Ferdinand Porsche always had motorsports in the back of his mind even before he established his design office in 1930. He enjoyed the intense nature of competition because it pushes engineering to new heights faster than almost any other activity. He was deeply involved with creating some of the worlds greatest racing cars for Mercedes and Auto Union before the war. At Mercedes he designed the S, SS, and SSK in the mid 1920’s. Between 1933 and 1939 his team designed and raced the amazing Auto Union mid engine grand prix cars. Just before the war his design office built the Type 64 using VW components he also had designed, wrapped in an aerodynamicaluminum body. The car was intended to compete in the Berlin-Rome race scheduled for September of 1939. Unfortunately WWII put a end to that.
The focus of this page will be the racing cars designed and built by Porsche during the 356 era. Almost from the start of 356 production motorsports became a priority for the small company. Competition would be a way to show the world how great their cars were. The easiest and least expensive way to get on track was to modify one of the street cars thus was born the 356SL. The type 360 Cistalia was actually designed and build previous to the 356SL but this was a commission from Cistalia not a Porsche car.
Porsche quickly moved on to building purpose built sports racing cars which included the 550, 718, and 904. Competing at the top level of the sport, Formula 1, they also produced the 787 and 804. At the same time competition versions of the 356A, T5B and T6B were designed and sold. These cars were powered by 4-cam engines tuned for racing or the Super 90. They were made as light as possible by eliminating the undercoating, making the hood, deck lid and doors out of aluminum and replacing the side and rear glass with plexiglass. Racing seats similar to the Speedster seat replace the heavy standard seats.
Click on the link below each photo to launch a page specific to that row in the flow chart below.