{"id":17802,"date":"2024-11-22T07:55:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-22T10:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/?page_id=17802"},"modified":"2024-11-13T11:10:57","modified_gmt":"2024-11-13T14:10:57","slug":"porsche-356-2-sl-gmund-coupe-46-spark","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/porsche-356-2-sl-gmund-coupe-46-spark\/","title":{"rendered":"Porsche 356\/2 SL \u201cGm\u00fcnd Coupe\u201d #46 – Spark"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"356\/2\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
1951 Porsche 356\/2 SL \u201cGm\u00fcnd Coupe\u201d #46<\/strong>
Pilots: A. Veuillet, E.Mouche
Team: Porsche KG<\/em>
Race: 20th overall (1st in S 1.1 class) at Le Mans in 1951<\/strong>
Spark - S5215 (resin)<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Published 11\/22\/24<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The son of Ferdinand Porsche, Ferdinand \u201cFerry\u201d Porsche always had a taste for fast cars. By the end of the 40s, with Ferdinand Sr. imprisoned in France, Ferry was the head of the Porsche family. In early 1948, with his sister Louise, Ferry founded Porsche Konstruktionen GesmbH<\/em> in Gm\u00fcnd, Austria. So, borrowing a LOT from the Volkswagen K\u00e4fer<\/a>, and designed by Porsche employee Erwin Komenda, he created the 356<\/strong>. Just like the Beetle, the 356 had an air-cooled boxer-4 on the rear and with rear-wheel-drive. Conversely, both chassis and body were completely different from the K\u00e4fer. However, both shared a lot of components, like brakes and some engine and suspension parts. The first \u201c356 Coupe\u201d<\/a> (or 356\/2) rolled out of the Gm\u00fcnd factory, a repurposed lumber mill<\/a>, in June of 1948. Porsche produced around 50 cars in Gm\u00fcnd, and these are (now) called \u201cPre-A Series\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"356\/2\"\/
Porsche called the first prototype 356\/1 (a roadster<\/a>), while the production version of the Gm\u00fcnd Coupe was 356\/2.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
The Pre-A 356 was sold locally, in Austria and Germany, however the general public took notice of the new car. With the public interest and Porsche as a company doing well, in 1950 production shifted to better installations at Zuffenhausen. With a higher manufacturing capacity, Porsche increased production of the 356A (\u201cA Series\u201d<\/em>). Notably, the 356A now had a steel body, instead of the Pre-A\u2019s hand-beaten aluminum body. Porsche contracted Reutter, from Stuttgart, to produce 500 steel bodies for the 356. The 356A\u2019s engine was initially an air-cooled 1086 cm\u00b3 (later on 1131 cm\u00b3) SOHC with 8 valves, capable of 26 kW (35 hp). That power went to the rear wheels through a 4-speed manual gearbox. Comparatively, the VW Sedan\u2019s<\/a> engine produced 18 kW (25 hp). Though not powerful (in fact, quite anemic compared to sports cars of the times), the 356 was nimble. And to \u201cdrivers\u201d<\/em> that is important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"356\/2\"\/
The production version of the 356\/2 weighed 780 kg and had a 0 to 100 km\/h (0 to 60 mph) of 23.5 seconds.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
By 1950 the 356 had a good reputation, and the Zuffenhausen factory was able to supply a bigger demand. Therefore, Ferdinand Porsche senior (out of prison by now) decided to show the car at the Paris Motor Show<\/a>. Consequently, he drove his own 356 from Stuttgart to Paris. Aided by Ferdinand\u2019s fame, the 356 became a crowd-stopper. And as expected, at the Mondial de l’Automobile<\/em> were also ACO authorities checking out the new hardware. Le Mans race director Charles Faroux liked what he saw and invited Porsche to race the 356 at La Sarthe. Le Mans was the big leagues, and racing there would be excellent PR for Porsche. However, for the 356 to have any success at Le Mans, it needed improvements. The first thing to do was to make the car lighter, and the 356\u2019s steel body was heavy. For Porsche though, that was an easy solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"356\/2\"\/
