The Porsche 356 was first introduced in 1948.
That date marks the beginning of production for Porsche’s first production automobile. The earliest cars were built in Gmünd, Austria, by Porsche Konstruktionen GesmbH. The first 356 was road-certified on June 8, 1948, and the initial production run was very small, with approximately 50 cars made before the company expanded.
The 356 was created by Ferry Porsche, with its body designed by Erwin Komenda. It used a lightweight, rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout and drew important mechanical ideas from the Volkswagen Beetle, including the basic air-cooled flat-four engine architecture. Its combination of tidy design, low weight and nimble handling helped establish Porsche as a sports-car manufacturer.
Production moved to Zuffenhausen, Germany, in 1950, where the cars increasingly used steel bodies. The 356 continued through several revisions—356A, 356B and 356C—and remained in production until 1965. Although the 911 debuted in 1964, the two models overlapped for a time, which can cause confusion about when the 356 era ended.