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Porsche 356 1949 Gallery



Porsche 356 1949 Gallery Photos and Stories.


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Porsche 356 1949 Gallery

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Porsche 356-2 Coupe 1st 1949

Porsche 356-2 Coupe 1949 1st Place
Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance®
Pebble Beach, California, 2011

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Porsche 356-2 Coupe 1st 1949

Porsche 356-2 Coupe 1949 1st Place
Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance®
Pebble Beach, California, 2011

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Porsche 356-2 Coupe 1st 1949

Porsche 356-2 Coupe 1949 1st Place
Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance®
Pebble Beach, California, 2011

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 Porsche 356-2 50 Years of the Porsche 911

Porsche 356-2
Porsche Museum 50 Years of the Porsche
Joachim_Gruchot Photo

Descriptive Poster For This Car - JPG file



• • • Porsche 356SL sn-356/2-063 1949 • • •

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Porsche 356SL sn-356/2-063 1949 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance® 2016

Porsche 356SL sn-356/2-063 1949
Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance® 2016

Porsche entered the 1951 Le Mans 24 Hour race with 2 cars numbered 46 and 47.

These Porsche cars would be the first German cars to run in a major race since the end of WWII and there was some concern how the French citizens would react to having them on their soil. ("Excellence Was Expected" Page 78)

They were early 356 Gmünd built aluminum bodied coupes. Number 47 crashed in practice leaving number 46 to start the race. Number 46 finished 20th over all and first in the 1,100 cc class giving Porsche their first win at Le Mans.

Porsche being a small car manufacture ran the 2 cars in some other races and then converted them back into street ready and sold them to Max Hoffman in New York. This being early in the period where cars were cars and old race cars were mostly discarded tools or un-prized items, VIN numbers were not meticulously kept. Therefore car #46's VIN was not readily traceable.

Both coupes were sold and sn-063 arrived at Von Neumann's dealership in California, where Von Neumann raced the car in local races. PCA's Panorama's February 2005 issue notes that one coupe was "prepared to the same standards as the Le Mans Class Winner in the 1951 edition".

In 1952 Von Neumann cut the coupes top off turning it into a roadster therefore creating the "first Speester" a car that Max Hoffman soon after convinced Porsche to build and import to America.

In 1957 Chuck Forge of California purchased the topless 063 and continued to race it, including racing in vintage races up to 2010.

In 2010 Chuck Forge passed away and the new owners purchased the car and started research on it. Following details from early photos 063 was deemed to be the #46 winning Le Mans car of 1951. The then owners took on the task of restoring the modified Von Neumann/Chuck Forge roadster back to its #46 winning Le Mans car of 1951 configuration. This is the current state of 063 (sn-356/2-063) as shown at The Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance® in 2016

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Porsche 356SL sn-356/2-063 1949 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance® 2016

Porsche 356SL sn-356/2-063 1949
Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance® 2016
This is the current state of 063 (sn-356/2-063) as shown at The Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance® in 2016

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Porsche 356SL sn-356/2-063 1949 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance® 2016

Porsche 356SL sn-356/2-063 1949
Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance® 2016
This is the current state of 063 (sn-356/2-063) as shown at The Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance® in 2016

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Porsche 356SL sn-356/2-063 1949 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance® 2016

Porsche 356SL sn-356/2-063 1949
Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance® 2016
This is the current state of 063 (sn-356/2-063) as shown at The Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance® in 2016

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Porsche 356SL sn-356/2-063 1949 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance® 2016

Porsche 356SL sn-356/2-063 1949
Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance® 2016
This is the current state of 063 (sn-356/2-063) as shown at The Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance® in 2016

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Porsche 356SL sn-356/2-063 1949 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance® 2016

Porsche 356SL sn-356/2-063 1949
Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance® 2016
This is the current state of 063 (sn-356/2-063) as shown at The Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance® in 2016

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Porsche 356SL sn-356/2-063 1949 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance® 2016

Porsche 356SL sn-356/2-063 1949
Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance® 2016
This is the current state of 063 (sn-356/2-063) as shown at The Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance® in 2016

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Porsche 356SL sn-356/2-063 1949 Laguna Seca Monterey Historic Automobile Races 1998

