1960 Porsche 356 Carrera GT Coupe

1960 Porsche 356 Carrera GT Coupe

1960 Porsche 356 Carrera GT Coupe

1960 Porsche 356 Carrera GT Coupe

INTRODUCTION:Pre-A prototypes and a run of quad-cams with the 1500cc engine, the 1600 Carrera GT was a performance 356 that used a larger version of the Porsche 550 Spyder's potent engine. As early as 1958, some Carreras were fitted with a larger engine known as the Type 692. The new unit featured a larger displacement which was better suited for the 1600cc class. Furthermore, it was improved considerably adopting plain bearings and new ignition system.

HIGHLIGHTS:Sold alongside the Carrera de Luxe, the GT was lightened and prepared for racing. This meant it featured little sound deadening or upholstery, aluminum bucket seats, increased compression and slightly more power.

SPECIFICATIONS:Technical director of Porsche Klaus von Rücker was responsible for the new Type 692 engine. It kept the earlier verion's complicated bevel-and-shaft 4-cam valvetrain, but reverted to plain bearings. The increased oil heat was dealt with by a larger oil tank for the dry-sump lubrication system and a pair of oil coolers under each headlight.

DESIGN:The first Carrera GTs to be fitted with the 1600cc engines used Type 692/0 prototype versions that had roller-bearing crankshafts and produced 110 bhp @ 6400 rpm. Less than 40 of these engines were made until Hirth crankshaft supply had dried up then 14 plain-bearing engines were tested until final specification was reached for the Paris Show in October.

1957 Porsche 356 Speedster

1957 Porsche 356 Speedster

1957 Porsche 356 Speedster

1957 Porsche 356 Speedster

Motor : Netgain Warp 9 Series Wound DC Added cooling shroud and blower fan with air filter for additional cooling.

Drivetrain:Netgain Warp9 with Prostreet transaxle. Kept racing clutch.Lightened flywheel to 9 lbs.

Controller : Kelly KDH12120B 1200 amp, 120volt. Hall effect accelerator.

Batteries :72 Thunder Sky TS-LFP90AHA, 3.30 Volt, Lithium-Polymer Two parallel strings of 36 cells. Total storage of about 23 kWh. 180Ah. 80% DOD provides 144 Ah. Vehicle uses 1.8 Ah per mile or about 225 wH.

Instrumentation : MetricMind E-Vision. Working tachometer and speedometer.

Top Speed : 95 MPH (152 KPH)Does 95 mph on highway easily. No float or wandering.

Acceleration : 0-80 km/hr 6.0 sec

Range : 85 Miles (136 Kilometers)Conservatively. Have driven it 107 miles with charge left and no damage.

Watt Hours/Mile : 225 Wh/Mile 1.8 Ah/mile

EV Miles Start : 1,100 Miles (1,769 Kilometers)
Current: 5,000 Miles (8,045 Kilometers)
Total : 3,900 Miles (6,275 Kilometers)

Porsche 356A/1500GS Carrera GT

Porsche 356A/1500GS Carrera GT

Porsche 356A/1500GS Carrera GT

INTRODUCTION:Porsche offered two distinct versions of the Carrera, one called the de Luxe for the street and this model, the Gran Turismo, for the track. The main difference between the two models was weight.

HIGHLIGHTS:The Carrera GT was a purpose-built car with little on board amenities. For instance, no heater was fitted giving the car its 'icebox' nickname. Furthermore, the interior was stripped of sound deadening, side windows were replaced by pull-up Perspex units and only simple door panels were fitted.

FEATURES:

• Mechanically, the GT model was only slightly more powerful than the de Luxe, having sports muffler which provided little deadening and no heater. At the front, a 21 gallon tank was fitted instead of the 13.8 gallon unit.
• Front braking was provided by 550RS units that were 10mm thicker and had cooling scoops. The torsion bars were also changed at the rear to provide one degree of negative camber.
• Offered as both Coupe and Speedster the GT version was considerably lighter than any previous 356. The weight was 1903 lbs for coupe and 1848 for the speedster. Naturally performance values were slightly different between the two versions.