Unhappily, Ferdinand Porsche passed away in January 1951, and didn\u2019t see the 356 race at Le Mans.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Back at Zuffenhausen (a suburb of Stuttgart), work on the new car began right away. To alleviate weight, they used an aluminum body from the Gm\u00fcnd 356\/2, which they had a few as surplus. With the aluminum body Porsche created the 356\/2 SL Coupe<\/strong> (\u201cSuper Liecht\u201d<\/em>). Or as we call it today, the Gm\u00fcnd Coupe<\/strong>. For the 1951 24 Heures du Mans<\/em> Porsche produced three cars.  To power the 356\/2 SL Porsche used VW\u2019s 1.1 engine, with some tweaks. First, they downsized it to 1086 cm\u00b3 so that the car could compete in the S 1.1 class. Also, they used high compression heads, a bigger oil filter and two Solex carburetors. With all that, power went up to 34 kW (46 hp). Moreover, they installed a 60-liters fuel tank, louvered quarter-window covers, wheel spats, streamlined aluminum belly fairings and a pedestal-mounted shifter. When done, the car weighed 640 kg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"356\/2\"\/
The Porsche factory team drove cars #46 and #47 directly from Stuttgart to Le Mans in two days (822 km nowadays ). <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
June 1951 arrives, and Porsche was ready. The pilots would be Auguste Veuillet and Edmond Mouche, and Rudolf Sauerwein and Robert Brunet. They piloted, respectively, car #46<\/a> (chassis #356\/2-063) and #47<\/a> (chassis #356\/2-054). 1951 was the first major race for Porsche, and the first time a German manufacturer raced after the war. Despite the enthusiasm, however, things did not start well. During practice, an accident destroyed car #47. And just like that, Porsche\u2019s chances were cut in half. Nonetheless, #46 had a relatively smooth race, and finished in 20th<\/sup> overall. Even better, they came in first in the S 1.1 class, giving Porsche their first class victory at La Sarthe. Though an overall victory would only come 19 years later, after 1951 class victories became commonplace for Porsche.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"356\/2\"\/
356\/2 SL #46 still exists, and was even driven from Stuttgart to La Sarthe for the Centennial Le Mans<\/a> race.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Without a doubt, 356\/2 SL #46 is one of the most important Porsche cars. After all, it was the car that began Porsche\u2019s intense involvement with Le Mans. From the 356\/2 SL onward, Porsche would consistently design and produce cars specifically for the 24 Hours race. Therefore, for me, this car was always a grail model. Unfortunately, however, I had to do with the Highspeed<\/a> version up until now. Spark\u2019s version is parsecs ahead in terms of craftsmanship, in fact, you can\u2019t compare the two. Therefore, if #46 here is a grail model, Spark is the (only) way to go. Even so, my Highspeed will not leave my collection. It was a gift from a dear friend<\/a>, and will always be part of the W-143 Garage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PS: Though thought to be lost to time, 356\/2 SL #46 car was found (in the USA!) and was restored. You can watch HERE a very<\/em> nice video<\/a> (19’46”) on how the car was restored and a little bit more of it’s history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
1951 Porsche 356\/2 SL \u201cGm\u00fcnd Coupe\u201d #46Pilots: A. Veuillet, E.MoucheTeam: Porsche KGRace: 20th overall (1st in S 1.1 class) at Le Mans in 1951Spark – S5215 (resin) Published 11\/22\/24 The son of Ferdinand Porsche, Ferdinand \u201cFerry\u201d Porsche always had a taste for fast cars. By the end of the 40s, with Ferdinand Sr. imprisoned in … Continue reading “Porsche 356\/2 SL \u201cGm\u00fcnd Coupe\u201d #46 – Spark”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-17802","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17802"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17802\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17882,"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17802\/revisions\/17882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}