1956 Porsche 356 A Speedster

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1956 Porsche 356 A Speedster

The Speedster was designed to be more affordable that the standard 356a, and as such, the car featured very few amenities. The most notable features include a low-cut and rounded front windscreen, a lightened body, and special gearing – undoubtedly the primary reasons as to why the Speedster was widely loved by racers. Other unique features included bucket seats, minimal weather equipment, and a very simplified dashboard that was inspired by Porsche Spyder race cars that were available at the time.

1956 Porsche 356 A Speedster

The 356a Speedster was powered by a 1.6-liter flat-four that featured a center-mounted camshaft and overhead valves.

The engine had a bore and stroke of 82.5 mm by 74 mm and produced a maximum of just 60 horsepower. Based on the size of the engine, that computes to 37.93 horsepower per liter. Power was sent to the rear wheels via a four-speed manual transmission.

Even though 60 horsepower is nothing compared to sports cars today, the 356a Speedster was rather light at just 1750 pounds, and that power was enough to propel the car to 60 mph in about 13.9 seconds. A quarter mile took just over 19 seconds, while the car topped out at just 99.4 mph.