In a nutshell, the Porsche 356 SC Cabriolet that is offered for sale is a historically significant authentic Porsche sports car. It was a rare car in its day, and it is even rarer now.

The 500th German-built 356 rolled off the line on March 21, 1951; five months later 1000 had been constructed.

The 500th German-built 356 rolled off the line on March 21, 1951; five months later 1000 had been constructed.

Plus, less than half the weight, half the top speed and goes 0-60 in about 10 seconds. That zippy performance and an original price of about $3,000 created

Porsche introduces the aerodynamic "356," named for its design project number. Through 1949, the company hand-builds the first 52 cars in a small garage in Gmund, Austria.

The original Porsche 356 price in 1948 for the coupe was about $3,750, and the cabriolet cost just $500 more.

In the original 1986 Top Gun movie, Charlie Blackwood, played by Kelly McGillis, drives a black 1958 Porsche 356 Speedster.

The "Gmünd Roadster" was powered by a 1.1-liter air-cooled flat-four engine from Volkswagen. The engine's power was increased to 35 hp for the 356.

The most desirable collector model of the 356 series was the "Speedster" introduced in late 1954 after Max Hoffman, the sole US importer of Porsches

Many cars on the same site are up for sale for more than $200,000 but we wanted to look at a Speedster.

Early-generation Porsches like this 356B coupe, currently on offer at Bring a Trailer—which, like Car and Driver

Increasing success with its racing and road cars brought Porsche orders for over 10,000 units in 1964, and by the time 356 production ended in 1965 approximately 76,000 had been produced.

Even though 60 horsepower is nothing compared to sports cars today, the 356a Speedster was rather light at just 1750 pounds

There were even vestigial rear seats that allowed it to be a “family” car, for a few years at least. Also contributing to the wide appeal of the 356 is its design.

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