Search results for ‘ vw beetle - 4 hit

The First True Production Model Porsche – The Porsche 356

Even though the Porsche 64 is considered by many to be the first car produced by the company it was really only a test car and was never built as a production automobile, in fact only three were built. The 364 was built by Ferdinand and Ferry Porsche after design by Erwin Komenda, while getting its engine modeled after the VW Beetle.

The 356 was offered in the beginning as a coupe, a cabriolet, and a roadster and before being taken off the market in 1965 it underwent several modifications. The models that were the most wanted were the Super 90, the Speedster, and the 356 Carrera which often fetches over $150,000 now. The original selling price for a Porsche in the latter 1950’s was only $4,000.

Max Hoffman was the only Porsche importer in the United States back then and wanted a lower priced, speedy version to market to Americans. So in 1954 the company manufactured the 356 Speedster with a removable windshield, bucket seats, and a very basic folding top. The Speedster production peaked at 1,171 cars in 1957 and was replaced in 1959 by the Convertible model D which featured a taller and more practical windshield as well as more comfortable seating.

The original 356 was featured in many Hollywood films and now brings over $100,000 at auto specialty auctions and through private dealers, if you are lucky enough to find one.

Even though minor modifications were made to it, the basic shape of the Porsche 356 stayed unchanged and its signature look was easily distinguished from others. The coupe and cabriolet editions were made each year until 1965 but the last 356 Roadster was made two years earlier.

In 1964 when Porsche introduced the popular 911, 356 vehicle production was at 14,151 and the company offered the 356 through 1965 as a lower cost alternative to the more pricey 911 which was twice that of the 356. Due to the complaining of customers that the price of the 911 was too high the company came out with the 912 which featured the cheaper engine of the 356 and it was sold until 1969.

Currently the Porsche 356 is a desirable and respected collector classic and was named on the top 10 list of the best sports cars of the 1960’s by Sports Car International. Today thousands of Porsche 356 owners carry on the tradition with well preserved vehicles that are driven on a regular basis.

Gregg Hall is an author and internet marketing consultant living in Navarre Florida. For more on performance auto parts for your car go to http://www.performanceautopartsplus.com

The History Of The Porsche

Ferdinand Porsche played an important role in the development of airplanes and racing cars, and the construction of tanks for the Wehrmacht. He is an automobile engineer with more than a thousand patents to his name. He was appointed chief engineer at Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart in the 1920s. Later on, he set up his own engineering workshop and designed among others the Volkswagen. At the plant where Volkswagen was made, Wolfsburg, he was chief of operations and at the end of the war he was interned by the Allies.

He was released a few years later and started building his first car with his son, Ferry Porsche. The car was named the Porsche 356 and it was a sports car and a reminiscent of the Volkswagen. It had the same four-cylinder boxer engine that was rear-mounted, just like the VW. It was far from being a powerful sports car, developing only 40 bhp and a maximum speed of 87 mph (140 km/h). First produced as a convertible and later as a hard top it distinguished by the very elegant and innovative body. It was developed in the workshop of Erwin Komenda, a master of restrained streamlining who had been in charge of sheet metal and design techniques at Porsche since the VW Beetle. The new style of closed coupe was designed by Komenda and it soon became the embodiment of the sports car, thanks to its fastback.

This tradition was continued by Komenda and Ferdinand “Butzi” Porsche, the founder’s grandson, with the 911.

The 911 became easily recognizable: it had attractive sloping bonnet and what later became characteristic “frog eye” headlights, curves running from the top edge of the windscreen to the rear bumper and a straight waistline. From a functional and technical point of view it was more like BMW 1500, although it retained the stylistic features of the original Porsche. The new 911 will become the foundation stone of Porsche’s identity, even though the design was not always appreciated. During the 1970`s and 1980`s, the designers attempts to distance Porsche from its legendary design brought the company to the edge of disaster. The more modern 924 model, “a people’s Porsche”, developed with Volkswagen, as well as the 928 were far from fulfilling the expectations.

In the 1990`s, the company realized that what for over twenty years was perceived as a straitjacket, it was in fact a market advantage. During the 1990`s, Porsche became highly profitable since they now knew that the typical Porsche features were timeless. Nearly forty people now worked in the design department on further developments of the long-running 911. These developments included the 911 GTI, a powerful combination of sports and racing car, put forward by the in-house designer Anthony R. Hatter. In 1999, chief designer proudly presented the new Boxster which enabled Porshe to establish a second independent range of models.

Having spent months of research on different subjects, for independant companies, Andrew Manifield has decided to publish his articles on many subjects at his own website, visit to learn more.

http://www.qualified-publishing.co.uk/porsche

Did You Know That Porsche Once Built Airplanes And Tanks?

