1963 Porsche 356B Super

At the end of September, I spent a week in a RSR Project  911 driving from Colorado to California and ending up at Rennsport Reunion VI.You would think I would have had enough of Porsches for a while.Wrong!Especially, when I got a chance to spend some quality time with a 1963 356B Super.

There were big changes to the 356, when the B series came around.The coupes received a larger rear window. They all received larger engine covers with twin intake grills. The front hood was also larger and more rectangular, and the gas tank was lowered to allow for more luggage space. You no longer had to open the front hood to fill the tank, a filler was now conveniently placed under a flap on the right front fender. There were now louvers in front of the windshield to help improve ventilation.

The biggest visual change, however, was that the 356 was given a face-lift. Gone was the low nose. The headlights had been raised several inches, a larger bumper, with heavier overriders, was in evidence. And under that bumper were large grills to allow air in to cool the front brakes.

Performance tweaks included improved synchromesh. The brakes had 72 lateral fins on each drum similar to those on the 550A and RSK.The top end of the engine was opened up to produce better breathing and boost power output at high RPMs. Exhaust valves remained the same, but the inlet valves were enlarged, as well as the ports. And, as they were German, a vast array of other things were done to the new motor.

Jesse Alexander commented that it was a rather drastic face-lift, which came as something of a shock to Porsche owners all over the world.But although, in 1963, the 356B Super was a very sweet ride, they were in for an even bigger shock just a couple of years later, when the 911 came along.

In the 356, you had an Erwin Komenda designed body being pushed along by just 87 hp. But you didn’t need big numbers, the car was just over 2000 lbs—it moved!

There is something just so right about a 356. It has an iconic shape, it’s beautifully designed… it’s a Porsche. Even though it’s 50-plus years old, it’s a very usable car. Unlike other sports cars of the time you can get in and out of it easily, it has great visibility and it’s comfortable. Back in the day it might well have been a daily driver, but now as a nice weather fun car it is absolutely stellar.

 Put yourself behind the wheel in some very comfy seats (outlaw Gary Emory loved to put Speedster seats in coupes—they made you feel more at one with the car and it made it feel like it was handling better.) I would probably do it too, because they are just so absolutely bitchin’.

Imagine you’re in the driver’s seat. In that precise, classically Germanic way, you have three VDO gages arrayed out in front of you. To the left, oil temp and fuel, in the center, tach with a 5000 redline, and to the right, speedometer and odometer. What more do you need?As is tradition, of course, the ignition is to the left of the steering wheel.Use it and the willing little four-cylinder boxer motor snaps to life and is ready to do your bidding.

Again—you don’t need a high horsepower count, there’s plenty behind you to do the job.

On the road, the 356 just does everything right. The steering is light but precise; the drum brakes are perfectly suited for the car; using the long-stalked gear lever instantly becomes second nature, and the gas pedal becomes your best friend because of sound and velocity.

The axiom that it’s more fun to drive a slow car fast than to drive a fast car slow fits pretty well here, but I wouldn’t really call a 356 slow. It doesn’t have face-melting acceleration like many modern cars, but so what? When you get up to speed you can work with it, without being in the realm of your license being revoked. And with no electronics in charge, you can move the car around with some style.

Am I smitten? Yes. Is it perfect? In my mind, Yes. Do I remember those fold down seats in my dad’s car when I was small? Yes.

 It’s one of the greats!

Thank you, Briarcliff Classic, for letting me drive down memory lane, a little over the speed limit.

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