Porsche 356/1

The Porsche 356/1 was the first real car that Ferry Porsche created, and the prototype that set the pattern for the 356 sports cars that followed. It was a two-seater open roadster with a mid-mounted, air-cooled flat-four engine of 1,131 cc that produced 40 horsepower. The aluminum body was designed by Erwin Komenda in April 1948 at Gmünd and finished only a month later, while most of the mechanicals, including the engine and suspension, came from the Volkswagen Beetle that Ferry's father Ferdinand Porsche had designed. Production cars moved the engine behind the rear axle to cut costs and make room for two more seats. The car was registered in Carinthia with the plate K45-286 and made its first journey on 8 June 1948. Only one was built, and it is on display at the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart.