
Let's look back a few years: When the first Porsche appeared in 1948, it was little more than a hotted-up VW beautified by a streamlined coupe body—made of aluminum at that time—produced in very small numbers in very small workshops at Gmund in Austria. The 1131-cc, air-cooled flat-4 engine had been talked into producing 40 bhp, the transmission incorporated that remarkably solid crash box good for a) delightfully professional, doubleclutched changes, or b) changes without any use of the clutch, or c) the production of horrible noises without apparent ill effects, and the brakes used the original small VW drums. Top speed was around 87 mph, and the car soon got a reputation for "difficult" cornering because of a strong addiction to oversteer. To the surprise of many, this modest theme—just like that of the VW itself—proved capable of fantastic development. After Porsche had returned to Stuttgart, large-scalc production methods were adopted, and numerous improvements made later models faster, quieter, more refined and led to better handling and reliability.