1956 – 1957 Porsche 356A/1300 – Ultimate Guide
The Porsche 356 A 1300 Coupe was produced from 1956 to 1957. It’s a rear-wheel drive rear-engined 2-door sports coupé with 2+2 seats. With 44 hp, the naturally aspirated 1.3 Liter 8v Flat 4 gasoline engine accelerated the 356 A 1300 Coupe to a maximum speed of 90 mph. It came with a 4 speed manual transmission.
Porsche thoroughly updated their 356 line in 1956 and called their new model the 356A. Extensive testing by the experimental department known as Versuchsabteilung resulted in numerous suspension and drive line mounting changes before the final 356A specification was decided. They softened the springs by removing leaves from the torsion cars and fitted stiffer dampers. This was done to take advantage of a more modern tire technology which allowed for a smaller-diameter 15-inch tire and a wider tread with reduced air pressures.
From the outside, the 356A kept to the Porsche mantra of stepwise evolution. The new model was outwardly identical to the previous version except for the wider tires, a small rub-strip below the doors, a fully-curved front window and enamel paint replacing lacquer previously used.
The 356 A came with an all-alloy air-cooled Flat 4 engine in four states of tune: 1300, 1300 Super, 1600 and 1600 Super. Engine specifications were as follows for the 1300 models were:
- 1300: Type 506/2, 44 bhp at 4200rpm / 60 lb-ft at 3800 rpm, 6.5:1 compression, two Solex 32 PBI carburetors.
- 1300 Super: Type 589/2, 60 bhp at 5500rpm / 65 lb-ft at 3600 rpm, 8.2:1 compression, two Solex 32 PBIC carburetors.
The 1300 models were discontinued in model year 1958 (T2).
