Beschreibung:

Although few would have realised it at the time, the 1948 launch of the Porsche 356 was a significant milestone in automotive history. It marked the commercial birth of what has become one of the world's greatest car manufacturers; a company that has many times won Le Mans on Sunday and inspired the rich of the road on Monday. Its achievements are unique. The 356 was a collaboration between `Ferry' Porsche, the son of the company's founder, and its chief body engineer Erwin Komenda. The first examples of the 356 were handcrafted from aluminium in Gmund, Austria. And, with parts in short supply following the war, the model initially employed the engine, transmission and suspension from the Volkswagen Beetle (the car famously designed by Porsche Senior). However, within two years the car had been considerably re-engineered and was less reliant on stock Volkswagen parts, while production had moved to Zuffenhausen in Germany with bodies now made of steel. Thanks to efficient aerodynamics, sporting handling and fine build quality, the 356 quickly established itself as a worthy competition car and it achieved success in such top events as Le Mans, the Mille Miglia, Targa Florio and Carrera Panamericana, as well as countless other races and rallies around the world. The development of the 356 was charted by the suffixes A, B and C. Produced from 1959 to 1963, the B Series cars are largely distinguished by a higher nose, larger bumpers and twin-choke carburettors. They were made in two generations of body style - T5 and T6. The latter, introduced in mid 1962, featured larger windows and twin engine bonnet grills. Originally supplied to Brumos Porsche Car Corporation in Jacksonville, Florida, relatively little is known about the movements of this Super Cabriolet whilst stateside except that latterly it was registered in the state of Virginia by GW Motorwerkes Ltd, with a copy of the title document included in the file. In 1995, it was sourced by Peter Nardelli, imported into the UK and sold, through specialists, Tower Bridge Porsche, to Stephen Boswell in 1996. A full bare-metal restoration and engine re-build was then undertaken prior to the vendor's acquisition in 2002 with photographic documentation included in the history file. The works were completed by Classic Porsche Restoration over a period between 1999 and 2001. Presenting today in very good order throughout, the restoration has had a few years to mature and has done so well. The engine bay has a light working patina and looks all the better for it and the interior has been trimmed in the correct carpet weave giving an overall effect of an entirely original car. A well executed Porsche classic.