At Autoshippers, we know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and some of the vehicles that we ship could be deemed to be unique, rather than beautiful. Then a car comes along that we think everyone can agree is a work of art, a 1957 Porsche 356A.
Porsche: A Brief History & Legacy
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, better known simply as “Porsche”, is a name synonymous with car manufacturing excellence, specialising in high-performance sports cars, and more recently, SUVs. The company was founded in 1931, in Stuttgart, Germany, by Ferdinand Porsche, Adolf Rosenburg and Anton Piech and was originally established as a consulting firm for the development of motor vehicles, including working with Volkswagen to produce the Volkswagen Beetle.
Porsche AG quickly expanded into the manufacture of their own designs, and in 1939 produced the Porsche 64, which was developed using components from the Volkswagen Beetle.
In the 1950s, after a stint of tank designing during the second world war. Porsche produced its iconic sports car, the Porsche 356, fast becoming one of the company’s best-selling models. It was during this time that Porsche began their interest in motorsports, achieving significant success including winning the Le Mans 24 hour race in 1970 and 1971.
Porsche continued to innovate and produce popular models, including the iconic 911, and has also recently expanded its product line up to break into the SUV market, with luxury SUVs such as the Cayenne and Macan, as well as the Taycan, which is Porsche’s first production electric car.
Today, Porsche is a subsidiary of the Volkswagen group, so the story has gone full circle. It continues to produce high-quality, high-performance cars that are much sought after by petrolheads everywhere.
Porsche 356A – Among the Fastest Sports Cars of its Time
Produced from 1956 to 1959, replacing the 356, the Porsche 356A was powered by a four-cylinder, air cooled engine, and was available with five different engines, ranging from the 356A 1300 with 44bhp to the 356 A 1500 GS Carrera with 100bhp. It was an evolution of the original 356 design, and as well as the technical improvements it featured cosmetic updates as well.
Through a combination of the car’s lightweight design and powerful engine, it was one of the fastest sports cars of its time. The 356A featured a monocoque body, meaning the outer skin carries all of a major part of the stresses, this gives better handling and performance compared to a body on frame construction. This body was constructed from lightweight aluminium, and had a low, aerodynamic profile.
The 356A was praised for its handling, performance and styling, fast becoming one of Porsche’s best-selling models. Remaining in production for only a few years, today it is considered a class and is highly sought after by collectors and enthusiasts. So, at Autoshippers we were really pleased to be given the opportunity to look after a fine example of this amazing car on its Journey to the USA.
Autoshippers: Your Reliable Partner in Shipping High-Value Classic Cars Worldwide
When our customer contacted us to help him to ship his immaculate Porsche 356A to the USA, we gave him various car shipping options. Usually, we would recommend our Ro/Ro service, which uses specialist shipping vessels where vehicles are driven on and off for loading and unloading. This is generally the most cost effective and quickest way of shipping vehicles.
On this occasion, however, as this classic car was high value, we recommended shipping in its own dedicated shipping container, which is known as our FCL car shipping option, where FCL stands for ‘Full Container Load’.
When shipping on our FCL service, your vehicle is safely loaded and secured into its own shipping container, meaning that there is no handling from the time that it is loaded into the container, to the time that it is unloaded. This additional safety and security that this service offers do come with additional costs however, and FCL shipping is usually the most expensive way of shipping vehicles overseas. For this reason, it is generally only used for high value, and/or rare, vehicles, and this Porsche 356A was perfect for the FCL service.
As you can see from the photograph below, the vehicle is loaded into the container and, using high tension straps that are safely secured to the vehicle by our vehicle loading experts, is held in place giving little chance of movement throughout the shipping process.
Ship Your Vehicle with Confidence: Autoshippers’ Expertise in Vehicle Shipping
We ship all shapes and sizes of vehicle at Autoshippers, you don’t need to be shipping a high value, classic, car. If you need our services then you can contact us for a quotation by calling +44 117 982 8123 / 0800 3890784, emailing us at sales@autoshippers.co.uk or by simply filling out the found on this page.
Our dedicated and knowledgeable team are happy to help, and we can offer our experience in shipping to all of the major destinations in the world, using the various service options at our disposal. Don’t let the miles between you and your dream car put you off making it yours!
