1960 Porsche 356 B Coupé

The 356 is acknowledged as Porsche's first venture into production and was a lightweight and nimble, rear engined, rear-wheel-drive, two-door sporting car available in hardtop coupé and open configurations. Engineering and design innovations continued during the years of manufacture, contributing to its motorsport's success and its popularity as a road car.

Porsche continued to develop and refine the 356 with a focus on performance, and by the late 1950s fewer parts were shared with its pedestrian cousin, the Beetle, and increasing success in competition and its availability worldwide resulted in the distinctive little car, in all its iterations, finding over 76,000 homes between 1948 and 1966. Today, the Porsche 356 is a highly regarded collector's car.

This 356B is a very, very early, left-hand drive, T5 first delivered to the USA in April 1960. Originally finished in Ivory White with Red leatherette, the colour combination at some point was changed to Vermillion Red with a Tan leather interior.

Our vendor, who is a fan of early Porsches, imported this little gem in late 2016 with a view to use it for classic events and generally carry out a few improvements this year, however, an ever-expanding collection has meant that it must now be offered for sale.

The car comes with a small history file, with invoices totalling almost $2,500 relating to expenditure in 2015 which appears to document maintenance work on the car including re-commissioning of the brakes, wheel cylinders and setting up the carburettors.

Currently unregistered the car has a NOVA Certificate stating that all due taxes have been paid and an application to register the car can be made, with the, all important, Porsche Certificate of Authenticity present, to assist the registration process.

The world of early Porsches is a complex one, but this 356B is absolutely straightforward and is a super example of the desirable 356B T5. It's in very good all round condition and would be even better with a bit of detailing, however, it's a totally usable early sixties Classic Porsche and would be welcome anywhere.