body style, and just kept making improvements. Like Porsche has done. Instead, the Gen 3 was angular and they completely lost their identity, lost their way. The Gen 4 tried to reintroduce some Gen 2 body lines, but its was still pretty gastly. By the time the Gen 5 rolled around, Dodge came to their senses and returned to the iconic lines of the Gen 2 GTS, but it was too late and the car was cancelled for good. Shot themselves in the foot, because they didn't recognize what they had. But I've still got mine! Would like to own a Porsche also, but I am all out of parking space!
It’s almost like designing a car by committee creates terrible cars lol
It was a bloody good car and was shown to be so but Dennis Jenkinson as the Continental Correspondent of Motor Sport. Read his reports of the early sixties.
Insane story telling
Been trying to afford a 356 most of my life & now they're reeaally pricey....
I saw that a last edition (I forget the Porsche nomenclature) B Roadster, with the dual grills on the engine cover, sold at an auction for $168,000. Only Speedsters (and maybe a 1965 SC Cabriolet) can command a higher price. In 1970's Southern California, 356's were "used cars"!
Father had a red 356 b. Back in 2004 you get one for 15-20 k. Now they've sky rocketed to 100 k.
If i had the opportunity to buy a house or this car. I would get the car.
this is funny but true, I don't know how many people I've explained it to and they still don't have clue, sad but true.
Amazing how many car manufacturers made their bones with tractors.
"No matter what you think of Porches, OR THE PEOPLE WHO DRIVE THEM,..."
Obviously written by someone who has found themselves in traffic with a lawyer behind them.
The VW Beetle And the porsche 356 were designed by engineers, not by men you might call a stylist who designed most other cars.
The Theme of both the bug and the 356 were by making an efficient shape you improve a cars gas milage and it's speed. In the vw bug and the 356 have a small engine that was kept in the trunk, but this was good enough ibecause the car is small and aerodynamic.
Check out the Hans Ledwinka designed Tatras (Tatra T 77, T 87, the 603, etc), they are beautiful, aerodynamic cars that are also rear engined and air cooled… according to Ferdinand Porsche, he & Ledwinka “looked over each other’s shoulders” when they designed their cars !
I love what you say about the British cars. Yes, you do have to be a mechanic and to be able to work on the cars yourself. I still have the tools needed to totally rebuild my MGB or Austin-Healey Sprite engine. They don't take up a lot of space. I even remember one time, when, at 2AM, I realized I needed to change the clutch in my MGB so that I could get to work the next day. I had a great garage setup, and I could do that job in about two hours. It was wild. At that time of night, I could hear, and see, the deer running down the street outside my house. Ah, the good old days.
Amazing. Sounds like very different times
@@bartscarstories Very different. Actually, the time I am talking about is the late 1970s and early 1980s. Besides fixing the cars myself to get to work, I would sometimes borrow my brother's Triumph 1968 GT6 or my father's 1970 Oldsmobile Delta 88 (it was a third car he just kept around). My brother still has the GT6, and recently totally took it apart, restored it and put it back together. At one point my father offered to sell the Delta 88 to me for $25. I declined. Recall that this was just after the second oil shock and the Olds got just 10 MPG. I actually had room for it, but even making good money, it was just not practical.
@@bartscarstories By the way, I love the channel. Keep up the good work.
I had a 1965 vw ragtop with a 356 industrial motor that had a single 32 zineth carb it put out 75 hp. I still have a book written by Henry Elfrink titled: "Porsche Technical Manual " anyway it's a very informative book.
Aside from seating position, the 356 feels just like a well sorted bug, albeit with more engine and taller gears. Still wonderful sunday drivers, I borrow my friends' car as often as he'll let me.
That's a real good friend.
When I was 17, I bought a 1959 356A Cabriolet for 1200 bucks. I drove it everyday, and it got a little beat up, so I sold it for $600 in kind of poor condition and thought, sucker, as he drove away. Who was the sucker now????? HA!
Remember, it is more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow.
And now they have become a builder of overpowered, overweight SUVs. I'd buy a "modern 356" in a heartbeat.
As much as I hate to say it, The Cayenne saved Porsche. I hate Suv's and refuse to have one of any brand. I worked at the dealer when the Cayenne was fairly new and between it and the boxster selling in large numbers it kept the ligths on.
You must be overlooking the 911 and 718 models (Boxster & Cayman). I would buy one in a minute - so I did.
@@tome9009
That's great, and I hope you enjoy your car, Sir!
However, last time I checked they were mainly building SUVs, and a few sports cars.
Only incorrect fact was that in reality, Porsche built the 1582 cc, three piece case for VW which was going to make it a diesel. But the test car had a 0-62 mph time of 60 seconds and the project was killed. Porsche bought the engine back. Several years ago VW wanted a diesel for its museum. One had to be brought back from the USA.
He also said the engine was rear mounted, it was not.
@@dipstiksubaru3246 Are you talking about the prototypes or production cars?
@jockellis what? All the 356 cars used a mid engine layout.
@jockellis the only one that didn't was the type 64 which was never put into production and was literally a rebodied beetle.
Yep, the 356/1 was mid-engined, if I'm not mistaken, and all subsequent 356 models were rear-engine.
Porsche is not just a car manufacturer. VW also repeatedly commissioned Porsche to develop engines for Audi, SEAT and VW.
There was even a joint car model from VW and Porsche, the VW-Porsche 914. Unfortunately, VW and Porsche did not agree on the joint model after a change in management at VW.
The 914 was sold in Europe as a VW-Porsche, but in America as a Porsche, mainly due to pricing issues. I know this because a friend imported one from Europe labeled as a VW-Porsche.
for the carrera's engine porsche allowed a young gradute from the unveristy of stuttgart to work on it valve train , this graudate who had joined the company in 1956 straight after graduation and every porsche engine from the 356 Carrera's valve train up to last water cooled engine 911 would be baised on his design, the gradute his name was Hans Mezger
Enjoyed it. Thanks!
I dream of one day owning an original 356. I at least own a VW Karmann Ghia, the poor man’s Porsche.
Thats a nice Karmann Ghia. :P
What’s the difference between a Porsche and a porcupine? In a Porsche the pricks are on the inside. Thank you, I’ll show myself out. 😬
🤣
I prefer the 50s version with the low bumpers. It looks like it is skimming the ground.
I bought a 65 356C in 1974 the year I got out of college with a degree in tool design. I wanted a tats in 210 my brother talked me out of a cheep car. He told me this maybe the only tiime I could old my dream car s04 is until I . So I payed 3500 dollars for the car
Porsche made 14 VW based Porsche badged prototypes designated type 39. One survives.
I always tell people that a Porsche is just a Beetle, but squashed and streamlined. Hell, they were designed by the same people.
I have owned 911 carrera's for twenty eight years. I have never called it a Por sha. It drives the hard core people nuts.
We always pronounced it "Porsh". Sometime in the mid 70s, commercials suddenly started saying it "Porsha". I always wondered why.
Never drove a 351, but owned a '67 Kharmann Ghia, [Ghias were heavier than the corresponding year Beetle it is based upon] and the improvement in handling in the Ghia vs. a Beetle from the lower CG is reason enough to believe the 351 is a great car to drive: smaller, lighter, faster HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!
The black horse in Porsche's crest is supposed to be a nod to Ferrari's cavallino rampante? That's total crap history boy! Franz drew inspiration from Stuttgart's city seal, which features a rearing horse, and incorporated this into the centre of the shield shape.
hey bart how old are you? i appreciate you bringing back some of my history. did you drive a 356 or a speedster or any porsche. i've restored them along with 911 65 thru the sc. turbos starting in 76, 944s, and 928s. im offering my knowledge
The Audi design is even older and more consistent. The engine in front of the front axle layout of modern longitudinally set up Audis goes back to the prewar Auto Union/DKW F9 (from which many design elements of the KdF wagon were lifted, along from the Tatra, which was an even greater rip-off). VAG has three very old layouts, the F9, the KdF, and the 1959 Austin 7/Mini. Porsche is far from alone in the design conservatism of the whole group, and not even the most conservative element present.
