Watch that unloaded weight! It is valid only for the first 50 of this car. The successors from Stuttgart have steel bodies and weigh approx. 60 kg more. Porsche by that time is not only a model for speed but also for low fuel consumption. 10 litres/100 km at the possible cruising speed and above all acceleration are good values.
The first 356ers are known for oversteering, although the chassis is already somewhat different from the Beetle`s. Good drivers are able of course to always resume control of the car in extreme situations, however the successor model 356 A takes bends much faster, but also less spectacular. Nevertheless, the last of the 356 series are already successful in racing sport. In 1951, with slightly changed body they win the 24 hours of Le Mans in their class. Certainly, in the meantime the propulsion unit has gone away clearly from the Beetle. It is the beginning of a gigantic development, up to 18 cylinders engines with more than 1000 HP and Formula-one engagement. Nevertheless, in spite of enough aluminium in car body, engine and gear box the Porsche driver has to cope with weak points since old Porsches don`t even have a means to switch to reserve fuel. Synchronisation came first in 1951 when Porsche invented the famous synchronisation with the spreading synchronous ring which became licensed all around the world and was caught up much later by ZF. 12/09