DESIGN:Aluminum was also used in the bucket seat frames, two piece wheels with allow insert and aluminum trim strips for the front/rear bumpers. Less than 10 of these models were offered with quad-cam engines.

Prosche Carrera Sunroof Coupe

Prosche Carrera Sunroof Coupe

INTRODUCTION:
The very first Porsche sport car was hand built in Gmünd/Kärnten, Austria. The entire aluminum body was hand beaten over a wooden buck. Without the benefits of a machine shop, all of the engine and drive-train components were made completely. Over 50 Gmünd cars were built and sold primarily in Austria and Germany. To be closer to parts suppliers, the Porsche Firm, located to Zuffenhausen, Austria, near the Reutter coachworks following the war. The only Porsche to ever have the engine mounted in front of the rear axle, the 356/1 was open top 2-seater. Designed with a tubular chassis, the vehicle was air-cooled and came with a 110 cc engine that remarkably light and quick for the times. Following this first ever radical design, every Porsche 356 to follow was constructed with the engine in the rear, behind the axle.
SPECIFICATIONS:

• With a top speed of over 85 mph (135kph), a total of only 4 models of the 356 were produced in 1948. The 356/1 came with a 1.1 liter engine that was capable of making 40 horsepower. Less than 60 units were produced during 1949 and the earlier part of 1950. These very rare and unique models are known today as the Gmünd Coupes. The tiny sport cars continued to be built during 1950, but now at a factory in Stuttgart where Porsche moved production. A total of 298 units were built and delivered to their owners by the end of 1950.
• Porsche 356 A 1500 GS Carrera GT is boosted to 110 bhp/81 kW. The Speedster is replaced by the Convertible D with a larger windscreen and winding windows at the side. The 1300-cc engines are dropped from the range.
• Carrera receives extra power and is now called the 1600 GS-GT, with the sports version offering more output (1588 cc, 115 bhp/85 kW) than the de Luxe model (105 bhp/77 kW). The 356 B series is introduced in autumn, the Convertible D being renamed the Roadster.

CONCLUSION:
The sporting and Spartan Porsche 1500 GS Carrera is joined by the more comfortable 1500GS de Luxe model.

Porsche 597 Jagdwagen

Porsche designed the Type 597 Jagdwagen; Hunting Car with the combined elements of both the Schwimmwagen and the Keubelwagen. The vehicle was designed and built in the unlikeliest of places, in the race shop alongside 356GT's and 550 Spyders. Pronounced ‘Yahgt-vahgen', no two 597's were exactly alike. Visually similar to the original Keubelwagen, the 597's body was made of stamped steel with heavy embossings for additional rigidity. The first four cars to ever be produced were actually fully amphibious, equipped with a folding propeller and came complete with canoe paddles as original accessories from the factory. The rest of the models produced were not amphibious, but could still ford deep water with the aid of special equipment. The radios, lights and other military equipment were powered by two 12-volt batteries and a dynamo.

The Jagdwagen featured a detuned 356A engine that produced 55hp. Like the VW's and the Porsches of the period, the induced air-cooled flat-four taken from the Porsche 356 situated in the rear of the vehicles. Originally it featured an amended version of the 1.5 liter with a later increase to 1.6 in the 1-model. It came with low-compression pistons similar to the Porsche industrial wagon and a single Zenith carburetor. Through an unconventional four-wheel drive system, the power was put to the ground which offered shift-on-the-fly convenience. The Porsche 597 Jagdwagen could climb an impressive 65-degree angle. The suspension was extremely firm riding, and not an especially comfortable ride at that as very few creature comforts were added. The 597 weighed 990 kilograms and featured a top speed of approximately 100 kilometers per hour.
As unique as this vehicle was, unfortunately another company, the German carmaker DKW (later absorbed by Audi) was chosen instead to equip the German army with their entry, the DKW Munga. The Jagdwagen was considered too expensive and ‘terribly over-engineered'. In actuality the 597, typical of all Porsches, was just too technologically advanced for its time. The Munga was a very ‘throw-away vehicle' with a basic three cylinder, two stroke engine. Porsche was convinced that their entry had not been picked due to politics. Porsche couldn't easily supply the sheer numbers of units needed in proposed timescale.

