{"id":195818,"date":"2017-02-16T20:31:08","date_gmt":"2017-02-16T19:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gtspirit.com\/?p=195818"},"modified":"2017-02-16T20:31:08","modified_gmt":"2017-02-16T19:31:08","slug":"column-the-motorsport-success-of-the-porsche-356","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gtspirit.com\/2017\/02\/16\/column-the-motorsport-success-of-the-porsche-356\/","title":{"rendered":"Column: The Motorsport Success of the Porsche 356"},"content":{"rendered":"

A rich racing heritage is baked into every Porsche. An early chapter in Porsche racing history is in their first production car, the 356. While it was primarily a road car, many 356\u2019s spent plenty of time on the track. It was a popular racecar because it took little – if any – modification to make it race-ready.<\/p>\n

The rear-engine configuration was unique for a sports car. This made it excellent for rally racing. All the 356 needed was some beefy, off-road tires, some extra lights, and maybe a suspension modification to be ready for a rally event. Rally racing was very popular in Europe at the time the 356 was new.<\/p>\n

\"1953<\/a>
1953 Porsche 356 SL<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the earliest specific examples of a serious Porsche 356 racecar is the 1951 356 SL. The \u201cSL\u201d stood for Sport Leicht. It had a race tuned 1500 Super engine which was still experimental at the time. It broke a world record at the Autodrome de Montlh\u00e9ry, a racetrack in a small town south of Paris where the French Grand Prix took place. The record was driving for 72 hours at 94.66 mph. The 356 SL had various aerodynamic modifications like steel rear window louvers, fully skirted wheels, and aluminum belly fairings. These cars competed at Le Mans and one finished first in its class at the Li\u00e8ge-Rome-Li\u00e8ge rally race.<\/p>\r\n