|Porsche 356 Coupe| In July 1948 the world caught the first
glimpse of the Porsche 356 Roadster. Up until then Ferdinand
Porsche had worked for nearly half a century for other
manufacturers. Developed by his son, Ferdinand Jr. or Ferry, the
small two-seater was the first car to bear the Porsche name. The
new Porsche received universal acclaim from journalists and won
its class at its very first race. The sport's cars exotic mid-
engined spaceframe chassis was however too expensive and
complicated for mass-production. Ferry Porsche had already
realized this before Porsche #1 was completed and started the
development of a less labor intensive production car. Even
though the second Porsche was only remotely related to the
original, the 356 name was retained. Just like the original
Porsche 356, the '356/2' used many Volkswagen derived bits like
the engine and suspension. This is hardly surprising as the
Volkswagens was developed by Ferdinand Porsche and his men a few
years earlier. The new 356 distinguished itself