9781422279618

PORSCHE

America and Porsche: A Love Affair Another, more significant, event for the company happened in 1951: Max Hoffman, an American car dealer based on the East Coast, who helped create the American sports-car craze, first imported the Type 356. The American love affair with Porsches was launched. Hoffman’s first imports sported some significant design alterations, including a two-spoke steering wheel that would become a company trademark. In its center was the company’s new crest, which Ferry Porsche had originally sketched on a cocktail napkin; the crest carries a symbol of the family’s love for Stuttgart. Meanwhile, the company’s design-consultancy work helped Porsche land a half-million-dollar contract with Studebaker, the American car concern. With the proceeds, the company began construction on a modern factory at Zuffenhausen. Porsche 356 SL 1.1s took first in class at LeMans and the Mille Miglia in 1952, while a specially modified private car, the Glockler-Porsche, won the German sports-car championship. Inspired, the factory created a new race car for the

This Porsche 356 SL 1.1 is shown as it might have competed in SCCA E-production class events.

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