Warning!
We have 15 years of archives. Links older than a year may have been updated to point to similar cars available to bid on eBay.
This site contains Ebay partner affiliate links, which may earn us a commission at no additional cost to you.
Going by its internal moniker the T5, the Porsche 356B represented one of the company’s first significant exterior redesigns. The most notable change can be seen in the raised and more pronounced front and rear bumpers, along with higher headlights. These changes had the effect of making the car look a little less like a bubble and we also begin to see a car that more closely resembles the 911 that would succeed it and go on to solidify the Porsche name. While there would be additional design and mechanical changes made to the 356 during its life, the car fundamentally retained the shape and appearance inaugurated with the B. The example we have featured here, coming from near the beginning of the model’s run, is a very striking Fjord Green 1960 Porsche 356 B 1600 Super Coupe with Tan interior and a fairly recent restoration.
Vintage cars will never appeal to everyone, but for those who yearn for the styling or the relatively minimalist nature of a vintage automobile there can be no substitute. For Porsche enthusiasts that almost always means finding a 356. One of the aspects I appreciate most about the 356 is the way in which it provides such a clear lineage to the 911 that we see today. The basic shape and underlying architecture of the 911 can be seen even in these cars produced more than 50 years ago and that is a rare trait amongst vintage cars. For the most thorough display of those design elements prospective buyers need look no further than a 356 Coupe like the one seen here. A fully-restored 1961 Porsche 356B Super 90 Coupe located in California.
When it comes to open-top motoring, it can be very difficult to beat a vintage sports car. Driving any convertible already brings you closer to the pure feel of driving: the wind, the noise, the immediacy of everything around you. When a vintage car is your chosen vehicle for such an excursion then that sense of immediacy becomes all the more palpable. Porsche’s paradigmatic expression of such a car came in the guise of the 356 Speedster, which remains one of the most valuable and coveted of the marque’s many cars. Production of the Speedster ceased in 1958, to be replaced by the Convertible D model and eventually the 356 Roadster. While mechanically similar to the Speedster, the Roadster featured wind-up windows, a slightly taller windscreen, and cushier bucket seats. Basically, a more comfortable version of the Speedster. Still, the essence of the car was retained and these remain highly sought after versions of the 356. The example featured here is a Silver 1961 Porsche 356B Roadster with Red interior located in Texas.
Carrera. The name has graced thousands of Porsche models throughout history, derived from the name of the famous Mexican race, La Carrera Panamericana. The Carrera name appeared on some 356 models with the four cam motor, referred to as the Fuhrmann engine, after the engineer who designed it, Dr. Ernst Fuhrmann. The engine could be thought of as the 911 Turbo of its day, since it cost nearly double that of a Super 90 with the pushrod engine. Originally designed for competition, the four cam didn’t sell in large numbers and as a result, it has become amongst the most valuable of the 356 range. This 356B Carrera is for sale at Canepa out in California. Originally sold to a dealer in Italy, it spent a fair amount of years in The Porsche Museum of Japan collection before coming to the US for a restoration.
If you weren’t up for a big project like the 356 Super Cabriolet we featured almost two weeks ago, then this might be the Porsche…