Okay, not really but the founder of Porsche, Ferdinand Porsche, was an important developer in the engineering of airplanes and race cars plus in tank building for the Wehrmacht.

Many people do not realize what a prolific inventor this man was, he had over one thousand patents issued! Early in his automotive engineering career Ferdinand was chief engineer for none other than Mercedes Benz, after being dismissed for disagreeing with their engineering methods he started his own engineering firm in Stuttgart where he was responsible for the design of the Volkswagen Beetle that be came so popular.

After the second world war, Porsche began building cars with Ferry Porsche, his son and they called their first car the Porsche 356. The car was a small sports car very similar in design to the VW with the same four cylinder rear mounted engine.

It was a far cry from the Porsche we know today with only 40 horsepower and a maximum speed of only 87 miles per hour. They first designed the 356 to be a convertible but later it was redesigned as a coupe by Erwin Komenda, a master designer for Porsche who had been the head of that department since the days when they developed the Beetle. With its new innovative fastback design, the 356 coupe became the sports car poster child.

The Porsche tradition of signature sports cars continued to grow and with the introduction of the 911 developed by Butzi Porsche, Ferdinand’s grandson, and Komenda the popularity of the Porsche nameplate exploded! With the easily distinguishable sloped nose and the big frog eye headlamps, the 911 stood apart from the crowd and screamed its name to everyone.

This new Porsche became the cornerstone that Porsche wanted to display. Attempts to move away from the roots by building cars like the 924 and 928 almost ruined the company and were nowhere near as popular as it had been thought they would be.

After narrowly escaping financial disaster in that partnership with VW on the 924 and 928, the company came to the realization that what some of the engineers had thought of as being limiting was not that at all but was actually a niche market unto itself with the timeless features of the Porsche 911 design.

Now the company went to work with a design team that focused solely on improving the 911 and by 1999 the company released the all new Boxster, re-establishing the popularity of the sports car company.

Gregg Hall is an author and internet marketing consultant living in Navarre Florida. Get information on car care products for your car at http://www.waxyourauto.com

Porsche Car Hire the Ultimate Sports Car

Car manufacturer Porsche SE is a German brand that prides themselves on luxury, quality and performance. Porsche car hire is owned by Germany families, Porsche and Piech families respectively. The Porsche family are a family of industrialists related to Ferdinand Porsche (created the VW beetle and development in German tanks the Tiger) who designed many of the first Porsche cars that were mass produced for the public for the company that he founded in 1940, Porsche.

Porsche car hire currently have a portfolio of high performance and luxury automobiles including the 911, 997, and the Boxster. Also the use specialise in 4 x4, sport and utility vehicles for use in suburban areas.

The 1999 Porsche 911 GT3 was produced and marketed as a high performance road legal car of which was more advanced then the standard 911. Named after the FIA GT, it was the first water cooled version of the Porsche 911. Porsche car hire also have a racing version of the 911 GT3 which has come first in many competitions, included Le Mans and other 24 hour races. Competitions are fierce in the market for super cars and the Porsche 911 GT3 is up against Italian giants Ferrari with their F430 and German luxury car manufacturer BMW with a GTR M3.

Many members of public feel that Porsche are out their price range so this was addressed with the Boxster. This mid engine little roadster was introduced in 1996 and has been quite successful. With a 2.5 litre flat 6 cylinder engine in the beginning, the model has evolved to introduce a 3.2 litre monster for increased performance. Porsche car hire then released a new generation to their popular roadster model with the type 987. These cars were even more powerful then their predecessors with increased engine output. Despite having a few cosmetic changes the Boxster has not strayed from the originals shape and style.

One of the greatest Porsche car hire automobiles ever made is the Porsche Carrera GT. This was a real beast, a mid engine sports car powered with a 5.7 litre V10 engine. From standstill to 60 miles per hour this car can do it in less than 3.5 seconds, with a maximum all out speed of 205 mph. You can get this car from Porsche car hire companies in five colours only, which include variants of Red, Yellow, Black, Silver and Grey. Custom colours were available if you placed an order for the car at a factory.

The Carrera GT has a 6 speed manual gearbox, complemented this with a beech wood gear knob from the Porsche 917 Le Mans racer. The main rival to this car is Ferrari’s Enzo, however with the Enzo priced in at approximately $660000 the Carrera GT has as slight advantage being only $444000.

If you’re after an unforgettable driving experience then Porsche car hire could be for you! With a wide choice of performance super cars such as the Carrera GT and the 911 GT3 you can be spoilt for choice when it comes to selecting a hire car to show off in, or just to have a weekend away with the open road.

Porsche Car Hire . One search to compare the best car hire companies online. La Manga Club in Spain the perfect holiday resort.