@07:07 is that a Morris Minor behind the Porsche? Great video BTW, I have put a few in the queue so that's my viewing pleasure for the next hour or so.
Answering my own question, it's actually a Renault 4CV, car number 54 driven by Lecat and Senftleben, whoever they are, and it's from the 1951 race, which I don't think gets mentioned in the video.
1993 I passed buying a 356 for 14k..... I regret that everyday
Overall I love your video! I am a huge fan of early VW's and by extension Porsche! Thank you for taking the time to make and post this video, truly! I learned so so much. Do you think that current Porsche models sold in the US were designed without thoughts of the trends? No disrespect...Great video! Thanks.
would like to see the 550, or a mention!
Stretch a beetle nose, stretch its rear.... and presto, a Porsche
Good Job mate. Subbed in!
Louis vuitton Volkswagen
1:11 look at that smile. Also who is the Jersey Shore tan guy in the back?
You could blindfold me and put me behind the wheel of a 356, a Boxter, or 911 and I’d know that I was driving a Porsche. There’s nothing else that feels like them and THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE!
As an MGB owner and former ’64 Beetle owner, I’d love to own a Karmann Ghia or early Porsche, but I can’t afford the “Porsche Tax”. I’ll stick with British Sports Cars. 😂
It’s possible to find an air cooled 911 for about the same $$ you would pay for a new Honda Civic Type R or a Subaru WRX… you’ll have to be patient but they are out there
They all were until they stopped using the aircooled engines.
The horse on yellow ground is Stuttgarts crest and has nothing to do with Ferrari, as far as i know...
Completely opposite of how tesla started. They used a chassis supplier, lotus, that was fully unrelated to the company.
Ferdinand Porche stole the design of the beetle from Tatra
Take a 68 Beetle and use a Carrera engine, drivetrain, suspension, brakes, and nice fat grippy tires. Then you have a sleeper. Make sure you leave the rust and patina on the body, helps the sleep. Then when you leave them in the dust they sit there with their mouths open. BTW, completely unrelated, What happens if BreatheRight strips make you go crosseyed?
Best handling, with the engine in the back? Most unexperienced drivers couldn't handle a Porsche. It was until Porsche mounted heavy electronics in the later 911s until they wear reasonaly handable.
My '81 911SC (no nannies, but staggered wheels) handles like it's on rails. I have never once felt like i couldn;t handle this car.
The pre A Porsches were all VW. The engine too. I had a 53. With a 64 SC engine and a 1800cc big bore kit. Probably made 120hp. I never3 did discover its original engine, probably a 1100cc 3 piece case VW. I had a book showing every interchangable nut bolt etc between Porsch and VW and basically everything was Vdub. And when things changed they didn't change much at all. And they were all rust buckets. Mine had original battery box and everything, rare even in 1978. I've seen so many rusted out cancerous hulks sell on ebay for over $30K. needing restoration!! You'd be better to take a Bug and rework it..... My 356 had copious amounts of undercoating, brushed on when new. It was hell to get off but I got most of it and then brushed on new undercoating and some Shultz. Be very carefull if buying a 356. It is 40+yrs since I bought mine and many were rusty then. Cancer in the longitudials is common but ebay cancer porks sell. They shouldn't. I totaled out two 356's because of cancer in the longitudinals etc. It is not realistic. reason with god. roughly 78000 356 were produced and around 45000 maybe were around in 1978. today maybe 35,000? And I see so many cancer ridden relics for sale. They are Vastly overvalued. It's idolatry. 4 cam engines are an escatalogical nightmare. roughly 40 hours to check and set the valves..... an SC in 64 made 104 sae hp. 4 cam around 110-125hp
If you think that's true, then you didn't really own a 356. Some parts are / look similar, but none of them are VW.
I had a book listing all the nuts and bolts that the 356 and Bug shared. Basically all of them. and the Pre A is on a VW chassis. Used a VW engine.