Porsche 356 SC: red copy from 1965
The Porsche 356 is a sports car that was first produced by Austrian company Porsche Konstruktionen GesmbH (1948–1949), and then by German company Dr. Ing. h. c. F. Porsche GmbH (1950–1965). It was Porsche’s first production automobile. Earlier cars designed by the Austrian company include Cisitalia Grand Prix race car, the Volkswagen Beetle, and Auto Union Grand Prix cars.
356 SC
The last revision of the 356 was the 356 C introduced for the 1964 model year. It featured disc brakes all around, radial Pirelli Cinturato tyres, as well as an option for the most powerful pushrod engine Porsche had ever produced, the 95 hp (71 kW) “SC”. Production of the 356 peaked at 14,151 cars in 1964, the year that its successor, the new Porsche 911, was introduced to the US market (it was introduced slightly earlier in Europe). The company continued to sell the 356 C in North America through 1965 as demand for the model remained quite strong in the early days of the heavier and more “civilized” 911.
The last ten 356s (cabriolets) were assembled for the Dutch Rijkspolitie, the highway patrolling predecessor of the Netherlands police force, in March 1966 as 1965 models. Using Porsches to control traffic and speeders was so successful on Holland’s express-ways, that the Dutch national police branch kept using Porsche 911s into the watercooled era.