Porsche tried to recover from its considerable investment into the vehicle by offering the Jagdwagen to the public, but not many were introduced. No other car like this was sold anywhere in Europe, so the customer base was stagnant. As a last effort, the Jagdwagen was marketed to consumers a personal hunting vehicle for sportsmen, which is why the name roughly translates into ‘hunting car'. In 1958 production of the Jagdwagen ceased with only a total of 71 units ever being produced.

The production of the 597 Jagdwagen was definitely an interesting development by Porsche unlike anything they had ever produced. Extremely expensive, the development costs for the vehicle amounted to approximately 1.8 million Deutsche marks. Some talks were made in August 1959 that an updated vehicle would be developed based on the 597 platform. It would feature a strengthened chassis, extended wheel base of 2,400mm that would be available in five different body-styles. Unfortunately this project never made it into production.

Porsche 550 RS Spyder

Porsche 550 RS Spyder

Porsche 550 RS Spyder

Porsche 550 RS Spyder

The original two 550's were prepared for the Carrera Panamerica race in 1953. Adorned with sponsor stickers and livery the two cars easily dominated the 1500 cc class. Jose Herrate's 550-02 emerged victorious though 550-01, driven by Jaroslav Juhan, was the faster of the two but forced to retire due to mechanical difficulties. The following year 550-04, outfitted with the Fuhrmann quad-cam engine, was entered into the Carrera Panamerica race where it finished third overall and first in class. In honor of these accomplishments, the 356 models outfitted with the Fuhrmann engine were now dubbed 'Carrera'.

In total there were around 90 examples of 550 RS Spyders created with 78 being sectioned for public use. In 1956 Porsche introduced the 550A which looked nearly identical to its predecessor but featured many mechanical improvements including a spaceframe chassis coupled to a Fuhrmann four-cam 547 engine capable of producing over 130 horsepower. It featured a five speed manual gearbox and multi-link suspension which greatly improved the handling while reducing over-steer.

The Porsche 550 was a very successful car that showcased the capabilities and creativity of Porsche. Throughout the years to come, new Porsches were created that were bigger, better, and faster, and continued the tradition on the racing circuits of this historic pedigree.

1954 Porsche Racing Special

Pupulidy was at the 1952 Bridgehampton Race where Porsche importer Max Hoffman debuted a Glockler Porsche prototype mid-engine spyder. Early in 1953, Pupulidy began work on a similar car. It was given a tubular steel ladder frame and stamped with the ID 'PUP1' into the frame rail. Progress was slow, and it was not completed by the start of the 1954 racing season. Max Hoffman offered Pupulidy a damaged Volkswagen donor car. With this new project car, the Pup was put aside. He built a car using the VW pan and fitted with the traditional rear engine set-up.

During the winter, work resumed on the Pup, with friend John Wuff. The fiberglass body (a second body had been built by this point), tube frame, and components were sent to Frick Motors for completion. When it was completed, it was sent to the back of the shop and abandoned, as Emil was now racing a Porsche Carrera Speedster.

PUP1 was discovered in 1958 by Butch Strunk. It was purchased and put on the northeast racing circuit, as well as used in hillclimbs. It was purchased in the 1960s by SCCA Howard Gilmore, who retained the car for two decades. In was sold to Matt Williman in 1988 who continued to expand upon its racing career.

In 2002, it was purchased by its current owner, who began a nut-and-bolt concours-type restoration. Upon completion, it raced for three consecutive years at the Monterey Historics. It earned a first place trophy at the Tucson Porsche Club Concours.

The engine is a Porsche 356 racing engine with Carillo rods, Scat crank, titanium valves, Solex 40 PII carburetors and custom exhaust system. There is a 356 four-speed transmission with vented gearbox and C/R gears. Four-wheel 356 drum brakes with PF carbon linings provide the stopping power. With all the fluids, this racing special weighs just 1200 pounds.