Engineered by Ferdinand Porsche, the 356 went into production during the winter of 1947-48, and the aluminum prototype that was entirely hand-built was finished on June 8, 1948.

The completely hand-built aluminum prototype labeled “No. 1″ became the first vehicle to bear the name of Porsche. It was built using modified Volkswagen components and featured a lightweight, hand-beaten aluminum body over a tubular steel chassis.

Its initial design was seen as unfit for series production, meriting a more robust yet complex unibody redesign undertaken in 1948. Against all odds, however, the automaker crafted 52 of these rarified sports cars over the course of a year in a small garage in Gmund, Austria, before relocating to Stuttgart, Germany. By 1958, Porsche had built 10,000 of them. With a weight of just 1,290 pounds, contemporary accounts suggest the prototype’s top speed lay somewhere between 84 and 87 mph.

Porsche went on to build 77,000 356 cars before transitioning to the iconic 911 sports car in 1964. Today, Porsche is one of the most prestigious car brands in the world and it all started with this car. Here at indiGO Auto Group we are proud to continually honor the heritage of Porsche.

According to news.indigoautogroup.com & history.com