Porsche 356SL sn-356/2-063 1949
Laguna Seca Monterey Historic Automobile Races 1998
Max Hoffman in New York sold the Light Weight coupe and sn-063 arrived at Von Neumann's dealership in California, where Von Neumann raced the car in local races. In 1952 he cut the coupes top off turning it into a roadster. In 1957 Chuck Forge of California purchased the topless 063 and continued to race it, including racing in vintage races up to 2010. CLICK HERE
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 Porsche 356 SL Coupe sn-063 1949-51 PB 2016

Porsche 356 SL Coupe sn-063 1949-51 PB 2016

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 Porsche 356 SL Coupe sn-063 1949-51 PB 2016

Porsche 356 SL Coupe sn-063 1949-51 PB 2016

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 Porsche 356 SL Coupe sn-063 1949-51 PB 2016

Porsche 356 SL Coupe sn-063 1949-51 PB 2016

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Porsche 356SL 1949-50  Laguna Seca Monterey Historic Automobile Races 1998

Porsche 356SL 1949-50
Laguna Seca Monterey Historic Automobile Races 1998
This car was displayed representing the #46 Le Mans car at Laguna Seca's Monterey Historic Automobile Races. The 1998 displayed car was/is not the #46 Le Mans car as period photos show the "actual" Le Mans car had a split wind screen.

"356 Aluminum Coupe. Chassis and body first build in 1948 in Gmünd, Austria. Due to very light weight, left overs build into race cars for Le Mans 1951 and 1952." Car from Porsche AG.

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Porsche 356SL 1949-50  Laguna Seca Monterey Historic Automobile Races 1998

Porsche 356SL 1949-50
Laguna Seca Monterey Historic Automobile Races 1998
This car was displayed representing the #46 Le Mans car at Laguna Seca's Monterey Historic Automobile Races. The 1998 displayed car was/is not the #46 Le Mans car as period photos show the "actual" Le Mans car had a split wind screen.

"356 Aluminum Coupe. Chassis and body first build in 1948 in Gmünd, Austria. Due to very light weight, left overs build into race cars for Le Mans 1951 and 1952." Car from Porsche AG.

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Porsche 356SL 1949-50  Laguna Seca Monterey Historic Automobile Races 1998

Porsche 356SL 1949-50
Laguna Seca Monterey Historic Automobile Races 1998
This car was displayed representing the #46 Le Mans car at Laguna Seca's Monterey Historic Automobile Races. The 1998 displayed car was/is not the #46 Le Mans car as period photos show the "actual" Le Mans car had a split wind screen.

"356 Aluminum Coupe. Chassis and body first build in 1948 in Gmünd, Austria. Due to very light weight, left overs build into race cars for Le Mans 1951 and 1952." Car from Porsche AG.

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Porsche 356SL 1949-50 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance® 1998

Porsche 356SL 1949-50
Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance® 1998
This car was displayed representing the #46 Le Mans car at Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance® after showing at Laguna Seca's Monterey Historic Automobile Races. The 1998 displayed car was/is not the #46 Le Mans car as period photos show the "actual" Le Mans car had a split wind screen.

The Information display plaque states; "356 Aluminum Coupe. Chassis and body first build in 1948 in Gmünd, Austria. Due to very light weight, left overs build into race cars for Le Mans 1951 and 1952." Car from Porsche AG.

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Porsche 356SL 1949-50 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance® 1998

Porsche 356SL 1949-50
Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance® 1998
This car was displayed representing the #46 Le Mans car at Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance® after showing at Laguna Seca's Monterey Historic Automobile Races. The 1998 displayed car was/is not the #46 Le Mans car as period photos show the "actual" Le Mans car had a split wind screen.

The Information display plaque states; "356 Aluminum Coupe. Chassis and body first build in 1948 in Gmünd, Austria. Due to very light weight, left overs build into race cars for Le Mans 1951 and 1952." Car from Porsche AG.

Porsche 356SL 1949-50 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance® 1998

Porsche 356SL 1949-50
Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance® 1998
This car was displayed representing the #46 Le Mans car at Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance® after showing at Laguna Seca's Monterey Historic Automobile Races. The 1998 displayed car was/is not the #46 Le Mans car as period photos show the "actual" Le Mans car had a split wind screen.

The Information display plaque states; "356 Aluminum Coupe. Chassis and body first build in 1948 in Gmünd, Austria. Due to very light weight, left overs build into race cars for Le Mans 1951 and 1952." Car from Porsche AG.

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