Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/02/20

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Subject: [Leica] Re: Porsche 356
From: lrzeitlin at optonline.net (lrzeitlin@optonline.net)
Date: Mon Feb 20 19:01:42 2006
References: <200602192005.k1JK4i4D069102@server1.waverley.reid.org>

<< Ferdinand Porsche was imprisoned after WW II and obviously could not take 
active part in constructing the first Porsche car - which was a mid engined 
prototype. 356 was styled by other long-time Porsche engineer Erwin Komenda.
Mrs. Louise Piech was Ferry?s sister, Ferdinand Piech?s mother and owner of 
Porsche Salzburg. Butzi or Ferdinand Alexander Porsche is the designer and 
he designed the outward appearance of the 911 and the very beautiful 904.
Ferdinand Piech was head of the Porsche racing department at the time of the 
tremendous 917 racers.>>

I owned a Porsche 356 Super in 1958-59 and raced it in the SCCA 1500cc class 
in and around Ann Arbor, Michigan. The 356 was basically a factory built VW 
hot rod with a largely hand crafted body that looked like an upside down 
bathtub. It used many stock VW parts including the basic engine block. My 
car had 1500 cc finned  aluminum cylinders with a chrome lining to resist 
wear and a roller bearing crankshaft. The engine mod
ifications boosted the stock VWs measly 36 hp to nearly 100 very high strung 
horses. The car was wickedly fast around the haybales but had a prodigious 
oversteer. If you let your attention lapse for a split second you would find 
yourself going off the course, rear end first.

As bad luck would have it, we blew the engine in the last race of the 1959 
season. Repair would have cost far too much. The parts, especially the 
roller bearing crank, must have been made out of platinum. I replaced the 
engine with a stock VW power plant and used the car to tool around town. It 
still looked as good but the top speed was about 20 mph slower. I later 
added a Judson superchgarger to give it a little more oomph. Eventually I 
traded it in to get a used Jaguar 140XK - but that's another story.

Larry Z