afx Posted April 21, 2018 Share Posted April 21, 2018 (edited) Wikipedia: The Porsche 356/1 was the first real Porsche car created by Ferdinand "Ferry" Porsche. This prototype car was a two-seater open roadster with a mid-mounted, air-cooled flat-4 engine of 1,131 cc displacement that produced 40 horsepower (30 kW). While the body was an original design, most of the mechanicals (including engine and suspension) were derived from the Volkswagen Beetle which Ferry's father, Ferdinand Porsche, had designed. The aluminum roadster body of the 356/1 was designed by Porsche employee Erwin Komenda in April 1948 at Gmünd and completed only a month later. Smooth and low, the 356/1 set the pattern for later 356s with one fundamental difference; the engine of the production cars was moved behind the rear axle (to reduce costs and make room for two additional seats). The car was registered by the state of Carinthia (Kärnten) with the license plate K45-286 and made its maiden voyage on June 8, 1948. I found this 1/24 scale diecast (Maisto) in a toy store several years ago, paid $3 IIRC. They had two and I bought both. I gave the other one to a resin caster in hopes I could convince them to cast it – no luck so far. Did a little detailing to the model but not much more. The mid-engine design would not be used again by Porsche until the 914. Edited April 21, 2018 by afx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted April 21, 2018 Share Posted April 21, 2018 14 minutes ago, afx said: ...The mid-engine design would not be used again by Porsche until the 914. Well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afx Posted April 21, 2018 Author Share Posted April 21, 2018 2 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said: Well... I was thinking more production cars but you are correct the 550/718 are mid-engine - keep me on my toes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake45 Posted April 21, 2018 Share Posted April 21, 2018 Very nice work! IMHO this is very much a "mainstream" model in terms of subject and scale and belongs here; I hope the mods don't banish it down to Diecast Ghetto where it won't get as many views or as much interest. I hope you'll be a pioneer/trendsetter in this. Fingers crossed and model on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brudda Posted April 22, 2018 Share Posted April 22, 2018 Beautiful!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldcarfan Posted May 6, 2018 Share Posted May 6, 2018 Beautiful work! I saw one of this on eBay last week and meant to bid on it, then forgot about it until it was over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete J. Posted May 6, 2018 Share Posted May 6, 2018 I often wonder what Porsches throughout history would have been like, if they had stayed with a mid engine design. Would something like the 911 been as popular or iconic? Maybe, maybe not! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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