The 1949-1955 Porsche 356 Cabriolet

Overview

The 356 Cabriolet entered Porsche's range in 1950 as a companion to the Coupe, offering open-top motoring with a fully lined folding hood rather than the spartan equipment that would characterize the later Speedster. Reutter built both body styles from the same floor pan and mechanical platform, and the Cabriolet shared all drivetrain and suspension components with its closed counterpart. It was positioned as a touring convertible — properly weather-sealed, thoroughly finished inside, and aimed at buyers who wanted open-air driving without the compromises of a stripped-down competition-oriented machine.

Production volumes were lower than the Coupe throughout the Pre-A period, reflecting both the additional manufacturing complexity of open-body construction and a narrower buyer pool. The Cabriolet nonetheless found a consistent market, particularly in the United States and warm-climate European regions, and it became a permanent fixture in the 356 lineup through all subsequent generations.

Engineering & Development

The Cabriolet's mechanical specification was identical to the Coupe. Air-cooled flat-four engines in displacements from 1,086cc to 1,500cc, in Normal and Super states of tune, drove through a four-speed transaxle. Trailing-link front suspension with torsion bars and a rear swing-axle were unchanged from the Coupe, and the Cabriolet's on-road behavior was indistinguishable from that of a mechanically equivalent closed car.

The structural challenge of open-body construction was addressed by Reutter through reinforcement of the sill structures and floor pan. Without the Coupe's fixed roof providing triangulating stiffness, the Cabriolet's torsional rigidity depended on these lower-structure additions. The folding hood used a multi-bow mechanism with a lined headliner, offering better insulation than typical single-skin convertible tops of the period. The rear window began as a flexible plastic panel on early cars and was replaced with glass on later production examples.

Market Variants

In the United States, Cabriolets were sold with the same lower-compression Normal engines fitted to the Coupes of the corresponding period. Max Hoffman's import operation marketed them to buyers who associated open European sports cars with California and Mediterranean driving culture. The Cabriolet commanded a modest price premium over the Coupe, reflecting its more labor-intensive construction, and it found buyers at the upper end of the early Porsche customer base.

European-market Cabriolets were available with the full engine range, including the higher-output Super units. Production numbers were modest — open-body cars represented a minority of Pre-A output — but the Cabriolet's presence ensured that buyers for whom a fixed-roof coupe was not acceptable had an alternative within the range.

Significance

The 356 Cabriolet's introduction demonstrated that Porsche's production infrastructure, at that stage housed entirely within Reutter's Stuttgart facility, could support two distinct body styles simultaneously. The development of open-top construction techniques during the Pre-A years established a foundation for the more complex Cabriolet variants that appeared with each subsequent 356 generation.

In the collector market, Pre-A Cabriolets — particularly the early Gmünd-built aluminum examples — are among the most sought-after early production Porsches, reflecting their combination of open-body character and very early construction history.