Pre A 1954 Porsche 356 1500 Normal Speedster, chassis #80054, with its decades long ownership by the driver, Art Brow.
(first posted 10/20/2018) Introduced in September 1954, the Speedster was created by Porsche at the instigation of Max Hoffman who pushed the factory to produce a cheaper, lighter, more affordable, sporting, fun version of the 356 cabriolet convertible, capable of being raced by the amateur owner. The introductory Speedster price was $2995, five dollars shy of $3000. Despite the skeptics at the factory who doubted that Hoffman could sell a “speedster’ in any commercially viable numbers, in four years of production from 1954 to 1958 about 4854 Speedsters were built. These became a dream, a cult car, a classic car of continuing desirability, even now decades later.
Art’s ’54 Speedster
Introduced in September 1954, the Speedster was created by Porsche at the instigation of Max Hoffman who pushed the factory to produce a cheaper, lighter, more affordable, sporting, fun version of the 356 cabriolet convertible, capable of being raced by the amateur owner. The introductory Speedster price was $2995, five dollars shy of $3000. Despite the sceptics at the factory who doubted that Hoffman could sell a “speedster’ in any commercially viable numbers, in four years of production from 1954 to 1958 about 4854 Speedsters were built. These became a dream, a cult car, a classic car of continuing desirability, even now decades later.
The original or definitive Porsche 356 was called the “Pre-A”, was produced to 1955, making way to the 356A, then the 356B (T-5) in 1959, the 356B (T-6) in 1961, followed by the 356C, with production ending in 1965 when the 356 was replaced by the Porsche 901/911.
In November 1954 all 356 engines underwent substantial modifications from the earlier VW based engines. The VW two piece crankcases were replaced with Porsche specific design, new three piece silicon-aluminum alloy crankcases, thus becoming the first true Porsche 356 engines, not just hotted up, reworked VW engines. 1954 356 Speedster engines displaced 1300cc, and 1500cc, and made 44 to 70 bhp depending on displacement. VW transaxle cases still remained in use in 1954 but with fully synchronized Porsche designed gears and synchromesh.
The Pre A 356 pictured above had an active racing life in Ohio in the 1950’s, later in its life it was raced in vintage races including in Laguna Seca until its late in life restoration.
The article below is a vintage review of a 356A Speedster tested by Road & Track in April 1958, the last year of Speedster production.
In April, 1958, the 88 horsepower Porsche 1600 Super Speedster listed for $3928. The inflation adjusted value of $3928 in 1958 is $34,096 in 2018. The base price of a 1958 (283 c.i.d. V8, 230 bhp, 3 speed, with 4 speed plus 230 bhp engine a 0-60 time of 9.2 sec) Corvette was $3,591, with a 2018 inflation adjusted price of $31,330. The Corvette was a price/performance value competitor to the Speedster, and this Porsche/Corvette value to performance issue has continued to the present.
Enjoy reading these old magazine scans. Pretty good performance for a 4 cylinder air cooled sport car built 64 years ago!
I’ve been having a lot of trouble posting comments, keep getting the “your posting too quickly” comment which also makes the post disappear.
Do you post when you are logged in or do you enter your user name and password every time when you comment? It gives me the same error sometimes but as far as I can tell only when I’m not actually logged in. If logged in, I.e. the name and email are auto filled then I don’t think I’ve had the issue. I agree it is annoying to the point that I will copy the comment before posting if it’s a longish one so that I can redo it if lost, yes it is annoying.
I have never seen that error. My method has always been to open two windows. I log into one and open the comment screen. The second I leave on the main site view, and I get the benefit of staying logged in.
I stay logged in, and have never seen that. But I have had a number of comments eaten because while I was writing it, the log-in timer expired and demanded a new log-in. If you do that, the un-posted comment gets eaten. I’ve had a number of rather long and detailed comments get eaten that way. But it never gave me that error message. Perhaps the two are related.
