Factory Showroom Materials

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Salesman’s Showroom Binders

Starting in the mid 50s, Porsche provided dealers with A3 size binders with specification sheets, photographs of the cars, charts showing the recommended upholstery colors for each available paint color and sometimes even paint and upholstery samples. These loose leaf binders were usually produced annually or when a new model was introduced. We know of at least 5 versions of these binders. They are extremely rare. The 1958 edition is shown here. If you have another version, we would like to have the opportunity to scan it for others to enjoy.

Showroom Book 1958-0001

Like most automobile manufacturers, Porsche provided dealers with materials to show the characteristics of Porsches and to help customers select a car with the features and options they wanted. These materials included showroom posters; materials to help in selecting paint colors, upholstery, carpet and top materials; option catalogs as well as aids for the salesmen to explain the features of the cars.

A note about color accuracy:

These printed documents are 60-75 years old and some are very rare. In their day, the colors were an approximation of the real colors. Because they were intended for use within a year, there was no thought to acid free papers or aging effects. The cameras or scanners used have a certain level of color accuracy, which is also influenced by light.

Most have had light editing done and you are viewing on your screen, which has it's own issues. In summary, the colors are going to display far from accurate, but we felt it important to present them without significant revision, as a historical artifact. If you wish to see historic colors on car photos, https://www.rennbow.org/

Paint and Upholstery Selection Materials

These documents were produced in different forms for different intended uses. The factory usually offered several recommended material options for each standard or special color paint. The most common was a folder or single sheet with color chips. The earliest only provided standard and special color chips, while in mid-356A production, the 4 or 6 page folders also provided the recommended upholstery material selections for each color. These folders or sheets were intended as handouts to prospective customers and are therefore quite common.

The second type of color document was a small folder or book which was retained in the dealership which had color samples as well as actual samples of the upholstery and carpet choices. The earliest of these known is the 1950 color sample card. These early examples were accompanied by several sheets giving detailed information on the recommended material selections for each color. These were produced throughout the 356 era and are quite rare.

Finally, with the introduction of the Speedster and Spyder in late 1954, a large A4 size vinyl loose leaf binder was produced which had color and material sample pages for the Speedster as well as specification sheets for production cars. This was followed by a similar binder in 1956. Comparable books of varying sizes were produced thru the 356 era. (We are looking for a copy to scan).