Porsche 356
The Porsche 356 was a Porsche sports car sold from 1948 through 1965 , and Porsche's first production automobile. It was preceeded by the Porsche 64 , which has lead to some argument over which car is offically the first Porsche, although the Type 64 was never mass-produced and was never much more than a driveable test-mule. The 356 concept was created by Ferdinand " Ferry " Porsche (Ferry being a nickname), styled by Erwin Komenda , and mechanically derived from the Volkswagen Beetle , which Ferdinand Porsche Sr. had designed. It was available as both a coupé and a roadster and went through several evolutions before being retired. 356 "Carrera", "Super 90" and "Speedster" models are among the most desirable versions; 356 Carrera models often sell for well over $100,000 USD .
Porsche replaced the 356 with their then-new 911 model in 1963 , although they continued to sell 356s in North America through the end of 1965 as a lower-cost vehicle. The 356's engine was later re-used to power Porsche's "entry level" 912 model between 1965 and 1969 .
Porsche 550 Spyder
The Porsche 550 Spyder was a sports car automobile produced by Porsche during the 1950s . It was the first Porsche designed specifically for use in auto racing .Introduced in 1953 at the Paris Motor Show , the 550 featured an aluminum body wrapped over a tubular ladder chassis with a mid/rear mounted, 1.5 litre, air-cooled flat-four engine. Although 2 units were produced with a modified OHV Volkswagen engine, Porsche's "Type 547" engine, designed by Dr. Ernst Fuhrmann was standard fare for all other 550s. The unit was very advanced for its day, as it had four camshafts that were all driven by the crankshaft, helping provide 110 bhp (very strong for a vehicle of such light weight). With the quad-cam engine powering it, the 550 was capable of performance very comparable to—and in many cases better than— Ferrari and Jaguar models with larger engines. The particularly rare 356 Carrera model was the only other Porsche vehicle ever to feature this powerplant.
Although Porsche had raced with the 356 for several years already, the 550 was distinct in that it was the company's first purpose-built racecar. The factory succesfully campaigned the 550 in international auto racing, headed by the vehicle's premier win at the 1954 24 Hours of Le Mans , where it won its class. Later that year Porsche began a production run of customer cars, building 90 units in total before replacing the original 550 with the extensively reworked 550A in 1956 .
The 550A variant sported various improvements over the outgoing model, including a spaceframe chassis, the latest version of the Fuhrmann four-cam engine mated to a five-speed transmission, and a multi-link rear suspension setup which reduced oversteer and improved handling.
Porsche 924
The Porsche 924 was an automobile produced by Porsche AG of Germany from 1976 to 1988 . A two-door, 2+2 seat sports car coupe , the 924 replaced the 914 as the company's entry-level model, and was the model that finally retired the 912 . It was the first Porsche model powered by a water-cooled, front-mounted engine to make production, although the similarly-configured 928 was designed before the 924. The front-engine, rear-drive arrangement was normal for most other manufacturers, but it was unusual for Porsche, who had previously only used mid- or rear-mounted engines of a boxer configuration, all of which had been air cooled. The 924 was a success, and not only helped to take Porsche out of financial ruin, but created the revenue stream needed to continue building and developing the 911 . The 924 was replaced by the 944 , but the two were produced together for some time.
The 924 was originally intended to be VW 's flagship sports coupe. VW commissioned Porsche to design the car, who developed a fresh chassis and gearbox that would work with an existing Audi straight-4 engine . They also handled the suspension and the interior and exterior design. Porsche decided on a rear wheel drive layout, and designed a rear transaxle to help provide 50/50 front/rear weight distribution.
Due to growing concern over the oil crisis, Volkswagen put the project on hold, eventually dumping it entirely after their eventual decision to move forward with the Quattro Coupe ' model instead. Porsche, who needed a model to replace the 914, made a deal with VW leadership, agreeing to buy the design for 100 Million DM. The deal specified that the car would be built at the ex- NSU factory in Neckarsulm located north of the Porsche headquarters in Stuttgart, the VW employees would do the actual production-line work and that Porsche would own the design. It became one of Porsche's best selling models to date, and the realitive cheapness of building the car made it both profitable and farily easy to Porsche to finance.
The original design used an Audi-sourced four-speed manual transmission for the 924 (initally an automatic transmission was not offered) mated to VW's EA831 2.0 litre, straight-4 engine, previously used in the Audi 100 and VW LT van and producing 95 hp (71 kW) in North American trim. Euro models, which didn't require power-sapping emissions equipment, made 110 hp (82 kW). The original 5-speed transmission was a "dogleg" Porsche unit, which was subsequently replaced with a normal H-pattern five speed, a three speed automatic transmission eventually became available as well. The brakes were solid discs at the front and drums at the rear. The overall styling was penned by Dutchman Harm Lagaay, a member of the Porsche styling team, with the hidden headlights, sloping hoodline and grilless nose giving the car its popular wedge shape. The car went on sale in the USA in July of 1976 as a 1977 model with a base price of $9,395. Porsche made small improvements to the 924 each model year between 1976 and 1985 , but nothing major was changed.
Porsche 968
The 968 was an automobile made by Porsche AG of Germany between 1992 and 1995. The 968 replaced the Porsche 944 and was itself replaced by the Porsche Boxster .
The 968 actually started development as a 944 "S3", set to replace the "S2" variant that Porsche had introduced in 1989 . However, so many of the 944's components were modified or replaced entirely during development stages that Porsche chose to introduce the variant as a new model, hence the 968 nameplate. It was powered by an updated version of the 944's straight-4 engine , now displacing 3.0 L and producing 240 PS (236 hp /177 kW ). The 968's engine was the second-largest 4-cylinder ever offered in a production car, the most powerful 4-cylinder engine ever sold in a production automobile and with a specific output of around 80 hp (60 kW) per litre, it had one of the highest power per litre ratings of any street-legal naturally-aspirated automobile ever sold behind only the Acura ( Honda ) NSX . This high specific output was partly due to Porsche's VarioCam camshaft phasing device, introduced on this model.
The 968's styling somewhat resembled the 928 although it looked considerably more like a blend of the Type 993 911 and a 944 S2 . Like the 944, the 968 was sold as both a coupe and a convertible . Much of the 968's chassis was carried over from the 944S2, which in itself shared many components with the "S1" 944 Turbo (internally numbered 951 ). Borrowed components include the Brembo -sourced 4-piston brake calipers on all four wheels, aluminum semi-trailing arms and aluminum front A-arms, used in a Macpherson strut arrangement. The steel unibody structure was also very similar to the previous models. Porsche, however, maintained that the 968 was more than 80% new in total, which merited it having a new nameplate rather than being a 944 S3 as had been planned.
A street-legal race variant, dubbed Club Sport , appeared later on with a stripped-out interior including racing seats, revised suspension and larger wheels and tires, but was offered only in Europe. A UK-only version called 968 Sport , a Club Sport model with some "comfort" features added back in, was produced in 1994 and 1995. Porsche briefly produced a turbocharged version called Turbo S —15 were produced in total, and again the car was only sold in Europe. The 968 Turbo S was capable (in 1993) of 0–60 mph in 4.7 s and top speeds approaching 180 mph (290 km/h). A race variant called 968 Turbo RS was added as well; only 4 were produced.