It doesn’t seem to do it when you post many comments in a row, but it seems to do it when you bang out a comment (long or short) and then put in your name and email fast. I haven’t consciously s l o w e d down my typing because, well, that’s not normal…but am keeping an eye on it to try to remember what I was doing when it gives me the message.
Maybe you guys should try writing a few comments without being logged in and see if it happens to you. In regard to that I usually have several windows open and sometimes I’ll be logged in and sometimes I won’t be, which is likely my own fault.
I enter user name and email every time. That sounds like the reason it gives me problems. Copying before posting is a great idea.
I just read the 2018 Motor Trend Best Driver’s Car comparison test. Most cars had between 500 to 700+ horsepower. Incredible.Of course nobody needs that much horsepower but there are those that can AFFORD that type of performance potential. Unless you take your car to the track it’s mostly bragging rights. I’ll bet most of the crowing is from fans boys that couldn’t buy the cars if they wanted to. The Big Boys keep quiet and buy whatever they damn well please. At one time it was the Speedster, then the 930 Turbo then God knows what. None of this diminishes the legacy of the Speedster but I wouldn’t want to be that uncomfortable unless I was on two wheels.
Love the bathtub’s shape. Before the Speedster was Hoffman’s Porsche America Roadster, née Type 540 Sports Roadster by Glaser-Heuer. Worlds apart in beauty.
That was unfortunate. But presumably it led directly to the Speedster. I love the Speedster (who doesn’t), but have always felt that the windshield could have been just a couple of inches taller. Maybe because my head sticks above it?
Frankly, I have decidedly mixed feelings about the chrome side trim added to the Speedster. That was obviously a Hoffman addition too. Actually, I don’t have mixed feelings; it was rather unfortunate. Give me the original smooth sides; thank you.
Vic, thanks for these two posts on the Speedster, which refreshed my memory banks with a few minor details. You probably know this, but I obsessed on Porsche 356s (and the VW Type 1) from my earliest times of automotive awareness starting around 3-4 years of age. They were imprinted on me very intensely, and saw them as something of a living, breathing alter-mother; the rounded womb from which I sprang.
I have always been a 356 coupe man myself, as its aerodynamic benefits and comfort for longer trips seemed compelling to me. But the Speedster, which I was not even aware of until after we moved to the US, is certainly a Porsche elemental being, perhaps the most so because of its roots in the very first Porsche.
I could never quite relate to it properly though, due to its limitations in weather protection, until I moved to California. Suddenly the Speedster myth was all-too obvious: in the perpetual sunshine and mild weather of California, it was of course perfect. And California is where something like 2/3s or 3/4 of Porsche’s exports to the US went.
I still have some difficulty with the outsized cult that the Speedster spawned, with all the imitations and reproductions that seemed to never end. It’s like the Cobra that way.
Frankly, the 356 Cabriolet D really was a better Speedster, but who can argue with the Speedster myth?
Paul, no doubt you are a Cabriolet D man since the taller windshield would fit you to a “T” and so would the follow up 1959 356 B Roadster Convertible that replaced the Convertible D. Fun cars all, but I personally prefer the 914, but you know that already. Cheers.
I love the 356 series of Porsche’s .
I wish my son would do something, _anything_ with my old ’63 T-6 coupe, it’s rusting away in his backyard uncovered .
-Nate
If I could have just one car from today, or yesteryear, this would be it. The 1600 Super appears to have been a wonderful motor, too – able to lug, or rev. The little blighter was fast, too – not far off the Corvette and well ahead of similar capacity 4cyl vehicles. The handling also seems to get high praise. Porsche had only been in existance for about 11years at this point – less time than Tesla has been with us today.
BTW, did anyone notice that the original 1500 final drive ratio was 3.56?
Thanks for publishing this road test – it makes me lust after the Speedster even more.
Yes, beautiful cars, not questionable. But I can’t help: No boxer engine sounds well to my ears, no 355, no 911, no 2 CV, no Subaru, all making strange noise… compared to any V8, V10 or V12. Got to admit many years of my working life my ears were comforted by much music of a big V12 twin turbo Diesel. So well, I’m no Porsch guy at all, though the 928 is a fine car.